Scarlett (Ripley novel)

Introduction

Scarlett was a novel written in 1991 by Alexandra Ripley as a sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. It was adapted as a television mini-series of the same title in 1994 starring Timothy Dalton as Rhett Butler and Joanne Whalley-Kilmer as Scarlett O'Hara.The book was universally trashed by critics.

Return to Tara

The book picks up right where Gone With the Wind left off, with Scarlett attending the funeral of her ex-sister-in-law and rival for Ashley Wilkes' affection, Melanie Wilkes, which her estranged husbad, Rhett Butler is not present at. Scarlett, heartbroken and aggravated that Rhett has left her completely, she sets out for Tara and is saddened when she learns that Mammy, one of their only remaining freed slaves, is dying. When she arrives at Tara, she also sends off a telegram to notify Rhett about Mammy under the name of her sister's husband because she knew that he wouldn't come if he knew she was there. After Mammy passes away and Rhett and Scarlett have another snipe-filled encounter, Rhett leaves and Scarlett returns to the Atlanta house, determined to win Rhett back.

Going to Charleston

Scarlett, in her haste to win Rhett back, travels to Charleston to visit Rhett's family and try to corner him by winning his mother's affection. He instead secludes himself in the family's old plantation on the river. Scarlett talks Rhett into taking her for a sail on the river, where their boat capsizes during a terrible storm and they have a night of ill-advised passion after which Rhett leaves Scarlett, near death in the hospital, for good, telling her that he's finished playing her games.

Savannah

After Scarlett has regained her strength, she leaves Charleston with her two aunts to travel with them to Savannah for her maternal grandfather's birthday celebration. Her grandfather, a cranky old man, treats her aunts horribly and offers Scarlett his entire inheritance if she would remain with him in Charleston until his death. Scarlett refuses the old man and storms out of the house, furious at his heartlessness for cutting out his own daughters. She happens to meet her paternal cousin, Colum, from Ireland and later agrees to travel to Ireland with him, tired of her grandfather's hospitality and ashamed that she has become pregnant with Rhett's child and wishes to hide it from everyone.