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melslostinabook 's review for:
Rhett Butler's People
by Donald McCaig
I really wanted to love this book because Gone With the Wind is one of my favorites, mostly due to the fact that I love history and I love reading about all different time periods. This one is a Margaret Mitchell estate-authorized GWTW companion novel touted as the greatest love story ever told, from Rhett’s perspective. More than just a sequel, this book gives us Rhett Butler’s backstory, from his life as a child growing up on Broughton Plantation in the Low Country under a very strict, authoritarian father, to his rebellious teenage years, to his blockade runner days during the Civil War, to his life with Scarlett, and everything in between.
What I didn’t like:
1. The story isn’t told just from Rhett’s POV, which is what the description leads you to think, but from multiple characters’ POV, which is fine really, but why did we need Scarlett’s take on anything? We already have a book from her POV. I did think that having chapters told from a few other characters’ POV, like Rosemary Butler, Belle Watling, and Melanie Hamilton, was a nice touch.
2. The characters in this book were oddly out of character! Did Mr. McCaig even read GWTW? You know Rhett’s character. You know Scarlett’s character. You know Melanie and Ashley and every other GWTW character. Well, they seem to be such different people in this book.
3. This novel glaringly skips over some important storylines from GWTW, the most obvious being Bonnie’s death, which had a major effect on Rhett. It would seem that we should get to read about this from his perspective. Also, certain events didn’t follow the same timeline as GWTW.
4. The story ends completely different from Scarlett (the estate-authorized GWTW sequel by Alexandra Ripley). I mean, if the Margaret Mitchell estate authorized a sequel, then shouldn’t the companion novel at least have the same end result?
What I did like:
1. Revisiting this story and getting reacquainted with some of my favorite characters.
2. I’m glad the author didn’t sugarcoat what plantation life was like for slaves, but instead painted a true picture of the horrors of slavery, and of what life was like during that dark period in our nation’s history.
3. I enjoyed getting the inside scoop on Rhett’s and Belle’s relationship, as well as getting the addition of Belle’s son.
So, did I love this book? No. But will I keep it on my shelves? Yes, because I’m such a GWTW fan, I will keep the book.
What I didn’t like:
1. The story isn’t told just from Rhett’s POV, which is what the description leads you to think, but from multiple characters’ POV, which is fine really, but why did we need Scarlett’s take on anything? We already have a book from her POV. I did think that having chapters told from a few other characters’ POV, like Rosemary Butler, Belle Watling, and Melanie Hamilton, was a nice touch.
2. The characters in this book were oddly out of character! Did Mr. McCaig even read GWTW? You know Rhett’s character. You know Scarlett’s character. You know Melanie and Ashley and every other GWTW character. Well, they seem to be such different people in this book.
3. This novel glaringly skips over some important storylines from GWTW, the most obvious being Bonnie’s death, which had a major effect on Rhett. It would seem that we should get to read about this from his perspective. Also, certain events didn’t follow the same timeline as GWTW.
4. The story ends completely different from Scarlett (the estate-authorized GWTW sequel by Alexandra Ripley). I mean, if the Margaret Mitchell estate authorized a sequel, then shouldn’t the companion novel at least have the same end result?
What I did like:
1. Revisiting this story and getting reacquainted with some of my favorite characters.
2. I’m glad the author didn’t sugarcoat what plantation life was like for slaves, but instead painted a true picture of the horrors of slavery, and of what life was like during that dark period in our nation’s history.
3. I enjoyed getting the inside scoop on Rhett’s and Belle’s relationship, as well as getting the addition of Belle’s son.
So, did I love this book? No. But will I keep it on my shelves? Yes, because I’m such a GWTW fan, I will keep the book.