Gone with the Wind (novel) Gone with the Wind (novel) Gone with the Wind is a novel by American writer Margaret Mitchell, first published in 1936. The story is set in Clayton County and Atlanta, both in Georgia, during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era. 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". This historical novel features a "Bildungsroman" or coming-of-age story, with the title taken from a poem written by Ernest Dowson. "Gone
Gone with the Wind (novel) paperback edition featuring the book's original jacket art. The Windies are ardent "Gone with the Wind" fans who follow all the latest news and events surrounding the book and film. They gather periodically in costumes from the film or dressed as Margaret Mitchell. Atlanta, Georgia is their meeting place. One story of the legacy of "Gone with the Wind" is that people worldwide incorrectly think it was the "true story" of the Old South and how it was changed by the American Civil War and Reconstruction. The film adaptation of the novel "amplified this effect." The plantation legend was "burned"