Forever Amber (Rediscovered Classics) by Kathleen Winsor
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Book Reviews of Forever Amber (Rediscovered Classics)
Book Review: THE orginal historical fiction novel-and still one of the best
Summary: 5 Stars
I cannot say how much I loved this book. This is THE original work of true historical fiction and it also has the distinction of being banned and referd to as "Forever Under" in the United States for many years because of its sexual content. Not that that makes sense, because there is no descriptive sex in this book. There is, however, a lot of non descriptive sex and people "sliding into bed" and "slipping off their dress." So if you're a prude, have no fear. There is no real raunchy sex here.
This is a novel about the restoration period in England, right after King Charles II is invited back into the country. Amber is a small village girl (really she's the daughter of two nobles who were unmarried and so the girl ran away because her lover was for the parliament and her father was for the king-but she died giving birth) who has never left her little town. All the town girls hate her because all the boys love her, and so when the handsome cavalier Bruce wanders through, it takes no time for her to decide to head to London with him.
But Bruce can't stick around and so Amber spends the next few years scheming for money, either by marrying into it, stealing it, acting for it, or sleeping with the king for it. Bruce shows up occasionally and while he and Amber have children he makes it clear his life is in the American colonies and he can never marry her. What's a love struck hard as nails courtesan to do?
This book is amazing. Every scene is so descriptive you'll think you're in London during the plague, or the great fire (incidentally the Lord Mayor of London who refuses to fight the fire because he said "a woman could piss it out" is my ancestor) or strolling across the endless green field in summer. The description is amazing because the author had never been to England when she wrote it. The dialog is perfect and every character is a real person with huge faults. And like real people, some of them never change. Some reviewers on this site seem to hate Bruce, and I would say that that's a little judgemental, considering that he never promises Amber anything.
*********SPOILER-DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVN"T READ THE BOOK******
I do think Bruce was a terrible person at one point in this book-something to do with getting Amber and her 16 year old unmarried step-daughter pregnant at the same time. I mean god, thats just insulting. So what if Amber was married-it was cruel and terrible of him to do that. He knew Amber really loved him, so so what if the girl had a crush on him? He didn't have to sleep with her!
Anyway, this is one of my favorite books of all time. I read it every year, and every year I bemoan the fact that there was never a sequel to it. I suppose someday someone will write one, just like "Gone with the wind" and it's very inferior sequel by another author "Scarlet." Who knows, maybe I'll write the "Amber in America" sequel myself. I know I everyone who reads "Forever Amber" has some ideas on how that book would go...
I feel this book has been wildly insulted by another reviewer who suggested going to Nora Loft for less "Bodic ripper" type historical fiction. Please. The reviewer clearly does not know their historical fiction. Ignore the sceptics who didn't like, no didn't love this book. It is amazing-I would place a bet that anyone reading it would love it-if they had a brain and some good sence.
Book Review: The adventure of a lifetime
Summary: 5 Stars
This book really is like a British Restoration-era GWTW, minus the racism. This is what a historical romance really should be--a love story told in the genre of historical fiction, not just a romance novel where a setting in the past serves as little more than a costume drama. I have an old hardcover copy from 1945 (in surprisingly great condition!), with the text on two columns on each page, running only 652 pages as opposed to the 976 pages boasted by the current paperback issue. Like Scarlett in GWTW, Amber is also a feisty woman ahead of her time, not caring whom she may hurt, use, exploit, or cuckold on her way up to the top or in pursuit of the man she loves best above all. I really understand why the name Amber became so popular after this novel came out--sure, like Scarlett, she's not the type of woman you'd want your daughter to emulate in terms of their morals, but I think it's her determination to get what she wants and how she continually rises above and triumphs over things that would have totally destroyed many another person that made so many women name their daughters after her. And unlike Scarlett, Amber loves sex, and goes through a lot more lovers, marries four times (and probably would have married five times had it not been for what happened with the handsome and caring Captain Rex Morgan), and has three abortions in between having her first and second child. What woman in the 1660s, indeed even today, would have been able to rise as far as Amber does, from an illegitimate orphaned child, to an unwed mother herself, in and out of debtors' prison, a life of crime, living with unsavoury elements, a career in the theatre at a time when female actors were considered very disreputable and low-class, two horrible husbands (Samuel Dangerfield, her second husband, and Baron Gerald Stanhope, the fourth, were the nicest of her four husbands), the Plague of 1665, the Great Fire of London of 1666, the Dutch invasion, a meddling jade of a mother-in-law (by her final marriage), to becoming a Lady of the Bedchamber and King Charles II's top mistress, displacing Barbara Villiers Palmer, by being meek, passive, and submissive? If Amber were a doormat and typical woman of her day and age, she would have stayed in Marygreen and never had the half of the adventures and experiences she had.
