Scarlett is dismayed to learn that the man for whom she harbors a secret love, her county neighbor Ashley Wilkes, is set to announce his engagement to his cousin Melanie Hamilton.
She is described in the book's opening sentence as "not beautiful" but in possession of a powerful ability to charm and attract men. The oldest of the three O'Hara daughters, 16-year-old Scarlett is willful, witty, and intelligent though uninterested in schooling. The story begins on April 15, 1861, on a plantation owned by the family of wealthy Irish immigrant Gerald O'Hara. The novel opens on the eve of a rebellion in which seven southern states – including Georgia – declared their secession from the United States (the " Union") over a desire to continue the institution of slavery, which was the economic engine of the South. Gone with the Wind takes place in the state of Georgia during the American Civil War (1861–1865) and the Reconstruction Era (1865–1877).
Gone with the Wind is a controversial reference point for subsequent writers of the South, both black and white. More than 30 million copies have been printed worldwide. As of 2014, a Harris poll found it to be the second favorite book of American readers, just behind the Bible. Gone with the Wind was popular with American readers from the outset and was the top American fiction bestseller in 19.
This historical novel features a coming-of-age story, with the title taken from the poem "Non Sum Qualis eram Bonae Sub Regno Cynarae", written by Ernest Dowson. It depicts the struggles of young Scarlett O'Hara, the spoiled daughter of a well-to-do plantation owner, who must use every means at her disposal to claw her way out of poverty following Sherman's destructive " March to the Sea". The story is set in Clayton County and Atlanta, both in Georgia, during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era. Gone with the Wind is a novel by American writer Margaret Mitchell, first published in 1936.
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