The first (and only) time I read Alexandra Ripley’s Scarlett was soon after I completed Gone With the Wind for the first time six years ago. I was desperate for more Scarlett and Rhett, and while hesitant about the notion of a sequel to such an epic tale, I read it anyway. I found it to be a wild departure from the original story, in nearly every aspect – characterization, traditions, etc. While the plot itself is somewhat engaging, the things that Scarlett and Rhett end up doing feel pretty out of character for most of the book. The point at which Scarlett travels to Ireland and somehow finds her poor Irish relatives was when the novel took a very unbelievable turn, in my opinion – it becomes nothing more than imaginative fan fiction.

While I do think Scarlett was a much changed woman by the end of Gone With the Wind, I do not feel that Ripley’s Scarlett is a satisfying or realistic conclusion to Margaret Mitchell’s story. Despite the way –or perhaps because of it – Ripley ties things up with a bow at the end of the novel, I didn’t enjoy it. I personally love Gone With the Wind so very much in part because of its tragic ending. I haven’t really made up my mind about what happens to Scarlett and Rhett after Gone With the Wind (although I do have a few theories) and I like that I will never have to.

If you are desperate for some kind of other Gone With the Wind material, I would recommend Rhett Butler’s People, if you haven’t already read it =) While not perfect, I quite enjoyed that novel, and its post-GWTW ending makes a bit more sense than that of Scarlett.

As far as the miniseries adaptation of Scarlett, I have not seen that and I do not plan to. I’ve heard that it is an even further leap from the feel of Gone With the Wind, but the main reason I refuse to see it is because I can’t bear to see anyone but Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara.