Having waited a number of years to read this book (it was an LibraryThing Early Reviewer book that I won in 2008 but never received), I'm quite glad I waited. I didn't particularly enjoy Gone With the Wind and that may have helped me enjoy this more than I otherwise would have.

I agree with the other comments that the story is not particularly well written, and Scarlet seems to play a manic-depressive for much of the book (I'm a cow, now I'm an airhead, now I'm a super-cow, now I'm an airhead in love). If you take it as a seperate story from the original, then it works in its own right.

The plot follows Scarlet in the year after Gone With The Wind. Her sister is hiding a 'shameful' secret, and is quite ill, so Scarlet sacrifices her own happiness to look after her. Being a novel about Scarlet though, things keep twisting and turning until the very end. The end which, by the way, could have come straight from a 70s romance novel. Blurgh. At least the ending of the original was unique at the time.

Anyways, the story is not overly complex and provides an easy read. As I know absolutely nothing about American history, I wouldn't know if it was in any way accurate, but it had enough descriptive text in there to keep me interested without describing every dollop of mud that she walks through.

All in all, an average read. But I can see it would be below-average if you were expecting something in the exact style of Margaret Mitchell. ( )

This is a terrible book. No review has yet said what a truly awful reading experience reading this clumsy, inept, long-winded (no pun intended) and laughable story actually is. It's not just that the author made the choice to bring back several dead characters from GONE WITH THE WIND to participate in her story... or put certain living characters into situations that never would have happened in 19th century America or Great Britain... and it's not just the third-rate romance novel dialogue that the characters speak... it's also that the plot is so poorly constructed and poorly executed. My mouth fell open on the first capitalization of the word "typhoid", and the author's skills never improved from there. Not unliike Ms. Pinotti's version of Scarlett, I needed a "shot of Brandy" after reading this tripe.

Believe me, I never thought that GONE WITH THE WIND was some untouchable pinnacle of excellence. I was prepared to be generous and honestly thought that the Mitchell Estate was being hard on Ms. Pinotti, getting her book banned in the U.S. But, having gone to the trouble (and considerable expense) to obtain and to read THE WINDS OF TARA -- the Mitchell Estate was right all along. ( )

was sent this book by LibraryThing.

Total rubbish! Repetitive, badly edited, badly written. (For instance if someone is speaking, the dialogue often ends with 'and she rambled on'. The author clearly couldn't think of what the character should say next.) Frequent uses of the same turns of phrase, and I'm only up to Chapter 13, and it's been a plod to get there. Of course, this was a pre-press copy, so the number of typos could almost be ignored at this point, but the level of editing needed to be further down the track.

BUT, I looked it up on the internet, and the reviewer, after revealing pretty much the whole story, as well as the denouement, says:

The typos and errors of this "unedited" book were distracting as were the misspelled character names. All the original characters from the book are here, and are blended well with elements from the movie and the book.

Copies of the book are almost impossible to find, and the author herself was only able to obtain 1 copy. The Stephens Mitchell trust has blocked the publisher "Xlibris" from printing any more copies of the book. Contrary to reports about Borders, Barnes & Noble or any other booksellers taking orders for this book, there are NO copies available and the orders can not be filled. Since this book was printed in such a limited number before being banned, it is a very valuable & rare collectible for the serious GWTW collector. It is estimated that in years to come this book may be as valuable as a true first edition of GWTW, which can sell for upwards of $3,000. ( )

Did you really think that Scarlett O'Hara would have a peaceful life after the end of Gone With the Wind? Drama always seems to sweep over Scarlett, testing her mettle. And again we have Scarlett saying "fiddle dee dee" to the morales of the day, and in a battle over her beloved Tara, the time at odds with herself over Rhett. It is an enjoyable sequel to the classic, and the dialogue "sounds" just like the Scarlett that we know and love. ( )

You will be surprisingly swept away by The Winds of Tara, assuming you can obtain a copy to read. It is unavailable in the United States. Due to copyright infringements and the lack of authorization from the Mitchell Trust, the book was pulled from bookstore shelves. Fortunately, since the copyright does not apply in Australia, diehard Gone With the Wind fans, can buy The Winds of Tara there, albeit having to pay high shipping costs.

Once I overcame the logistics of obtaining the book, it was well worth the wait and expense. I was held captive again by Scarlett and Rhett as I was as a teen.
Again, Tara is the rock that holds the family together and nothing is more sacred or valued more, than the lives and reputations of those who live there. It is delightful to enjoy the banter again between the Butler’s as they continue to prove they are truly made for each other. Neither trusting each other, both madly in love with each other, both stubborn and unyielding. Without the Civil War as the backdrop, Scarlett is busy trying to save her marriage and recover her reputation as well as maintaining the social status of the family name.

Katherine Pinotti has succeeded in masterfully matching the tone, style, dialect and personalities of the original characters created so lovingly by Margaret Mitchell. It is obvious that the author took great care when writing the sequel to maintain a continuum that would be believable and have the same passion as the original. Her success should be celebrated as she has not altered the integrity of Mitchell’s novel, nor has she detracted from the novel’s birthright. On the contrary, Pinotti, has enhanced the legacy of Gone With the Wind by breathing a new soul into a story fans have yearned to hear.

Although it has been said that Mitchell never intended a sequel, many have attempted to provide a resolution to GWTW. Scarlett written in 1991 was rather dull and disappointing. Recently, Rhett Butler’s People, by David McCraig out in stores, provides another perspective. Both of these sequels were authorized despite Margaret Mitchell’s wishes. Another version bestselling, The Wind Done Gone by Alice Randall is from the slave’s perspective. This book was allowed to be sold only after a court decision ruled in favor of the author.

Katherine Pinotti’s version fulfills an enormous void for those fans who wish to reclaim the magic of Tara. The Winds of Tara is an astounding success. It will captivate your attention and you will believe.

“God’s nightgown!”, as Scarlett would say.
It is such a waste to finally have a worthy sequel, and not be able to support the demand for anyone wanting to read the book in the US. If you loved Gone With the Wind, you must send for The Winds of Tara today. ( )