Bertrice Small
"The first real historical romance. This is the book that started it all for me!"


New York Times May 28, 2003
"Miss Winsor could justifiably claim to be the woman who invented the modern best seller."


Los Angeles Times May 31, 2003
"A prototype for the modern blockbuster."


Washington Post May 29, 2003
"[Winsor is] America’s most notorious novel."


The Daily Review May 29, 2003
"One of the first of the modern bodice-ripping romance novels."


Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"A lusty historical novel."


Salon
"As a feat of storytelling, Forever Amber is irresistible."


Book Description
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.


About the Author
Kathleen Winsor has written a number of historical romances, including The Lovers and Robert and Arabella. She lives in New York City.


Excerpted from Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor. Copyright © 2000. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved
I first read Forever Amber when I was a teenager and I remember that I could not put it down. In fact, I read it so quickly, I immediately re-read it, to be certain I hadn't missed anything important. At the time, all of my girlfriends had their noses buried in it, and like me they found it compulsive and compelling reading. I became a fan of the author and read all of her other novels as they were published over the years, from Star Money to Calais. But Forever Amber has remained a particular favorite of mine. When I was recently asked to write an introduction to this new edition I picked up the novel again, and once more I discovered it was a genuine page-turner that had lost nothing over the years. Time had not dimmed it, nor had the changing fashions in fiction diminished it. The book remains a smashing read, as compelling now as it was all those years ago. -Barbara Taylor Bradford

SYNOPSIS

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.

FROM THE CRITICS

Gale Research

"It wasn't such a daring book, " maintains Kathleen Winsor in defense of her first novel, Forever Amber. "I wrote only two sexy passages, and my publishers took both of them out. They put in ellipses instead. In those days, you could solve everything with an ellipse." Regardless of both her own opinion and her publisher's attempts to cool the passionate episodes, Forever Amber caused a nationwide scandal and was banned in Boston, Massachusetts, as an obscene and offensive book.

Salon

As a feat of storytelling, Forever Amber is irresistible.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer