As a fan of GWTW, I was very excited to find another work by Margaret Mitchell, albeit one written in her adolescence. This story is very entertaining and especially well written for a 16 year old. A novella, Lost Laysen is a tale of ship explorations in east Asia. The main characters were based on her friends--the heroine's name actually being the same as Mitchell's best friend, Courtenay Ross. Mitchell writes from the perspective of a rough and tough seaman, and pulls off an uber macho voice very well. While this story is not up to par with GWTW, the buddings of a great writer are present throughout Lost Laysen, particularly Mitchell's skills with dialogue and character development.

One glaring flaw of this novella, though, is the blatant racism. Unlike GWTW, which, to me, was trying to depict racist views of the "Old South" (how I hate that term!), Lost Laysen depicts anyone who is not white as villainous and untrustworthy. Treated with especial contempt is the main villain of the story, Juan Mardo, a person of Spanish and Japanese roots and referred to as "the half-breed." Now, obviously, Mitchell was trying to capture the way a white sailor would have talked by using degrading terms such as "Jap" and "Chink"; however, these characters are always evil. There is no person of worth who has any Asian ancestry. While this racism is difficult for a modern reader to excuse, it does supply us with an understanding of where racism comes from and provides insight into prejudices of her time. Debra Freer, the editor of this edition and a Mitchell scholar, includes an editor's note for further insight into why Mitchell would have written this way. A major point she makes is that this was written in 1916--the midst of World War I and amid highly scathing views of the Japanese. As the saying goes, the racism in this novella is as offensive as reality. Thus, this book is most useful as a historical document of the prejudices and hatred discussed and promoted around the impressionable teenage Margaret Mitchell.

In addition to providing GWTW fans with another text by Mitchell, this volume also includes a lengthy introduction about Margaret Mitchell and her friendship with Courtenay Ross and Henry Love Angel--the young boy whom Mitchell wrote this novella for. There are many pictures of Mitchell with Ross and Angel as well as her correspondence with him.

This book is a great supplement to anyone's enjoyment or study of Margaret Mitchell and GWTW.