Ruth's Journey: A Novel of Mammy from Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (Paperback)

Ruth's Journey: A Novel of Mammy from Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind By Donald McCaig Cover Image
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“Exquisitely imagined, deeply researched . . . brings to the foreground the most enigmatic and fascinating figure in Gone with the Wind. This is a brave work of literary empathy by a writer at the height of his powers, who demonstrates a magisterial understanding of the period, its clashing cultures, and its heartbreaking crises. ” —Geraldine Brooks, author of March

The only authorized prequel to Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind—the unforgettable story of Mammy. On a Caribbean island consumed by the flames of revolution, an infant girl falls under the care of two French émigrés, Henri and Solange Fournier, who take the beautiful child they call Ruth to the bustling American city of Savannah.

What follows is the sweeping tale of Ruth’s life as shaped first by her strong-willed mistress, and then by Solange’s daughter Ellen and Gerald O’Hara, the rough Irishman Ellen chooses to marry; the Butler family of Charleston and their unexpected connection to Mammy Ruth; and finally Scarlett O’Hara—the irrepressible Southern belle Mammy raises from birth. As we witness the lives of three generations of women, gifted storyteller Donald McCaig reveals a nuanced portrait of Mammy, at once a proud woman and a captive, a strict disciplinarian who has never experienced freedom herself. Through it all, Mammy endures, a rock in the river of time.

Set against the backdrop of the South from the 1820s until the dawn of the Civil War, here is a remarkable story of fortitude, heartbreak, and indomitable will—and a tale that will forever illuminate your reading of Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind.

About the Author


Donald McCaig is the award-winning author of Canaan as well as Jacob’s Ladder, designated “the best Civil War novel ever written” by the Virginia Quarterly. It won the Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Library of Virginia Award for Fiction. He was chosen by the Margaret Mitchell estate to write Rhett Butler’s People, an authorized sequel to Gone with the Wind. He lives on a sheep farm in the mountains near Williamsville, Virginia, where he writes fiction, essays, and poetry, and trains and trials sheep dogs.

Praise For…


“Exquisitely imagined, deeply researched, Donald McCaig's Ruth's Journey brings to the foreground the most enigmatic and fascinating figure in Gone With the Wind. This is a brave work of literary empathy by a writer at the height of his powers, who demonstrates a magisterial understanding of the period, its clashing cultures and its heartbreaking crises.”
— Geraldine Brooks, author of March

“Rich with sympathyand telling prose…McCaig’s prequel proves engaging and satisfying,”
— Richmond Times-Dispatch

"A much-needed fleshing out of one of the original book’s three major characters."
— Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Praise for Rhett Butler's People

"Pierces the mystery in which Mitchell shrouded Rhett Butler... The new story has its own integrity... [A] fine novel."
— The New York Times

"A must-read for Gone With the Wind fans."
— People

"McCaig creates a convincting backstory and has a real feel for men and the tensions between fathers, sons, friends and soldiers, aqs well as the nuances of Southern honor... The novel focuses on Rhett's point of view and explains exactly where he got his dash."
— USA Today

"A work of genuine literary aspiration that attempts to fill in the psychological blanks behind one of the most captivating enigmas in romantic fiction."
— The Guardian

"An engrossing update of Gone with the Wind that fans of the original will definitely give a damn about."
— Publishers Weekly

More praise for the novels of Donald McCaig

"Captures the details of wartime Virginia with stunning force... Think Gone With the Wind; think Cold Mountain."
— People

"This is a tale of courage, cowardice, death, life, growth, war, violence, redemption, and finally, love and compassion... A gentle compelling story."
— The Washington Post

"The finest novel about the Civil War ever written."
— Virginia Quarterly

"McCaig's prose is gorgeous...One of the best Civil War novels...Stunning."
— Houston Chronicle

" [McCaig] combines a farmer's eye for the natural world, a poet's ear for language, and the narrative flair of a bred-in-the-bone storyteller. The result is a novel that is credible, compelling, and humane."
— Geraldine Brooks, author of March

"McCaig has spun pure gold."
— Dayton Daily News

"Tantalizing. A flawless orchestration... Masterful... A model of concision, unshowy research and the easy authority of a novelist work with material he intuitively gets."
— Washington Post Book World


Product Details
ISBN: 9781451643541
ISBN-10: 1451643543
Publisher: Atria Books
Publication Date: August 4th, 2015
Pages: 400
Language: English