It sold over 100,000 copies in its first week of release, and went on to sell over three million copies. ĭespite being banned, Forever Amber became one of the bestselling American novels of the 1940s. The film, directed by Otto Preminger and starring Linda Darnell and Cornel Wilde, was released in 1947. states banned it as pornography and the Hays Office also condemned it, but within a month the movie rights had been purchased by Twentieth Century Fox. It attracted criticism for its blatant sexual references. The novel took readers on a frolic through Restoration England and offered vivid images of fashion, politics, affairs and public disasters of the time, including the plague and the Great Fire of London. The resulting novel, Forever Amber, was 972 pages long. The publishers promptly edited the book down to one-fifth of its original size. Her fifth draft of the novel was accepted for publication. She began writing a novel based on her research. During that time, Winsor studied the Restoration period, claiming to have read 356 books on the subject. Her husband joined the military at the outbreak of World War II and spent five years with the United States Marines fighting in the Pacific theatre. Herwig was writing a paper for school on Charles II, and, out of boredom, Winsor read one of his research books. Winsor became interested in the Restoration period through her husband. She was fired in 1938 when the newspaper chose to trim its workforce.

Although that job only lasted a year, Winsor remained at the newspaper, working as a receptionist. In 1937, she began writing a thrice-weekly sports column for the Oakland Tribune. During her school years, she married a fellow student, All-American college football player Robert Herwig. Winsor graduated in 1938 from the University of California, Berkeley.

Among those was her hope to write a best-selling novel. Her father was a real-estate dealer.Īt the age of 18, Winsor made a list of her goals for life. Winsor was born Octoin Olivia, Minnesota but raised in Berkeley, California. She wrote seven other novels, none of which matched the success of her debut. The novel, racy for its time, became a runaway bestseller even as it drew criticism from some authorities for its depictions of sexuality. She is best known for her first work, the 1944 historical novel Forever Amber. Kathleen Winsor (Octo– May 26, 2003) was an American author.

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