Fully authorized by the Margaret Mitchell estate, Rhett Butler’s People is the astonishing and long-awaited novel that parallels the Great American Novel, Gone With The Wind. Twelve years in the making, the publication of Rhett Butler’s People marks a major and historic cultural event.

 

Through the storytelling mastery of award-winning writer Donald McCaig, the life and times of the dashing Rhett Butler unfolds.  Through Rhett’s eyes we meet the people who shaped his larger than life personality as it sprang from Margaret Mitchell’s unforgettable pages: Langston Butler, Rhett’s unyielding father; Rosemary his steadfast sister; Tunis Bonneau, Rhett’s best friend and a onetime slave; Belle Watling, the woman for whom Rhett cared long before he met Scarlett O’Hara at Twelve Oaks Plantation, on the fateful eve of the Civil War.

 

Of course there is Scarlett.  Katie Scarlett O’Hara, the headstrong, passionate woman whose life is inextricably entwined with Rhett’s: more like him than she cares to admit; more in love with him than she’ll ever know…

 

Brought to vivid and authentic life by the hand of a master, Rhett Butler’s People fulfills the dreams of those whose imaginations have been indelibly marked by Gone With The Wind. 

"Read with eloquence, charisma and a bit of spontaneity tossed in by John Bedford Lloyd, McCaig's interpretation of the classic Margaret Mitchell tale is the perfect platform for narration. Lloyd's reading is well paced, never rushing to cover the abundance of material in the lengthy text. With a cast as large as the sprawling settings and landscapes of the story, the opportunity for improvisation is abundant. Lloyd navigates through the personality stew with an expansive tonal pallet crammed with a variety of accents that range from distressed Southern belle to tough-nosed Confederate major, clearly evoking the grim melancholy and tainted triumph of the legendary tale. Channeling the rugged masculinity of Clark Gable when portraying Butler, Lloyd has fun with the story, creating a memorable experience for the listener. With a profusion of drama, action, romance and tragedy, Lloyd gets it right every time and never fails to convey the underlying tension throughout. Simultaneous release with the St. Martin's Press hardcover (reviewed online). (Nov.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Donald McCaig is the award-winning author of Jacob’s Ladder designated “the best civil war novel ever written” by The Virginia Quarterly. People magazine raved “Think Gone With the Wind, think Cold Mountain.” It won the Michael Sharra Award for Civil War Fiction and the Library of Virginia Award for Fiction.