Read This!: Forever Amber

By Kathleen Winsor

When I originally ordered this book, I pulled it out of the box and almost died. This is what I saw (note the scale from the DVD):


I thought they had sent me the wrong book. Yikes! I had no idea it was 972 pages.

The ever right Wikipedia says the author cut the book down to a 1/5 of its starting size. 5000 pages? Seriously? I don’t know what she wrote about for that long.

Anyways, getting to the book. In spite of the 972 pages, this book went fast. It is set in Restoration England and centers around Amber St. Clare, a poor farm girl who “works” her way up the social ranks from the ages of 16 to 26 to become a mistress to the king. The entire time she is in love with one Lord Carlton who seems to have a major fear of commitment or is just a major jackass with one thing on his mind. Amber is not a likeable character per se. She is vain, self-centered, selfish. At times, I just wanted to slap her. But, she kept the action moving with her scheming.

A lot of reviews I read of this book compare it to Gone With the Wind. I don’t think it is quite the same caliber but it is similar in a few ways: it’s a historical epic, the main character is in love with someone who won’t commit to her, she continually marries men for money, and there is a dress scene evocative of GWTW. Written in 1944, it wouldn’t be surprising if there was some influence.

I will also add that part of the reason I read this book is because it was at one time censored and banned from the city of Boston because it was so risqué. There were a lot of love affairs, abortions, and illegitimacy but, eh, for today’s bodice ripping world of romances, this was petite potatoes.

ALERT!!!! ALERT!!!!! Now for some SPOILERS!!!!!!!

Now, Amber always gets what she wants. My bone to pick with this book was that at the end, a trick gets pulled on Amber and I didn’t get it. What was the author trying to do here? Why is the last thing that happens to Amber in the book going to bring her down a few pegs? Maybe it's supposed to be karma or something? Who knows?

Also, there was a preface explaining how Amber was the illegitimate daughter of some nobility. Except for a very brief reference at the beginning and towards the end of the book (with her third husband), there was no mention of this. Amber never discovers this. So what was the point?

I was also disappointed because I was certain Luke Channell was coming back. He never did.