Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell

This is the best book I have read in a long time, it is a magnificent story and an absolute pleasure to read. The scope of the novel is huge, it spans over 10 years before, during and after the American Civil War.
We follow Scarlet O'Hara as she wills her way through war, poverty and society's disapproval fuelled by a powerful selfishness. She is a difficult character, she is unlikeable and incomparably selfish, but it is difficult not to admire and root for someone so driven and strong. She is eminently practical and unsentimental. She is fascinating.
Scarlett is the daughter of a plantation owner and race-relations is a huge part of the novel. It's worth saying that the way the novel handles race is very difficult, the opinions held by the protagonists are not ok and make for uncomfortable reading.