• Scarlett’s father Gerald was from Ireland and her mother, Ellen, was from Georgia.

• Scarlett was the most popular girl in the entire county and had every boy chasing her except her love Ashley.

• Scarlett finds out from the Tarleton twins that Ashley is going to announce his engagement to his cousin Melanie at the barbecue at Twelve Oaks.

• Scarlett plans to tell Ashley that she loves him to keep him from marrying Melanie.

• Scarlett attracts all of the boys at the barbecue except Ashley.

• In a deep and moving conversation in the Twelve Oaks library, Scarlett confesses her love, but is rejected by Ashley.

• A scoundrel named Rhett Butler overhears the conversation and accuses Scarlett of not being a lady.

• Georgia succeeds from the Union and the men all go to enlist.

• Scarlett is so upset about Ashley that she agrees to marry his cousin Charles, just to spite him.

• Two months after Charles leaves, he dies in Virginia of the measles without ever seeing combat.

• Scarlett gives birth to Charles’ son and names him Wade after Charles’ commanding officer.

• Scarlett hates being a widow because she can’t socialize or even smile and she hates being a mother.

• Scarlett goes to visit Melanie and her Aunt Pittypat in Atlanta. She enjoys the bustle of the social life in Atlanta and serves on several hospital committees.

• Scarlett works in the hospital several times a week and hates it. Being a widow, she is not allowed to fraternize with the soldiers in recovery.

• The hospital holds a ball to raise money and Scarlett and Melanie get to go and work one of the booths, even though they are in mourning.

• Rhett Butler, who had become a Captain and a famous blockade runner, shows up at the ball, making Scarlett very nervous.

• In an auction, Rhett bids a generous sum of money to dance with Scarlett. She accepts and is talked about by everyone in town.

• Rhett called on Scarlett whenever he was in Atlanta.

• Scarlett hates working in the hospital more and more as the war goes on. It always reeked of death and disease.

• Ashley returned to Atlanta for Christmas Scarlett didn’t get a chance to be alone with him until just before he left. He made her promise to take care of Melanie.

• Atlanta is being evacuated, but Scarlett and Melanie can’t leave because Melanie is too sick from being pregnant.

• Scarlett has to deliver Melanie’s baby because Dr. Meade is too busy at the hospital.

• After the baby is delivered, Rhett helps Scarlett, Melanie, and the baby out of Atlanta.

• After they get away from the city, Rhett leaves Scarlett with the buggy and leaves to join the army. Before he leaves, he gives her a kiss.

• Scarlett heads home to Tara.

• The road is difficult on the baby and on the rest of them, especially Melanie, who is sick. Food is hard to come by and there are no homes left standing that they can reach.

• Scarlett finally got home and found Tara still standing. The only reason it was still there was because Sherman had used it as his personal headquarters.

• Scarlett was told that her mother had died and her sisters were sick with typhoid.

• All of the cotton and gardens were destroyed and the house had been looted.

• The following months were difficult and required everyone to work extremely hard to even survive.

• Scarlett made a vow that she would never be hungry again.

• One day, a Yankee deserter wandered into the house, trying to loot it. Scarlett shot him in the face with Charles’ pistol.

• Melanie, still sick, ran downstairs with Charles’ sword, saw the dead Yankee and suggested they search his pockets.

• They found enough money to buy food for a little while.

• More Yankees came to Tara and tried to burn it down, but they were unsuccessful.

• Tara became a shelter for many wounded or straggling Confederate soldiers.

• One man named Will (who was missing a leg) came and gradually took over the logistics of Tara.

• A letter from Ashley came and Melanie got considerably better.

• Ashley came to Tara, but was little help because he couldn’t even do simple chores like chop wood.

• Ashley confessed to Scarlett that he loved her, but could not run away with her because of his honor.

• The former overseer of Tara, whom Ellen had dismissed for his unscrupulous behavior, had become a carpetbagger.

• He stopped by to speak to the family and announced that he was going to buy the land, either then or when it went up for auction after they couldn’t pay their inflated taxes.

• Scarlett had no way of raising the tax money, so she made a dress out of some old curtains and went to see Rhett in prison.

• Rhett was in jail because the Yankees wanted his money.

