Gone with the Wind

About the book

Gone with the Wind is a novel written by Margaret Mitchell, first published in 1936. The story is set in Clayton County, Georgia, and Atlanta during the American Civil War and Reconstruction. It depicts the experiences of Scarlett O'Hara, the spoiled daughter of a well-to-do plantation owner, who must use every means at her disposal to come out of the poverty she finds herself in after Sherman's "March to the Sea." A historical novel, the story is a Bildungsroman or coming-of-age story, with the novel's title taken from a poem written by the British poet, Ernest Dowson. Gone with the Wind was popular with American readers from the onset and was the top American fiction bestseller in the year it was published and again in 1937. As of 2008, a Harris poll found it to be the second favorite book by American readers, just behind the Bible. Its portrayal of slavery and African Americans is controversial. The novel has been absorbed into American popular culture.