I make no apologies I loved Gone with the Wind, both the book and the movie and have read many books related to it over the years and this book ranks among the very best.
Well researched with a penchant for interesting details and little known facts it reads like a novel as it takes you into Margaret Mitchell and John Marsh`s home as Margaret taps away on her typewriter and begins a journey that continues today. The warmth and vibrancy of the characters (real and fictional) greet you and make you feel at home as their lives play out, grow, change and take on the persona's (good and bad) that great success brings. I particularly like the way that the period of time (1930s) when the book was written is invoked, you can feel it and it envelopes you which is especially important as the social mores of that time had such an impact on the behaviour of the character's (real) that pepper this book and help explain why this book sold so well(and continues to do so)in a time when Reading and the Movies brought so much light into peoples lives.
The book is fair and even handed,t he authors don`t hesitate to call a spade a spade, success brings its own set of problems and these are well portrayed here, issues that plagued the Mitchell/Marsh household after publication/pre-film and after film are handled with a real backbone, never smarmy or swaltzy and with a good dollop of humour, this book pays homage to Margaret Mitchell and all those who helped make Gone With The Wind the wonderful book and movie it is.
This book is available in Hardcover by order and also available from the Auckland Library System, if you live elsewhere and your library doesn't have it ask them to buy it...and if by chance you haven't read GWTW or watched it, please do, I can`t think of a better winter weekend treat!!!
