Alexandra Ripley, née Braid (January 8, 1934 – January 10, 2004) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 writer best known as the author of Scarlett

Scarlett (novel)

Scarlett is a novel written in 1991 by Alexandra Ripley as a sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind. The book debuted on the New York Times bestsellers list, but both critics and fans of the original novel found Ripley's version to be inconsistent with the literary quality of Gone with...

(1991), the sequel to Gone with the Wind

Gone with the Wind

The slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork and Uncle Peter, and these slaves stay on with their masters even after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 sets them free...

. Her first novel was Who's the Lady in the President's Bed? (1972). Charleston (1981), her first historical novel, was a bestseller, as were her next books On Leaving Charleston (1984), The Time Returns (1985), and New Orleans Legacy (1987). Scarlett "was universally panned by critics," but was very successful nonetheless. She attended the elite Ashley Hall, in Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

, and Vassar College

Vassar College

Vassar College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in the town of Poughkeepsie, New York, in the United States. The Vassar campus comprises over and more than 100 buildings, including four National Historic Landmarks, ranging in style from Collegiate Gothic to International,...

 in Poughkeepsie, New York

Poughkeepsie (town), New York

Poughkeepsie is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The population was 42,777 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from the native term, "Uppu-qui-ipis-in," which means "reed-covered hut by the water."...

.

She died in Richmond, Virginia

Richmond, Virginia

Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...

, and is survived by two daughters from her first marriage to Leonard Ripley, a son in law and granddaughter, Alexandra Elizabeth.

Novels

• 1972: Who's the Lady in the President's Bed? (as B.K. Ripley)
• 1981: Charleston
• 1984: On Leaving Charleston
• 1985: The Time Returns
• 1987: New Orleans Legacy
• 1991: Scarlett
• 1994: From Fields of Gold
• 1997: A Love Divine

Non-Fiction

• 1974: Caril (as B.K. Ripley, with Nanette Beaver & Patrick Trese)