One book that definitely has to be in our »Time travel through literature« is »Gone with the Wind« written by Margaret Mitchell. The book was published in 1936 and immediately became one of the greatest bestsellers in world history. Till today more than 30 million copies have been sold worldwide.
The American author Margaret Mitchell became very successful due to »Gone with the Wind«. In 1937 she even won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the screen adaptation of the book still is one of the most famous films of all time. Since 1940 Mitchell volunteered for a good cause until she died in 1949.
»Well, my dear, take heart. Some day,
I will kiss you and you will like it.
But not now, so I beg you not to be too impatient.«
»Burdens are for shoulders strong enough to carry them.«
»Perhaps - I want the old days back again and they'll never come back,
and I am haunted by the memory of them
and of the world falling about my
ears.«
»After all, tomorrow is another day!«
The novel treats of Scarlett O'Harra who lives on a cotton plantation Tara in Atlanta together with her family. The sixteen-year-old girl is in love with Ashley Wilkes who refuses to marry her because he wants to marry his cousin Melanie Hamilton. Scarlett is devastated but accepts the proposal of Melanie's brother Charles. The men have to go to war where Charles dies because of pneumonia while Scarlett gives birth to their son. They move to Melanie because Scarlett still hopes that he'll fall in love with her. There she meets Rhett Butler who helps her and her family when Atlanta is attacked by the Union Army. Scarlett goes back to Tara and has to find out that her mother died because of Typhus and that her sisters are infected too. As her father is deranged because of the death of his wife, Scarlett becomes the leader of her family. When she meets Ashley again she still tries to convince him to leave Melanie but he refuses again. Meanwhile, the family needs money and Scarlett marries the rich business man Frank Kennedy. In addition, Rhett Butler becomes more important in her life but Scarlett still can't let go of her feelings for Ashley Wilkes and therefore causes fateful trouble in her life.
We couldn't always understand Scarlett O'Harra because she married many men, all the time wishing she is married to Ashley Wilkes instead. In addition, she never really has motherly feelings for her children which makes it hard for her to love them. Personally, we think that Scarlett depends too much on Ashley although he tells her every time that he does not want to be together with her. Nevertheless, Scarlett tries to be there for her family and even marries a man she doesn't love when the plantation is in financial problems. Although this might not be the right way, we think that it shows her love for her family and home. The other characters are all very unique and everyone suffers because of his own problems. Especially Scarlett's different husbands are interesting but we don't want to reveal everything so we won't tell you much about them.
The novel was very interesting not only because of a tragic
love story but also because it portrays slavery on the plantations and treats
of the American Civil War. Although the book is written from the point of view
of a slaveholder and presents the slaves as happy, it made us think about this
racist and horrible time. We would therefore recommend it to you if you like
the genre Historical Fiction and also want to have some tragic and romantic
aspects.
I'm going on a time travel. ~Gwen
And I will dream. Bye! ~Liv
source: Wikipedia