When Amber first apppeared on the scene, it was considered pretty hot stuff. I read it under the bedcovers by flashlight! Kathleen Widsor made a fortune from it. Would I read it today? Not likely.

I'm interested in hearing other's take on this book as well. We named our daughter Amber 22 years ago and caught a bit a flack from older relatives. I've often thought of reading the book myself just to see what all the fuss was all about.

Jodi-

I read this as a kid - and found it fairly spicy. But of course, that was many years ago. I re-read it again a few years back and it seemed very mild. It is not one of the best books I ever read, but it was entertaining. I think you should try it and see what you think. Denise

I think you might enjoy reading it if you still like Gone With the Wind, for example. The heroines actually bear some similarities (at least in my mind). I've only read this once, at the usual age (in my teens), so it has been a long time. Personally, I think the term bodice ripper gets used too liberally about any book that might handle sex explicitly.

Attached is a commentary I found in The Guardian. Like the commentator, I remember Forever Amber more for its depiction of the court of Charles II and the plague that swept through London than for the sexual subject matter (which is pretty tame by today's standards). I wonder what those more familiar with the Restoration period think of Winsor's use of history in this book?

Here is a link that might be useful: Guardian Commentary on Forever Amber

Forever Amber is more akin to Defoe's Moll Flanders than it is to "bodice rippers."

I've heard and read some opinions that Winsor actually did quite well depicting Restoration London. Showalter's commentary about Winsor immersing herself in research shows that she did care about authenticity. But whether she achieved it, it is probably as unfair to judge her effort by today's standards as it is to expect a writer to predict sixty years in advance what those standards would be.

British women's reaction to the novel right after War World II is extremely interesting, culturally. I recall having a conversation one time with an Englishwoman of that age. She said she liked Gone With the Wind, but she preferred Amber.

It's a cultural icon, and you'll probably zip right through it-I agree that it is not what I consider a "bodice-ripper" but more historic fiction. Since you have a copy, I'd devote an evening to it.

all I wanted to say was:
think if it as a brain bonbon and indulge yourself!

but could I just add on? NNNOOOO.

Yes! Read it.

Why?

1. Because you are curious.
2. Because Winsor did a ton of research and it shows.
3. Because it's fun historical fiction.

Enjoy.
PAM

I really can't remember much about it. It was "Hot Stuff" back when it hit the scene. What was risque then is shown and spoken on kids TV shows today. A lot of history. I think they made a movie of it .

I read it as a teenager as well, and enjoyed it. My mother had told me she liked it as a young woman, and that it had been considered quite racy. I don't think I "got" most of the racy stuff, but I did like the story. I say go for it, at least you can discuss it the next time someone asks this question!

Yes, they did make a movie of it. Linda Darnell starred--a gorgeous creature!

Thanks leel I couldn't remember her name. I think she was one of Hollywood's real beauties.

Thanks, friends. I'll give it a try, as my reading is rather in the doldrums, at present.

I'm glad you're going to give it a go. I read it many years and have fond memories of it. I'm afraid to pick it up again because I don't want it to turn into an aspidistra. (Cue sound: colliding of threads)

I would agree that it is more historical fiction than bodice ripper.

As I have posted several times through the years, Forever Amber is one of my favorite books ever. The history surrounding the time of Charles II has always been of great interest to me. It has been quite a while since I last read it because re-reading time does not exist now, but I would definitely take it with me to a desert island should that opportunity occur.

Mary, have you started reading it yet? I never considered it to be a bodice ripper, although I would not have known what that meant when I first read the book!

Since I am now reading Forever Amber and wanted to see how others had reacted to it, I tried the Readers Forum search and for once, it worked.

The book was lent to me so I felt obliged to read it although it could be used for a door stop it's so huge. I have been plowing through.

I can see why it might be more interesting to a young person than one of my vintage who tends to think, "Oh, my dear, you are making some very risky and dangerous choices here."

I was hoping for more history than fiction. One thing I did learn was that Charles II was known as the "merry monarch." I missed that question on Jeopardy before I read FA,but I'll get it if it appears again.

Funny this thread was brought up. I never got around to reading it. It sits on my TBR pile, along with "Wuthering Heights." I may finish by giving both books away....

Froniga-how true-this is definitely a young person's book, when the risks and the bad choices are so much more romantic and so much less What are you thinking! and no, no, that way lie dragons!

I must agree with the too-few people who really liked this book. I read this book many years ago, but remember it vividly because its one of my favorites. Its great entertainment, but more than that. I didnt see much of the sexual parts in it, but I was reading it by modern standards. Looking back though, I could see how a book like this could be considered quite racy for its time. But I think that because I didnt notice many sexual parts I was more able to see the many complexities of it. It could have ended up as a cheezy romance had the history parts not been as wonderful as they were.
Its a book that shows the fall of a woman. How one bad decision can lead to another, and can ruin one's own life and the lives of others. It was facinating to witness the outcomes of Amber's actions and how she never seemed to learn from them.
Like many young people Amber rushed into danger (under the guise of the new and unknown) headfirst. When you think about it, Amber didnt do anything that any young person has done before. The glances into the time period were also dazzling to me, thought the book wasnt about history at all, it was about the life of Amber living in this time period.
Throughout the book I was unsure weather I liked Amber or not. I disliked her reasoning, and deplored many of her actions, but somehow I couldnt help but like her and hope that everything turned out well for her. I loved her optomism, and her refusal to let bad life circumstances (which were sometimes of her own making) get the better of her.
I was really surprised at the abrupt ending. I was SO looking forward to see if Bruce actually did come to love her or not. But I think now that it was better that it did end so. It imbued in us, the reader, the same optomism that Amber has for her future. But in all likelyhood it will end as bad for her as it did for Tess D'Urberville.
-Sorry this is so long! I was going to start my own post about it but saw that there was allready one and that it was fairly recent.
CMK