The South will rise again this fall, with a Gone With The Wind prequel set to hit bookstores in October. Ruth’s Journey tells the story of Mammy, the slave-turned-servant played by Hattie McDaniel in the movie. Margaret Mitchell’s estate has authorized the prequel, which was written by Donald McCaig. McCaig is the author of one of two other GWTW sequels, Rhett Butler’s People, which came out in 2007.
According to the New York Times, Ruth’s Journey “begins in 1804, when Ruth is brought from her birthplace, the French colony of Saint-Domingue that is now known as Haiti, to Savannah, Ga.” While Mitchell was criticized for her one-dimensional portrayal of African-Americans in Gone With The Wind, McCaig’s book is an attempt to flesh out Mammy’s story and give the character a voice of her own. One-third of the book is told in Ruth’s own voice and dialect, while the other two-thirds are told in the third person.