Clare uses her wits, beauty and courage to climb to the highest position a woman could achieve in Restoration England - that of favourite mistress of the Merry Monarch himself, Charles II. Abandoned pregnant and penniless on the teeming streets of London, sixteen-year-old Amber St.

Good clean copy with some minor shelf wear A book to read and reread, this reissue brings back to print an unforgettable romance and a timeless masterpiece. Abandoned pregnant and penniless on the teeming streets of London, sixteen-year-old Amber St Clare uses 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 himself, Charles II. Also includes many contemporary film reviews.Description for Forever Amber Paperback. Illustrated with many rare photographs, including set photos from several cut scenes. Smith sheds new light on the much maligned movie version of the bestselling novel and shows how misguided censorship can ultimately damage artistic expression. This research work also features glimpses into behind-the-scenes casting, costuming, and an appraisal of David Raksins original score.Ģ06 pages. The romantic Tehnicolor film co-tarred Cornel Wilde, Richard Greene, George Sanders, Dolores Hart, and Broadway veteran Jessica Tandy.Īuthor Gary A. Otto Preminger took the director position, and the film proceeded, eventually costing nearly $4.5 million. Stahl was also replaced after thirty-nine days of filming and more than $300,000 of production expenses. Actress Peggy Cummins, originally cast as Amber, proved to be too inexperienced for the role, and she was replaced by Linda Darnell. Production began but ran into immediate problems. To pacify them and other watchdogs, substantial changes were made to the script by Jerome Cady, Philip Dunne, and Ring Lardner, Jr. Within a month after publication, the movie rights had been purchased by 20th Century Fox, despite the Hays Office having condemned the novel. Despite the bans, Forever Amber sold over 100,000 copies in the first week of release and went on to sell over 3 million copies. Fourteen U.S. states even banned the book as pornography.

Others condemned the book, including the Catholic Church, for its blatant sexual references and perceived indecency. Clare was finally released, more than half of her composition had been edited out.ĭespite the excisions, many reviewers admired the story’s relevance, comparing Amber's fortitude during a plague and fire to that of the women who held hearth and home together through the blitzes of World War II. One of the most popular and controversial novels of the twentieth century was Forever Amber. In 1944, author Kathleen Winsor submitted multiple drafts to MacMillan, but when her story of Restoration England and the sexual exploits of beautiful Amber St.

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