turns 80

Atlanta native Margaret Mitchell’s bestselling novel, “Gone With the Wind,” is 80 this year. Written mostly while she lived in a tiny apartment at the corner of Crescent Avenue and 10th Street (which is now the Margaret Mitchell House), the novel went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1937 and was turned into a Hollywood blockbuster film in 1939. Mitchell’s tale of the Old South’s final bow during the Civil War as seen through the eyes of fiery heroine Scarlett O’Hara was her only novel, and she shunned the fame that it brought her. Today, the novel is viewed through a more critical lens. Some consider it a masterpiece, while many regard the book as a racist relic of the South with its stereotypical and derogatory depiction of slaves. A recent Harris/Nielsen poll found “Gone With the Wind” to be American readers second favorite book just behind the Bible. More than 30 million copies have been printed worldwide.

The Margaret Mitchell House, 979 Crescent Ave. NE, Atlanta 30309, offers guided tours throughout the week. For more info, visit atlantahistorycenter.com, click Explore, Destinations, Margaret Mitchell House.