Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor (1944) tells the sprawling story of Amber St. Clair, a cunning beauty who ascends the class structure of Restoration-era England.

Sixteen-year-old Amber escapes her humble rural roots after an encounter with a troupe of traveling soldiers. This becomes her ticket out of the countryside – and her journey of social advancement begins.

Amber’s fictional narrative is interwoven with true historic facts of the English Restoration; she is born of circumstances resulting from the English Civil War, becomes a survivor of the plague, and witnesses the Great Fire of London.

Amber meets a vast array of characters from all the English classes, her adopted farmer parents, the mischievous highwayman Black Jack Mallard, her true love royalist Lord Bruce Carlton, and King Charles II. These encounters amount to a sweeping portrait of the English Restoration. Read More→