Rhett Butler's People

As a huge fan of Gone With the Wind, I ate up the sequel Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley, which came out in 1992. When I heard about Donald McCaig's Rhett Butler's People, I was the first one on the hold list at my library. It was....OK. I will admit now that I didn't finish it. I read about half and it just didn't hold my attention. The story wasn't bad, it just wasn't what I expected or wanted. I thought it would be GWTW told from Rhett's point of view, with more insight into Rhett's background. It is, for the most part. But chapters jump around to different characters, such as Belle Watling, Melanie Wilkes, Rhett's sister and friends. And there are parts of the story where Rhett is completely absent. I guess that's why it's Rhett Bulter's People. Maybe I wanted more Rhett and less People. We do get some insight into Rhett's upbringing and how he got the reputation of a scoundrel. Of course, Rhett really is a good man, just misunderstood and misjudged (but we all knew that). But maybe what is so attractive about Rhett in GWTW is that we don't know much about him, and that makes him mysterious. Maybe it's the idea that he is a bit of a scoundrel. Take that away and what do you have? A really long novel that can't keep my attention.