Frankly, my dear

I just found out that another sequel to “Gone With the Wind” (one of my all-time favorite books) is going to be published this fall. It’s not technically a sequel but more of a retelling of the story from Rhett Butler’s point of view, covering a longer time period than the original book. It sounds like it has decent potential - hopefully it will be more of a literary success than the first sequel, “Scarlett,” which was sort of enjoyable but mostly disappointing.

In my last post, I forgot to mention one book that I did finish recently: “When the World Was Steady,” by Claire Messud. The reason I forgot is probably that it was not a very memorable book. It’s about two estranged middle-aged sisters who are each trying to escape their personal crises - one flees to Bali after a messy divorce, the other takes a holiday to Skye (Scotland) with her mother after having a breakdown at work. The story did offer some interesting insights about relationships and self-discovery, but I wouldn’t say it was one of my favorite reads. I picked it up mainly because I really liked Claire Messud’s recent novel, “The Emperor’s Children.” I found that one more relatable (it’s about a group of twenty-something Brown alumni living in NYC in 2001), and the writing was really beautiful.