WHAT IS IT: A doorstopper (over 900 pages!) book, published in 1944. One of the best-selling novels of the 1940s, it was also banned in 14 US states for sexual content. Said the author: "I wrote only two sexy passages, and my publishers took both of them out. They put in ellipses instead. In those days, you know, you could solve everything with an ellipsis."
WHAT'S IT ABOUT: Born as the secret illegitimate daughter of two nobles and raised by prosperous farmers, sixteen-year-old Amber St. Clare leaps at the opportunity to leave the sedate English countryside and move into wild Restoration-era London following after the rake Bruce Carlton, who she'll be obsessed with for the rest of the book. She embarks on an adventurous life - scheming and making new plots when the first schemes backfire on her, escaping from debtor's prison, working as a highwayman's moll and as an actress, surviving plague and the Great Fire of London, marrying four times to increasingly wealthier and more powerful husbands (and killing one of them), and being a mistress to many other powerful men including King Charles II, all while continuing a passionate on-again off-again affair with Bruce.
WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: I love Amber. She's breathtakingly self-centered, short-sighted, petty, and not terribly bright, but she knows what she wants and she's going to go for it, dammit. The narrative voice is slightly distant from Amber, and it strikes a good balance of knowing exactly what Amber is but also retaining empathy for her, so that even Amber's worst ideas come across with wry amusement at what trouble Amber's getting herself into now and interest in how she'll get out of it. Amber's overwhelming selfishness also makes the rare moments where she does help someone besides herself that much more endearing. It all adds up for a character I really enjoyed following for 900+ pages.
Kathleen Winsor also did a fantastic job of researching life in London under the rule of Charles II, which comes through in both explorations of places, events, and everyday life in the city as well as characterization for historical figures like Nell Gwynn, Barbara Palmer, and Charles himself.
WHERE CAN I FIND IT: Available through any major book retailer, in print and ebook format, and in libraries.
Forever Amber - Kathleen Winsor
WHAT IS IT: A doorstopper (over 900 pages!) book, published in 1944. One of the best-selling novels of the 1940s, it was also banned in 14 US states for sexual content. Said the author: "I wrote only two sexy passages, and my publishers took both of them out. They put in ellipses instead. In those days, you know, you could solve everything with an ellipsis."
WHAT'S IT ABOUT: Born as the secret illegitimate daughter of two nobles and raised by prosperous farmers, sixteen-year-old Amber St. Clare leaps at the opportunity to leave the sedate English countryside and move into wild Restoration-era London following after the rake Bruce Carlton, who she'll be obsessed with for the rest of the book. She embarks on an adventurous life - scheming and making new plots when the first schemes backfire on her, escaping from debtor's prison, working as a highwayman's moll and as an actress, surviving plague and the Great Fire of London, marrying four times to increasingly wealthier and more powerful husbands (and killing one of them), and being a mistress to many other powerful men including King Charles II, all while continuing a passionate on-again off-again affair with Bruce.
WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: I love Amber. She's breathtakingly self-centered, short-sighted, petty, and not terribly bright, but she knows what she wants and she's going to go for it, dammit. The narrative voice is slightly distant from Amber, and it strikes a good balance of knowing exactly what Amber is but also retaining empathy for her, so that even Amber's worst ideas come across with wry amusement at what trouble Amber's getting herself into now and interest in how she'll get out of it. Amber's overwhelming selfishness also makes the rare moments where she does help someone besides herself that much more endearing. It all adds up for a character I really enjoyed following for 900+ pages.
Kathleen Winsor also did a fantastic job of researching life in London under the rule of Charles II, which comes through in both explorations of places, events, and everyday life in the city as well as characterization for historical figures like Nell Gwynn, Barbara Palmer, and Charles himself.
WHERE CAN I FIND IT: Available through any major book retailer, in print and ebook format, and in libraries.