I was surprised the book didn't live up to its reputation as being shocking, sexy, and scandalous. How far we've come from 1944, when a book with sex scenes which are only hinted at and a woman who sleeps around and behaves in the manner Amber does is now considered tame and doesn't even raise an eyebrow. This is no longer the type of book you'd hide under the mattress or punish a teenage daughter for reading. The only thing I didn't like was how it ended almost in media res; also like GWTW, it was begging for a sequel, though given the mixed reviews the so-called sequel to GWTW has gotten, maybe it's a good thing that there was no sequel to 'Forever Amber,' with Amber in America trying to win Bruce once and for all. How can you compare a sequel, by the original author or by someone else, to the brilliance of the epic story that came before? Most fans probably have a picture in their head of what happened after the final page ended, so why ruin it with something that may not go along with our fantasies?
Book Review: The best historical fiction I've read in a long time...
Summary: 5 Stars
Forever Amber takes place in the 1660s, immediately follwing Charles II's ("the Merry Monarch") return of the Stuarts to the English throne. The book features Amber St. Claire, a young woman who starts out as a sixteen-year-old country girl, naieve to the workings of the world. She immediately meets Bruce Carlton, a dashing young Cavalier, with whom she has a passionate love affair in choppy intervals throughout the book. They have two children together, but Bruce won't marry her for the reason he tells his friend Lord Almsbury: that Amber just isn't the kind of woman one marries.
Upon following Bruce to London, he goes to Virginia, leaving her to fend for herself. What follows is a series of affairs and four marriages, with Bruce coming back from America now and then. Amber's marriages are imprudent: her first husband is a gambler, her second is an old dotard, her third locks her up in the house for days and won't let her out; and the last is a fop who allows himself to be cuckolded. Amber starts out in jail for debt, then becomes a thief, then moves on to the theatre, entertaining the college-age fops who attend. Her ambitions only rise from there as she sleeps with some of the most influential men in England.
Eventually Amber follows her ambitions using her two strengths: her personality and beauty, ending up as the mistress to King Charles himself. The last quarter of the book involves itself in the court scandals of the time, not the least of which were sexual. Winsor is a little prudish and shies away from the sex that occurs in the book, but she places most of her focus on the clothes the people in London wore in the 1660s. The detaisl are lavish and gorgeous, and made me wish I'd lived in that time period.
Amber is NOT supposed to be a likeable character. She is probably has the most character flaws of anyone who appears in this book. Her desperate love for Bruce is the cornerstone of the story, and Amber seems almost too desperate. Even though she insists that next time she will act aloof and sitant, she throws herself at him like a puppydog. When she finds out that Bruce has a wife, whom he met in America, Amber becomes hysterical with rage. Eventually she and Lady Carlton will become acquainted at court--and the outcome is not good.
Once King Charles finished with one of his mistresses, her never gave up on her. That is, he never turned her out of Whitehall Palace. Amber quickly becomes one of those mistresses, liked by absolutely no one at court. However, she continues to hang on. The plan that Buckingham devises to get rid of her for once and all is clever and leaves the reader hanging on the edge of thier seat in the final pages of the novel. It was a beautifully written book that I will probably re-read over and over again. It gave a great insight into the lives people led at Charles's court, one that was decadent and sinful in comparison to the Puritans who had preceded him. A must for those who love this period in history or historical fiction in general. I also recommend: the works of Anya Seton, especially Katherine and Green Darkness; Slammerkin; and The Crimson Petal and the White.
Book Review: "Never again, she had promised herself a dozen times will I be such a fool."
Summary: 5 Stars
Yeah right, like we all know that's never going to happen don't we?
