So as I close the book on one historical era (with the hopes of revisiting it sometime soon!), I open the pages on another. And in so doing, open the pages of Margaret Mitchell’s Pulitzer-winning classic Gone with the Wind. Yes, this is research. 😉
But cracking open this book takes me back to childhood. Which might seem strange to some, but bear with me. My family (father excluded, that is) LOVED GwtW. We’d watch the movie whenever we had snow days, which meant several times a year. Whenever we drove south for vacation, we’d go past a huge old house that we dubbed “Tara” in honor of the O’Hara plantation. Phrases like, “But I don’t know nothing ’bout birthin’ no babies!” were common vernacular between me, my sister, and my mom. And I believe we all dreamed about that dress made out of curtains . . .
Up until my teen years, I’d only ever watched the movie, of course. But when I was in high school, I read the book. I believe I skimmed all the many paragraphs of pure history, LOL, but oh! The story of Scarlett and Rhett, even fuller and more complete in the book than in that ridiculously long movie! Be still my heart. =)
So as I prepare to dive into all things Civil War and Deep South, I thought I’d ask y’all for your favorite GwtW moments, memories, or (if this is possible) what you might prefer over GwtW from a similar era. When you settle in for a Civil War story, what do you reach for? Fiction, non-fiction?
I currently have on my desk two books and two movies awaiting me–the obligatory GwtW, both book and mvie, and then The Blue & the Gray (DVD) and The Killer Angels (book). I figure I’ll hit up the Library for more soon, so recommendations are welcome!
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.
I have NEVER read – or watched, GWtW. SOME day, I promise, I will remedy BOTH of these. But not today 🙂
Thanks for the link, Sascha!
Do you know the New York Times Civil War Blog?
opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/category/disunion/