RUTH'S JOURNEY: THE STORY OF MAMMY FROM GONE
WITH THE WIND by Donald McCaig
Though
the book is related by Ruth (Mammy), the story is really Solange and Miss Ellen’s
story. You might ask “Who is
Solange?” Solange is Scarlett’s
grandmother, but you won’t find her in Gone with the Wind.
Solange
is a French heiress who is married off to a second son with prospects in sugar. She arrives in Haiti to find the sugar
plantation in disarray and the second son a poor manager. Ruth is an orphan that Solange appropriates
for herself. When the Haitian slave
revolt becomes a dangerous reality, Solange, her husband and Ruth decamp to Charleston,
South Carolina.
Here
Ruth finds love and marriage in Jehu, a free black. Unfortunately Jehu finds Pastor
Vesey and his church of slaves. When
Vesey’s plot to overthrow and murder white slave holders is discovered, Ruth’s
family is shattered and the story changes location to Savannah. Here Solange marries for a third time and gives
birth to Ellen, Scarlett’s mother.
The
last quarter of the book covers Miss Ellen and Gerald O”Hara’s marriage and
life at Tara. The book ends with the outbreak of the Civil War.
The
book is well written and follows a pre-ordained curve to introduce us to
Scarlett and attempt to give us a back story for why Scarlett is who she is. Actual
events and people give a feeling of reality to the novel that is a bit too long.
Too much of the book deals with Solange and her amorous adventures. If you are looking for a novel of pre-Civil
War manners, you will be happy. If you really want to know Ruth and a slave’s
life, this is not the book for you.
3
of 5 stars
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