A New York Times Bestselling AuthorAuthorized by the Margaret Mitchell Estate, here is the first-ever prequel to one of the most beloved and bestselling novels of all time.On a Caribbean island consumed by the flames of revolution, a senseless attack leaves only one survivor ? an infant girl. Two French emigres take the beautiful child they call Ruth to the bustling American city of Savannah. What follows is the sweeping tale of Ruth's life, set against the backdrop of the South from the 1820s until the dawn of the Civil War ? a remarkable story of fortitude, heartbreak, and indomitable will.