Rhett Butler's People

Get inside Rhett's head as he meets and courts Scarlett in one of the most famous love affairs of all time... -- The New York Times

McCaig creates a convincing back story and has a real feel for men and the tensions between fathers, sons, friends and soldiers, as 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

In McCaig's capable hands, Margaret Mitchell's mystery man is still handsome and daring but fitted with a plausible backstory and human frailties...-- Roanoke Times

McCaig is a bred-in-the bones storyteller. --Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks

Rhett Butler's People broadens the canvas, giving Rhett new dueling and blockade-running adventures, and adding intriguing characters like Confederate cavalier-turned-Klansman Andrew Ravanel, a rancid version of Ashley Wilkes who romances Rhett's sister, Rosemary. McCaig paints a richer, darker panorama of a Civil War-era South, where poor whites seethe with resentment, and slavery and racism are brutal facts of life that an instinctive gentleman like Rhett can work around but not openly challenge. McCaig thus imparts a Faulknerian tone to the saga that sharpens Mitchell's critique of Southern nostalgia without losing the epic sweep and romantic pathos. The result is an engrossing update of Gone With the Wind that fans of the original will definitely give a damn about. --Publishers Weekly

McCaig has taken on a monumental task in attempting to augment the mythology of such a well-loved story...While remaining largely faithful to Mitchell's framework, he has made the story of Butler his own. -- The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)

In Gone With the Wind, Butler was mysterious, and that added to his allure. Here, we learn more about his background: about his harsh, unforgiving father; his long-suffering mother; his own wild ways.In some ways, this Rhett is a kinder, gentler sort than the one readers loved...
-- Tampa Tribune

This astonishing novel parallels Gone with the Wind, adding new dimensions to the timeless love story. -- Woodstock Sentinel-Review