Book info

• Title Gone With the Wind
• Author Margaret Mitchell
• Year 1936
• Genre Historical

The story of ‘Gone With the Wind’ is set in Clayton County and Atlanta, both in Georgia, during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era. It depicts the struggles of young Scarlett O'Hara, the spoiled daughter of a well-to-do plantation owner, who must use every means at her disposal to claw her way out of poverty following Sherman's destructive ‘March to the Sea’. A sweeping story of tangled passion and courage, in the pages of ‘Gone With the Wind’, Margaret Mitchell brings to life the unforgettable characters that have captured readers for over seventy years.

Thoughts

Very mixed feelings about this one. It took me a long time to get fully engaged with it, because, let’s face it: Scarlett is not a very nice character, is she? Many of the characters are pretty unlikeable really, by the end I was only fond of Melanie. It’s good to have flawed characters, that makes them interesting, and I did like some of Scarlett’s more fiery ambitions: no kids, money and power, to heck with what other people think. But there needs to be some scruples, doesn’t there?

The middle part of the book was interesting: the twists and turns of these lives, marriage and fidelity, set on a back drop of civil war and the aftermath. But actually I found it all very depressing, things just get worse and worse for everyone and by the end I was glad it was over to stop the torment!

Interesting book, definitely a classic and good to be up to speed with the cultural references within, but I can’t put my hand on my heart and say I liked it.

Rating: 3 / 5