Amber St. Clare never felt she belonged with the poor family who raised her, and when one day a troop of cavaliers ride into her village she's swept away by Lord Bruce Carlton. Well, actually its more like the other way around - Amber won't say no and begs Bruce to take her to London and against his better judgment he agrees - although lust for the beauteous Amber might have something to do with it. Bruce makes it perfectly clear he'll never marry her and when his privateering ships are ready to sail she's on her own in the big city. Amber accepts Bruce's terms and they're off to London as Charles II is crowned and his bawdy court and courtiers are in full swing. As he warned, Bruce soon has to leave and it doesn't take long for a pregnant Amber to get herself royally swindled (what a fool) out of every farthing Bruce left her and thrown into Newgate prison for debt. Not one to be down and out for long, Amber soon hooks up with a notorious highway man and he breaks them out and the game is on......
Until of course Black Jack Mallard is caught and hanged and finding herself in another pickle she goes for the stage - but she still needs to find man to keep her in the style in which she wants to become accustomed to - and handsome Captain Rex Morgan will fit the bill quite nicely. That is,as soon as she can take him away from his current mistress. Of course, once Bruce is back Amber manages to screw things up nicely (what a fool) and fresh out of likely prospects (young men with money) in London Amber finds herself an older one to protect her from life's little problems. But then older men don't live forever and when their family doesn't like you well, then she's off on the hunt yet again....
Amber's story takes her through all walks of Restoration England, from prison to theatre to the decadent, conniving court of Charles II (loved Castlemaine and Buckingham's antics), from the plague (A.W.E.S.O.M.E.) to the Great Fire and from man to man and bed to bed. Amber is most definitely one of fiction's most flawed heroines and despite the many lessons life dishes out do you think she ever learns from them? Not on your life, nor does she ever figure out that Bruce is never ever going to marry her - sleep with her, yes. Don't worry though, as busy as Amber is in the bed chamber and despite the fact that when published in the 40's this was so scandalous it was banned in Boston, the sex is pretty tame and left to the reader's imagination (how refreshing). Watching Amber is like watching a train wreck - you can't take your eyes away for fear of missing what's going to happen next. As for the ending? Kathleen Winsor dishes up the most delectable bit of Just Desserts at the end - I can't recall ever seeing better . A grand and glorious romp through the court of Charles II, don't miss it.
Book Review: I loved this book!
Summary: 5 Stars
This book found it's way into my TBR pile through the persistant recommendations of a friend. Initially apprehensive as to it's size (some 900+ pages), I finally decided to give it a go before Uni went back and I was bogged down with texts and assignments. I just need to say, "WOAH".
I'm not going to go into too much detail about the book's plot- enough people have done that already. Basically this story follows the life of Amber, a girl from the lower classes who uses her beauty and wit (she doesn't have much, but she does have some) to achieve the wealth and lifestyle of the Royal upperclasses through the only means available to her, and mostly at the expense of those around her. You see the 1600's through the eyes of a woman so completely absorbed in her own life, which surprisingly gives you an incredibly unique perspective- just seeing what Amber takes note of and what influences her thoughts and actions is a brilliant insight into what could have been "just another heroine".
First published in the 1940's I believe, this book was extremely controversial in terms of it's content and it's heroine's choices, but if you are looking for a sex filled book, this is not for you, and if you are looking for a relatively docile book, then jump on Amber's bandwagon. Kathleen Winsor tactfully "blacks out" when it comes time for these trysts (which are relatively few and far between- due to it's reputation I was under the impression Amber never left the bed...).
Vivid scenes and intense descriptions fill the pages of this book as you dive head first into Restoration Britain. Kathleen Winsor spent five years researching for this book, and it has not let her down in the slightest. You smell what the character's smell, see what the character's see, feel what they feel- welcome to the Restoration. Her characters are life-like and individual, with many flaws that she (Winsor) doesn't try to sugar coat- they are what they are, and I personally relished this fact, considering how many author's out there at the moment have perfect "Mary-Jane's" as their main character.
There are numerous times throughout the novel that you want to strangle Amber and the other characters (that feeling never goes away), but Winsor's absorbing and brilliant way of story-telling compells you to go on and begrudgingly fall for the character's like so many others before you. All in all, this book is everything that historical fiction aught to be- fantastic plot, gorgeous descriptions, and absorbing writing. If only all books in this genre were as well written and well researched as this one.
10 stars. Absolutely brilliant and completely unforgettable.