The Wind Done Gone: A Novel
by Alice Randall

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Book Reviews of The Wind Done Gone: A Novel

Book Review: A Beautiful First Novel
Summary: 4 Stars

"An unauthorized parody" made me think that the book would likely turn out to be part "Read the shocking unauthorized biography of Scarlet O'Hara!!" and part second rate sitcom script. I could not have been more wrong. It is, rather, the haunting, thought-provoking and beautifully written story of Cynara, the slave half-sister of the character we know to be Scarlett, born to Scarlett's father and a much younger Mammy. The book is her diary, written in the spare and evocative voice of a woman who has seen past the appearance of things to the truth behind.

What struck me most about the story was how authentic it seemed, as if "Gone with the Wind" was the appearance, and this was how it really would have been. What happened to Scarlett, called Other, after Rhett left her, rang true, and seemed to be what would have been most likely to have happened in the real world of people we all know. Compare this, if you will, to the nonsense in the _authorixed_ sequel to "Gone with the Wind" called "Scarlett" where Rhett and Scarlett go off to have adventures, get ship-wrecked, swim with dolphins, and so on. The other characters, Mammy, Ashley, Rhett, Melanie, Mrs. O'Hara, are each given a history and a future that has the ring of truth to it. Most interesting of all is the extent of the true contribution the slaves would most likely have made to the life of this most famous of plantations.

The book is slim, and does not take time to work out the whole story. But its economy of language and delicacy of perception has the effect of focussing the reader on the essentials -- the life of a woman who sees things as they are, and who understands that uncompromising self-knowledge gives rise to spiritual dignity, not only for an individual, but also for a group of people whose passage through pain and injustice can create a sure knowledge of what is true, and of what is of value.

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