Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor

** out of 5 stars

 

                                                                           ”Abandoned pregnant and penniless on the teeming streets of London, 16-year-old Amber St. Clare manages, by using her wits, beauty, and courage, to climb to the highest position a woman could achieve in Restoration England-that of favorite mistress of the Merry Monarch, Charles II. From whores and highwaymen to courtiers and noblemen, from events such as the Great Plague and the Fire of London to the intimate passions of ordinary-and extraordinary-men and women, Amber experiences it all. But throughout her trials and escapades, she remains, in her heart, true to the one man she really loves, the one man she can never have. Frequently compared to Gone with the Wind, Forever Amber is the other great historical romance, outselling every other American novel of the 1940s-despite being banned in Boston for its sheer sexiness. A book to read and reread, this edition brings back to print an unforgettable romance and a timeless masterpiece.”

I hate this book with a passion. “Forever Amber,” as a historical book, was very well written. The description of its time period was amazing and at times I felt as if I were actually situated in the grimmy streets of London. Butwhat in God’s name possessed anyone to consider this novel to be a great romance? When I think of great romances, titles such as “Jane Eyre,” ”Wuthering Heights,” and “North and South” comes to mind. I can’t even consider “Forever Amber” to be an alright romance. Thus this novel, romance wise, was complete trash. What Carlton (male protagonist) felt was not love, and if it was, the author did very poorly in convincing this reader. He was portrayed more as the heartless devil-may-care man who only used Amber for this selfish desires. I hated him.  As for Amber, was what she felt love? If it was, it was creepy, and annoying. I had to skim through this book and wasn’t able to appreciate the rich historical details because each time Amber’s obsessive love for Carlton popped into the text, I had to skim. I wanted to shake this pitiful, ridiculous woman! Where is her dignity, clinging onto Carlton as she did! Once or twice is acceptable, but after that, in fiction, you would expect that the author would instil more sense into this chit. I stayed up till seven in the morning hoping their would be more character development, but in the end, I was left horribly disappointed. I nearly hurled the book across the room in anger. I would have read the book straight through, word by word, had I liked the herione. But with ‘Forever Amber’ you’re stuck having to read 972 pages about the life of selfish, heartless, unloveable, unadmirable, characters who never learn from their mistakes, even if its committed again and again throughout the novel (Rex was an exemption; he seemed to be the only decent character). So, to conclude, if you’re looking for a good historical novel and wouldn’t mind a very distorted romance, I would recommend this. But, if you’re searching for a historical novel with some depth to its characters…..you’ll be sadly disappointed.