The Wind Done Gone: A Novel (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Today is the anniversary of my birth..." (more)
Key Phrases: cotton farm, Miss Priss, Dreamy Gentleman, Mealy Mouth (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

On April 20, barely a month before the scheduled publication of Randall's retelling of Gone with the Wind from a slave's perspective, a federal district court in Atlanta pulled the plug, ruling that the first-time author had engaged in "unabated piracy" in the crafting of her tale. Whether the book ever makes it into readers' hands, it stands as a spirited reimagination of Mitchell's world, dependent on its predecessor for its context but independent in form and voice. A slip of a tale next to the massive bulk of Mitchell's saga, it relies on tart social observations and imaginative language and, yes, titillating speculation (Ashley ["Dreamy Gentleman"] is gay; Rhett ["R."] betrayed Scarlett ("Other") the night their daughter died) for its appeal. Supplanting elite white Southern society with an elite Creole community, the novel features heroine Cynara (also called Cinnamon and Cindy), Other's mulatto half-sister and R.'s full-time concubine. Cynara is educated; she keeps a diary, through which she tells her story. Settled in a house of her own in Atlanta, she recalls her childhood and describes at length her resentment of her mother Mammy's preference for Other. Cynara has known misery (she was sold to the madam of a whorehouse), but also good fortune: later, she accompanied R. on a grand tour of Europe. After much dwelling on her past, she is finally happily distracted by a romance with a black congressman in Washington. Randall's account of the situation of slaves and mixed-race offspring in the antebellum South sometimes slides into a fantasy of empowerment, but her insights are frequent and sharp. Part playful fabrication, part bid for redemption, and full-on venture into our common literary past, her contested work is best defined as honest fiction.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Think of Margaret Mitchell's epic Gone with the Wind condensed and told from the perspectives of Mammy and the Tara slaves, and you have Randall's debut novel. This sometimes cryptic but always fascinating story is narrated by Cynara (also Cinnamon or Cindi), the daughter of a slave and a white plantation owner. As the story unfolds, we learn of Cynara's hatred of the white half-sister she calls Other and the privileges bestowed upon Other yet denied Cynara even though they are raised side by side. Both sisters vie for the attentions of Mammy (Cynara's mother and Other's nanny) as children, and for the love of the same man as adults. Through the eyes of Cynara and the other now freed slaves, we get unique perspectives of life on a Southern plantation and of the Reconstruction era. Randall, an established country songwriter, uses language and idiom to haunting and poetic effect. Fans of Toni Morrison's Beloved will enjoy this well-written historical fiction. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/01; a trust for Margaret Mitchell's heirs has filed an injunction to stop this book's publication as a violation of copyright. Ed.] Karen Traynor, Sullivan Free Lib., Chittenango, N.
- Karen Traynor, Sullivan Free Lib., Chittenango, NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1st ed/1st printing edition (June 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 061810450X
• ISBN-13: 978-0618104505
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (242 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #739,970 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, July 1, 2001

By	"minxkitty" (Chemeketa OR) - See all my reviews

Who in the publisher's house doesn't know the meaning of "parody"? This book is not a parody of "Gone with the Wind" but a moving companion piece to the GWTW world of Margaret Mitchell.

For almost seventy years, we have had Mitchell's view on the old South, the heroine Scarlett O'Hara and "Wind Done Gone" is an amazing work of fiction on the African-American point of view, its heroine, Cynara, Scarlett's half-sister.

The story is told in first person, stream of consciousness, which may be difficult for some to follow, as the author weaves back through Cynara's memories and revelations. Stream of consciousness isn't as straight-forward as a point by point, outlined presentation, but more realistic presents the human experience. I feel the author's style, presenting this as Cynara's diary is a wonderful way to tell this story.

There are some surprises along the way as Alice Randall gives detail to some of Mitchell's characters that were lesser characters to Scarlett and Rhett in GWTW. Not only the twists that change Mammy and Prissy from old derogitory stereotypes, but the detail she spins into the characters of Gerald and Ellen O'Hara, Scarlett's parents. Ellen, here called "Lady", is more interesting here than in the original, I think!

For those who are so affronted that a new frame of reference is given to a historical period, and a **work of fiction**-- well, no book is for "every one". However, look at any other real event in American history - in any country's history - in any one's life- and there is always more than one point of view!!! The original accounts of "Custer's Last Stand" from the Caucasian point of view were vastly different than the Native Americans' account of the battle. The American account of the final days of the defense of the Alamo are sharply contradicted by the Mexican accounts!

If anything, Alice Randall's book adds a richness to Mitchell's classic. And it means I can read GWTW and watch the movie without cringing when it comes to the depiction of the slaves.

I read the reviews on Amazon before I bought this book and have to say I enjoyed this book much more than I expected. Don't get so wrapped up in the mythos of GWTW that you forget that **it is a work of fiction, as is The Wind Done Gone** or that you forget that in art, as well as life, there is always more than one point of view, and the world is not just as it is seen by yourself and your culture!

34 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a parody or sequel, June 19, 2001

By A Customer

I am about 1/3 way through this book, and it is very intriguing. It is reminiscent of Gone With the Wind, which I know mostly from the movie. I read the book by Margaret Mitchell many years ago, however, I don't see this book as a parody at all, nor a sequel. It's a different perspective on the view of the South offered in Gone with The Wind. I think Ms. Randall is respectful of the characters Mitchell created, and it is sort of like following someone peeping into GWTW and is thinking "hmmm, wait I know there's a shadow behind that door, and a few skeletons to boot." I am enjoying the book, it's fascinating. It's in first person, the story of a mulatto woman, her feelings and her inner life, so certainly this is not found in GWTW at all, and I'm glad to be able to read this. It's good, I recommend it.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Something to make you think, July 30, 2002

By	"murrayj51" (Baton Rouge, LA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wind Done Gone: A Novel (Paperback)

Initially, I avoided this book because of all the newsworthy controversy surronding its publication. Having read it, I must agree it is controversial, sometimes funny, and very often sad. What makes this a worthwhile read is the thought provoking premise that Ms.Randall delicately shoves down the reader's throat.
Margaret Mitchell's GWTW is a stand-alone classic and its impact on literary and film history can hardly be demolished or demoralized by any subsequent work of fiction. However, The Wind Done Gone takes the reader beyond the facade of the ante-bellum and reconstructed South and poses the question 'what about the slaves?'
Randall's main character Cynara narrates this book through journal entries, giving the reader the opportunity to examine the grittier aspects of slave society (mulatto babies, slave markets, jealousy and manipulation) and the similarities of all people, irrespective of race (love, loss, and longing).
While Cynara's story is significantly shorter than her half-sister Scarlett O'Hara's it is no less real or touching.
This novel serves to remind readers and history that stories previously untold, are still worth telling.