Margaret Mitchell & John Marsh: The Love Story Behind Gone With the Wind Paperback – Special Edition, June 7, 2011

I read this right after finishing Southern Daughter and I thought it was a much better book. The love story was very touching and I didn't get a sense of this profound and devoted union at all in Southern Daughter. While both books pointed out the flaws and shortcomings of this famous author this one handled it with much more truth and compassion in my opinion. It was much more intimately researched and had lots of charming letters I have not seen elsewhere. I came away from this book very fond of Peggy and John and Southern Daughter made them unlikable which was unfortunate and in my opinion not true.

This book is an absolute must-read for those of us who loved "Gone With the Wind." There are several other biographies of the book's author, Margaret Mitchell, but none that deal this extensively with the extraordinary relationship with her husband, the late John Marsh. It is an extraordinary and totally unique love story like no other that I have ever read. And that very special relationship explains so much about the book and the movie and how they came to be. I loaned the book to a friend who also loved the movie, and they were equally fascinated.By developing a close, personal relationship with John's surviving family members, the author was able to convince them to share enormously insightful letters from Margaret that she had asked them to destroy.Both Margaret and John had extensive newspaper backgrounds. So the author's revelation that a number of people -- including their newspaper colleague and friend Ralph McGill, former editor of the competing Atlanta Constitution -- were convinced that John actually wrote some parts of the book is especially interesting. . . and that Margaret herself was so worried about that speculation that her will stipulated that John should burn the original manuscript after her death. .Evidence produced by this author seems to strongly suggest that John, with his professional editing experience, undoubtedly did help Margaret by doing some rather extensive editing -- and that he may indeed have suggested some of the wording. But the author leaves little doubt that the sweeping story of the Old South and of General Sherman's burning of Atlanta, and the colorful characters, and the amazing grasp of Southern history was all Margaret's doing. .The book both opens and closes with the utterly heart-breaking scene where John (after Margaret's death), amidst his tears, feeds the original manuscript of one of the world's best-known books into a trash burner in the backyard and then collapses in grief, sobbing inconsolably, as the priceless manuscript is consumed by the flames. The scene -- which serves as bookends for the story of their life together -- is gut-wrenching.and unforgettable . . . just as gut-wrenching as the closing scene in the movie when Rhett Butler walks out of the broken-hearted Scarlett O'Hara's life, and she says "I'll go home to Tara. For, after all, tomorrow is another day."..

One of the greatest books ever written was "Gone with the Wind." This story about Margaret Mitchell the author and her second husband John Marsh, is delightful. I have heard negative feedback. However, I tend to go with my own "I can't put it down" feeling as I am reading. This is one of the few books that I have read in the past 5 years. I had to read it from cover to cover. I also decide to make it one of my own. I will share with other's as several of us borrow books back and forth. Worth a read it you are a fan of "Gone with the Wind," books about the south or want to learn more about Margaret. I loved how she used pieces of the book as a furniture leveler. Very entertaining. A real pager turner!

Excellent biography of Margaret Mitchell and her husband, John Marsh. Welll written, thoroughly researched and cited accordingly. A joy to read. Both Mitchell and Marsh come alive on the pages, and I was actually quite sad when they both died. Even though they lived and died well before I was even born, it was such a pleasure to read about their lives and how GWTW was written. Thank you, Mrs. Walker, for your labor of love!

Marianne Walker has done her homework, sifting through personal letters, first-hand accounts and artifacts of John Marsh and Margaret Mitchell to document their great love story. The penned voice of Margaret Mitchell's letters could have been written by Scarlet herself; "Peggy" gloats of her success in driving young bachelors mad, brags of her provocative antics and openly reveals her self-centered and childish motives. The author gives a more flattering portrait of John Marsh, describing him in heroic terms -- patient, wise and devoted.The book goes into too much detail at times and is a long read. But it is worth the investment to discover the real woman and man behind Gone With The Wind. Their story makes the shifting social landscape of the Old South tangible in a way that goes beyond fiction.

This is a book anyone who has ever read Gone with the Wind or seen the movie must read this amazing story about Margaret Mitchell and her husband John Marsh and all they went through during the time she was writing the book Gone with the Wind and all they went through after the movie came out it is a love story that you must read.

I bought this for my mother, who is an avid reader and a fan (but not an over the top fan) of Gone with the Wind. She thoroughly enjoyed this book and called me several times while she was reading it to tell me so. She loaned it to a few friends who also enjoyed, then ended up donating it to our local (small town) library as she didn't want to keep it to herself! She reads 2 -3 books a week and went on and on about how interesting this was.

Margaret Mitchell's own love story accentuated the movie. She was able to create such a romantic story because she was leading such a romantic life herself.