Ruth's Journey: The Story of Mammy from Gone With the Wind

Summary (from the publisher): Set against the backdrop of the American South from the 1820s until the dawn of the Civil War, Ruth's Journey sweeps from the island of Saint-Domingue to Savannah to Charleston and finally to Tara, bringing to vivid life one of the most intriguing supporting characters in all of literature; Mammy from Gone With the Wind. From her early years as the beautiful young companion to a strong-willed French émigré mistress to her brief marriage to the love of her life and finally to her life's calling as wise and devoted caretaker to the women of the Robillard and O'Hara families, Ruth knows days full of both joy and unspeakable sadness. She is a rock in the river of time, never abandoning those in her charge and never forgetting those lost to her in the ravages of her days.

 

Ruth's Journey, authorized by the Margaret Mitchell estate, is a magnificent literary achievement inspired by one of the most passionately adored American novels of all time.

 

Review: I received an uncorrected proof copy of this book as a giveaway on Goodreads.

 

Reminding me so much of Wide Sargasso Sea, written as a prequel to Jane Eyre, Ruth's Journey serves as a prequel to Gone With the Wind. In this novel, the reader learns about one of the strong supporting characters of Margaret Mitchell's famous novel - Mammy. Mammy's story begins as she is discovered as a small child among the remains of her family of runaway slaves. Her new owner and mistress - Solange, a French émigré - names her Ruth. "Since Ruth spoke French, Solange supposed her family had included house servants. Solange never asked: her Ruth was born the day she came to Solange" (24).

 

Ruth travels to Savannah with Solange, eventually becoming a young mammy to Solange's children. But she gives up her relatively easy existence to marry Jehu, a free colored, and move to Charleston. After her husband's tragic death, Ruth abandons all aspirations of personal happiness and truly assumes the identity of Mammy. "I ain't Mrs. Jehu Glen no more. I ain't even Ruth. I'ze Mammy!" (208). After serving for another family for some time, she returns to Solange, to become Mammy to her youngest daughter, Ellen. Ellen, of course, would grow up to marry Gerald O'Hara and they would have three daughters, the oldest of which is Miss Katie Scarlett O'Hara.

 

Mammy is given a crucial role by McCaig in cementing Scarlett's love for Tara. "I bury Miss Katie's cord outside kitchen door so Tara be Katie Scarlett's home evermore." Likewise, Mammy describes Katie Scarlett as being a strong personality from birth; "Baby got most of who she gonna be as old, old woman when she first open she baby eyes. Some baby quiet. Miss Katie can't lie still: tiny feets and hands all the time goin'" (288).

 

Ruth's story allows the reader to see the history behind Tara and behind Scarlett's family. The early years of Ellen O'Hara's efforts to transform Tara into a respectable plantation home is witnessed by Mammy, as is Katie Scarlett's turbulent childhood and ultimate choice to transition into the Scarlett Gone With the Wind fans know and love. Serving three generations of Scarlett's family has made Mammy wise, as well as being a fount of knowledge about the family history.

 

I think McCaig does a good job of conveying the confines of how Mammy feels being a slave. Although she is a privileged house servant and oversees the children, Mammy is conscious of her place and the limitations to her rights. "'You gots to smile,' she said. 'World treat you better if you smiles. You got to hide whatever you truly feelin', child. They kills you if you don't smile.'" (169). As her charges grow, Mammy must transition from adult authority into obedient servant. "I say yes'm and yes'm and my won't that be nice, but everything changed betwixt us. She Mistress now and I Mammy. Same like she never lay in my arms and I never changed her nappy. I gots to smile and like it 'cause that how it am" (265).

 

I did find it odd that the first half of the narrative is written in third person, and is largely from Solange's perspective, not Ruth's. Ruth as a child is an enigma. Her thoughts and dreams are not available to the reader. Yet as Ruth becomes an adult, the narrative transitions to a first person account. Ruth's dialect becomes full force and the reader is privy to her private thoughts. I also found McCaig's choice to give Ruth second sight odd. Ruth sees a "mist" around those soon to die.

 

Fans looking for just another chapter of Gone With the Wind will be disappointed. While this novel does contribute to the back story of Gone With the Wind, is has its own distinct narrative voice and Tara and Scarlett do not appear until well after the second half of the novel. In many ways, this novel could be read without any knowledge of Scarlett or Tara. This is truly Mammy's story.

 

Stars: 3