The Review (continued)
The first 500 page volume was reviewed in
April 2013 and took us up to the loss of Atlanta and the defeat of the Confederacy.
In volume 2 the war is over and sufficient of
the main characters have survived to continue the story. Tara is still standing;
or rather it’s on its knees. With the hated Yankees in control, the negroes
freed and carpetbaggers from the North flooding in to plunder the defenceless
Southern states, Scarlett needs cash to pay taxes or lose the plantation. She
turns gold-digger (not in the Californian sense) and returns to Atlanta to
entrap one of the few respectable southern gents with any cash.
This saves Tara and gets Scarlett a toe-hold
in the now booming Atlanta economy. Her approach to the carpetbaggers is if you
can’t beat them, join them. Rhett Butler has the same view and they continue
their tempestuous relationship, making dollars, infiltrating the new-moneyed
Yankee folk, but losing the respect of the downtrodden, proud remnants of Confederate
society. Only faithful friend Melanie Wilkes and her husband Ashley will give
them the time of day.
These desperate days for the Southerners
give birth to the abomination of the Klu Klux Klan, which attempts to mete out
a rough justice on negroes perceived to have slighted (or worse) any white lady’s
honour. Following one of their skirmishes Scarlett finds herself widowed for
the second time; free once more, but to wed Rhett Butler or to prise Ashley
Wilkes from his passionless marriage?
The painful reconstruction of the South
eventually gives way to recovery as Georgia gains a measure of self-governance.
But the complex four-cornered relationship between Scarlett, Rhett, Melanie and
Ashley shows strain and stress under the pressure of events, producing uncertainty
right to the end.
The power of the book is in Scarlett’s uncompromising
character; frequently dishonourable, always selfish, but undeniably resilient in
the face of adversity. Any problem too big to solve today can be shrugged off until
tomorrow – famously “another day”. What lifts the book out of the chick-lit
pot-boiler category is the broad historical sweep and the riveting scenes
between Scarlett and Rhett that crackle with sexual tension and expostulate
Rhett’s “don’t give a damn” philosophy.
Six month’s reading (both volumes) and no regrets; tomorrow
is another book!
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