Customer Reviews

Margaret Mitchell and John Marsh: The Love Story Behind Gone With the Wind

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I have been a GWTW fan since I was 12. This book is a must for GWTW fans and anyone else as well. This book gives us a peek into the writing process and what instant fame and forture can do to a person. It also tells us of interesting facts about Margaret Mitchell, her husband John, and their families. This story is told partially through letters saved by friends and families. A wonderful insight to that era of GWTW's initial popularity.

I felt that Margaret Mitchell's family was part of my own, and hated to see the book end. Am reading it now for the second time. Would love to communicate with Marianne Walker, direct. Just finished reading Darden Asbury Pyron's SOUTHERN DAUGHTER and it has made me so MAD. There are so many contradictions in it with the Walker version and I choose to believe Marianne! As you can see, I am a devoted Margaret Mitchell fan and have tried to read every thing I could throughout the years. I look forward to learning if Marianne Walker is available to the "general" public, like me.

I had tried reading "Southern Daughter" numerous times and could never get very far. So I was stoked when I found out about this biography. Less than 100 pages in, I finally got rid of "SD" and kept on reading. It is amazing that this book was inspired by Marianne Walker's being asked to give a lecture on a book she had never read. When she read the dedication page (To J. R. M.), she went in search of more information on this J. R. M. and this book is the result.

This love story is truly amazing and one that I'm sure many people would envy. I was a little surprised at how unsympathetic Margaret (Peggy) was. They really were a perfectly matched pair: Peggy was the type of girl/woman who needed to be taken care of and supported while John was the type who took care of other people. It would appear that he never resented the many "illnesses" Peggy came down with nor did he seem to mind working long hours to support them when a second income was very needed.

I didn't know much about Margaret Mitchell before I read this book, so I was quite surprised at how like Scarlett she was. I had some idea the amount of research that went into the writing and publishing of the book and the resulting headaches from foreign copyrights after reading Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind Letters, 1936-1949. [Subtitle]: Edited by Richard Harwell (which was a Fabulous read! Many of the letters written by Peggy that were included in the biography made it into this book of letters. [I wrote a review if anyone's interested]), but if I wasn't taking pain medication for my ankle, I would have gotten a headache reading about all of the problems they had dealing with other countries wanting to steal her book. It is also amazing the extent of the intrusion that was inflicted upon them once the book was published. I found myself getting angry as I read about the gall of some people. Being a private person myself, I felt for John and Peggy as they were bombarded at literally all hours of the night and day with phone calls, visitors (mostly strangers), interview requests, etc.

I loved that this book drew upon countless letters written by Peggy, John Marsh, family members, friends, and people who had anything to do with publishing the book and making the movie. It is amazing the amount of work John put into "GWTW" - not only editing, but researching; he looked over contracts, dealt with business correspondence, did the lion's share of the copyright mess, and took care of Peggy. He wanted to make sure Peggy wouldn't be bothered by any of the problems he took upon himself to resolve.

This book is basically a love story ... It just happens to involve the author of "Gone With The Wind" and her husband.

Like a novel in itself, this lively narrative tells the captivating tale of Miss Margaret Mitchell's rise to debutante status in an Atlanta still recovering from the stamp of Sherman's boots. It takes you reeling through WWI, the flapper years, the Great Depression, and into WWII, collecting tragic anecdotes along the way.

The book covers Margaret's encounters/romances with Red Upshaw (football player, bootlegger, first husband, and supposed inspiration for Rhett Butler), John Marsh (Kentucky editor, shy soul, second husband and soul mate), Clifford Henry (World War I soldier, first fiance, and apparent inspiration for Ashley Wilkes), Allen Edee (college pal, "gentlem'n friend," Bolshevik chatterer, letter correspondent, and another believed template for Rhett Butler) - as well as her journey from bold writer to diffident, world famous author.

This book isn't like any biography I've ever read. Margaret Mitchell lived an epic drama.

Margaret Mitchell's own love story accentuated the movie. She was able to create such a romantic story because she was leading such a romantic life herself.