• Scarlett had to say she was his sister in order to see him. She lied and said how much she had missed him to try to weasel the money out of him. He saw through the ruse and laughed at her.

• Rhett couldn’t give the money to Scarlett because that would give away where it was and they would take it all.

• So, Scarlett married Suellen’s beau, Frank Kennedy, who was well off with his own business to get the money.

• Scarlett and Frank were very well off, so she bought a lumber mill to make more money.

• The mill was an astounding success due to some crooked manipulating by Scarlett.

• Scarlett was so successful that she bought another mill and made as much money as before.

• Scarlett became pregnant again, but didn’t stop work until she had to.

• She had a girl named Ella and wanted to go back to work the day after she was born, but Frank put his foot down for the first time ever.

• Scarlett had to stay in the house for a couple of months, and she almost went crazy.

• Melanie sent a man to act as her chauffeur and chaperone so that she could be out and about again.

• Back at Tara, Gerald, who Suellen drove mad, broke his neck while trying to jump a fence on his horse.

• At his funeral, Will declared his intention to marry Suellen. Nobody challenged this, despite his poor upbringing, because they all liked him.

• Ashley decided to leave Tara to avoid Scarlett until Melanie convinced him to go back to Atlanta to run one of the mills.

• Careen joins a convent since her beau Brent Tarleton died.

• Scarlett insisted on driving herself through the bad streets to go to the mills.

• One day, while waiting for one of her former slaves, she is attacked by two robbers. Big Sam comes to her aide and takes her home.

• When Frank found out about the attack, he sent Scarlett to the Wilkes’ house because he had a meeting to go to.

• While Scarlett was away, Frank, Ashley, and other members of the Ku Klux Klan raided the shanty town where Scarlett had been attacked.

• Frank and another man were killed in the raid and Ashley was wounded.

• It was only by Rhett’s quick thinking that they weren’t all thrown into jail. He said that Ashley and the others were drunk and had been in town with prostitutes and that the girls would testify to that fact.

• With Frank gone, Rhett proposed to Scarlett the day of the funeral. Scarlett agreed only after he had kissed her so much that she didn’t know what else to do.

• The ring Rhett bought her was so big that it weighted down her hand.

• They honeymooned in New Orleans. When they came back, they stayed in a hotel while their house was being built.

• Scarlett kept the mills, even though they were terribly rich, because it was her only way to see Ashley alone.

• Scarlett became pregnant and they named their baby Bonnie Blue Butler, after her blue eyes and the Confederate flag. Rhett spoiled her rotten.

• On Ashley’s birthday, Scarlett and Ashley were talking about old times. Scarlett felt for a moment like she and Ashley were just friends and she gave him a hug. India Wilkes, who always knew that Scarlett loved Ashley, walked in and caught them and started spreading rumors.

• Rhett thought that Scarlett was cheating on him, so he made her dress terribly to go to a party. Melanie spoke in defense of Scarlett, so nobody questioned her anymore.

• Rhett was drunk when they got home and told Scarlett how much he loved her. He then practically raped her.

• Rhett took Bonnie on a trip to Europe, leaving Scarlett sad without her favorite child and her husband.

• Rhett returned and in a fight found out that Scarlett was pregnant. He told her to hope for a miscarriage and when she tried to hit him, she fell down the stairs, breaking a rib and killing the baby.

• Scarlett was sick for a long time, but a trip to Tara improved her condition.

• Rhett tricked Scarlett into selling the mills to Ashley and Scarlett said that losing the mills was like selling one of her children.

• Bonnie had become a good rider and wanted to jump a fence. Rhett eventually agreed. Bonnie ran toward the fence, was thrown off and broke her neck.

• Rhett at first wouldn’t let Bonnie be buried, but Melanie convinced him to.

• Scarlett went on a trip to try and forget her troubles, but came home when she heard Melanie was dying because she had again become pregnant.

• Scarlett promised to watch over Beau and Ashley and to be good to Rhett.

• Scarlett realizes in talking to Ashley that she loves Rhett, not Ashley and never really did.

• When she went home to tell Rhett, he thought that since Melanie died, Scarlett would try to marry Ashley. He didn’t believe that she loved him and said that he didn’t care about her.

• Scarlett tried to think of what to do and could only think of returning home to Tara.

• She closes out the book with the famous line: