Rhett Butler's People

Last night I finished reading Donald McCaig's sequel (sort of) to Margaret Mitchell's timeless classic "Gone With the Wind", called "Rhett Butler's People". Now, I remember when Alexandra Ripley's sequel, "Scarlett", came out, how excited everyone was, and the news showed stories of bookstores jammed packed with people to get her book (kinda like Harry Potter). There was no such hoopla around McCaig's book, which is a shame, because it was better. Unlike Ripley, McCaig did not try to pick up where Mitchell left off (and send Scarlett off to Ireland. What was up with that? Seriously). His book is divided into three parts: Rhett as a young man (where we find out that Belle Watling was the daughter of his father's plantation overseer), the second part is Rhett's point of view of the familiar "Gone With the Wind" story: meeting Scarlett, falling in love with her, etc. McCaig doesn't repeat a lot of Mitchell, which is nice. He also doesn't really flesh out the character of Scarlett, which I guess he felt he didn't need to, since anyone reading this book is already familiar with "Gone With the Wind", but I thought it was a mistake. Scarlett in this book is lifeless and dull; we are left wondering why this strong character of Rhett (who is nicely developed) falls in love with such a boring ninny. Melanie and Rhett's younger sister, Rosemary, take a much larger role in the book then Scarlett. The third part of the book deals with after Mitchell's book ends, and it's not tedious and unrealistic, like Ripley's was. Scarlett actually goes back to Tara to try to figure out how to get Rhett back. That was one thing I hated in Ripley's book: Scarlett, saying Tara just doesn't feel like home anymore. There was a collective shout of indignation from GWTW fans everywhere when they read that line! McCaig sends Scarlett home, and she seems in character there: working, like she did in the war, to save Tara (which she has foolishly mortgaged to get herself out of debt, to show Rhett she didn't need his money. That sounds like Scarlett: stubborn and foolish).
McCaig ties a lot of little things together for us. Remember the scene in GWTW where Scarlett takes a yellow shawl that Rhett brought her from Cuba and makes a sash for Ashley? Well, it turns out that shawl had a history: Rhett brought it back for his little sister, Rosemary, who he loved so dearly. Her little daughter, Meg, loved playing with it. After Rosemary loses both Meg and her husband John, she realizes she loved them both more than she ever showed and gives the shawl back to Rhett, begging him not to make the same mistakes in love that she did and give it to Scarlett, and to tell her how he really feels about her. Rhett goes to do just that, but Scarlett is so blithe with him that he just tosses the shawl at her like it was an afterthought and strolls out, unable to confess his deep love. Later, he sees Ashley with the sash and his pain is palpable. I actually winced when I read it, although McCaig does kind of beat it to death.
All in all, I think GWTW fans will enjoy this book, if they ever hear about it! It would actually be a good stand alone book. The style is completely different then Mitchell's, but it was interesting to see how Rhett thought about Scarlett.