Original Scarlett O'Hara

Finally, a book has been published that answers the question: What came of Scarlett O'Hara after Rhett Butler rebuked her with: "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

This is the first nonfiction book that answers the question based on actual circumstantial evidence. Unlike other books whose authors used their imaginations and concocted fantasy plots, "Original Scarlett O'Hara" by Nancy Smith examines the parallels of the lives and personalities of the fictional Scarlett and the historic Empress Eugenie of France. Then it projects how the remainder of Rhett and Scarlett's lives would have played out based on Scarlett's similarities to Eugenie as described throughout Margaret Mitchell's novel.

"Original Scarlett O'Hara" lists 35 commonalities between Scarlett and Eugenie. Among these are that each doggedly pursued an elusive man; each kept a secret photo of that man in a private drawer; each had a child that died young; both Rhett Butler and Eugenie bought hats on the chic rue de la Paix shopping street in Paris; and Scarlett even named her daughter "Eugenie Victoria" after Empress Eugenie and Queen Victoria before the baby was nicknamed "Bonnie Blue Butler".