Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor | Isn't there a little Amber in us all??

Forever Amber | Kathleen Winsor | forever amber

books:

Forever Amber

	Forever Amber Kathleen Winsor Chicago Review Press, 2000 - 976 pages average customer review:based on 154 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Isn't there a little Amber in us all??

This is the story of Amber, a smart driven woman who is bound and determined to rise above her circumstances in life...by whatever means necessary. Raised in the country as a farm girl, the only means Amber has at her disposal are her beauty, wit, and a pair of cajones that the toughest man would envy!

Early in the story Amber meets Bruce, falls head over heels, and uses him as her ticket to London and a better life. Bruce thinks Amber is good enough to use and toss aside whenever she becomes an inconvenience to his plans. As Bruce drifts in and out of her life, Amber claws her way to the top eventually becoming the King's favorite mistress.

No matter who she marries or takes up with, her heart belongs to Bruce. Amber's enemies think she has become too powerful and ultimately use against her the one thing that causes her to take leave of her senses....her obsessive love for Bruce. The ending was priceless, I wanted to scream to her "No, don't do it!".

All in all this was an amazing novel. The decadent life of the rich contrasted with the miserable life of the poor. It had brilliantly detailed history, beautiful writing, and so many twists and turns that would each make their own stunning novel.

I absolutely loved Amber! Some of the time I wanted to cheer for her, other times I cringed at the choices she made but I just couldn't help but feel sympathy for her. She was a woman living in a man's world who wanted more than her lot in life would allow. She did what she had to do to get it. It may not have been "moral" as dictated by the times, but who in the novel was really moral? Bruce used and discarded Amber as a whore knowing that she really loved him, two of her husbands were more evil than Amber could ever dream of being, plots and schemes were everywhere, everyone stepping on everyone to get ahead. Wars were fought, people died and suffered to advance the schemes of the rich and powerful. Is it really all that different from today? It may be shocking to our modern sensibilities but if we are honest with ourselves, I think that deep down we'll all find a little bit of Amber in each of us.

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forever amber

unbelievable!! completely addictive! i didn't want it to end!! it seems impossible that it was written so long ago.
this is a book that is a must must read.Forever Amber

The Scarlett O'Hara of Restoration England

Before I bought this book I saw that alot of people found the heroine unlikable. To my mind, it's one of the things that makes this book one of the best of the many novels I've read that are set in middle ages and/or Renaissance England. It seems so easy for authors to fall into the trap of always making their heroes/heroines noble and likeable by today's standards, so it's refreshing to find an anti-heroine who is appropriate to her time. Amber is always a real person who does both noble and crappy things. The book is set during the reign of Charles II, who was king of England following the second civil war. The country had been devastated by Oliver Cromwell and forces fighting on behalf of the king, whose father had been deposed and executed, and following his exile on the continent in a state of relative poverty, Charles II ruled with an open-minded attitude that was astonishing for its time. Into this environment comes Amber, who does whatever it takes to climb the social ladder, no easy feat in 17th century England, particularly for a woman. I compare her to Scarlett O'Hara in that she is a strong, frequently abrasive personality, in love with a totally inappropriate and ultimately unattainable man, and she uses other people, particularly men, to get her way, with an end justifies the means attitude. She may not always be likable but you always have to admire her spirit and resolve. And she is never, ever dull. The authors bring vividly to life the court of Charles II with its backbiting and cattiness and its wanton ways, and the depiction of the plague is one of the most moving and realistic I've ever read as rather than trying to cover the effect of the plague on everybody and everything, it focuses on how one woman experiences it. The same is true of the London fire and the other calamities of the era.

Whenever I think of great historical novels I find myself coming back to this one. Truly well-done.

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A Classic Historical Romance Not to Be Missed

My mother gifted me with this book when I was about 14, and I read it cover to cover in a weekend. Almost 30 years later, I came across it again during a search for somthing else -- and had to reread it.

'Forever Amber' is a stunningly crafted book and amazingly well researched. So much about the court of Charles II and the restoration is included here along with the troubling story of a headstrong girl who rises from a farm girl to a courtesan. But her rise is not a happy one. She finds out along the way, like so many others before and after her, that money can't buy her what (or who) she really wants.

Amber St. Clare is not a likeable character. She is at once immature, selfish, opportunistic and even spiteful. And yet the reader has to feel some pity for her enduring feelings for her first love, Lord Carlton. Carlton, a true cavalier, is also often unlikeable. In fact, the only one I came away feeling any fondness for was King Charles, a softhearted rogue of a monarch if ever there was one.

Definitely a book that any teenage girl interested in romance novels should read. Parents, be advised: it's a little violent, a little racy, and a little depressing. But it's a wonderful story without a gushingly happy ending - in fact, a rather open ending that leaves several possibilities for the reader to ponder. It's a wonder a sequel was never attempted by someone in the 60 years since 'Amber' was published.

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I enjoyed this book and hated its ending

I saw the movie Forever Amber first and loved it. I also own a VHS copy of it. However, I hated its ending. I enjoyed book. The book is better than the movie. However, the book's ending is worse than the movie. The book and movie Forever Amber need a sequel.

VAG

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, page 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

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