skygiants

Forever Amber is a lot of fun! I read it a few years ago and really enjoyed it. It very much reads like a modern novel (though more historical fiction than straight romance); you'd never guess that it's 70 years old. The heroine has a "Becky Sharpe from Vanity Fair" thing going on – she's kind of a terrible person, but you end up rooting for her anyway.

I also do not remember 39 illegitimate pregnancies, but I assume most of them are briefly mentioned in secondary characters.