Shortlisted for the Woman’s Weekly best romantic novel written in the last 50 years.

January 2010 Good Housekeeping selection.

On My Bookshelf by Wendy Holden...

My third choice, A Woman Of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford (HarperCollins), is, I believe, the greatest achievement in modern women’s commercial fiction writing to date. The heroine (as almost everyone knows) is Emma Harte, who begins her working life as a scullery maid and ends up running a global retail empire, via much heartbreak and mistakes with men along the way. It’s not only a rags-to-riches rattling good read, but it’s also about a strong and inspiring woman, which is a rare thing in modern fiction – all too often the heroines are middle-class wimps.

The Good Housekeeping view...

It is 30 years since Emma Harte, downtrodden housemaid who parlayed a small shop into the world’s greatest department store, first stormed into our consciousness as a woman of no mean substance. Barbara Taylor Bradford’s heroine was ruthless, ambitious, driven; she loved only one man, a man she could never marry; she outplayed all her enemies and exacted terrible revenge; but through it all, she was warm-hearted. And now there is a purple velvet celebration of its phenomenal success (31 million copies in print). The hardback limited edition (of which there are only 750 copies) comes complete with the Harte family tree and a ‘Life In Pictures’ section. Perfect for power-seeking, shoulder-padded friends and relatives. It will be made available via Barbara’s web site at www.barbarataylorbradford.co.uk.

Synopsis

Reissue of the perenially popular dynastic rags to riches saga to coincide with the publication of its sequel, Emma's Secret. In 1905 a young kitchen maid leaves Fairley Hall. Emma Harte is sixteen, single and pregnant. By 1968 she is one of the richest women in the world, ruler of a business empire stretching from Yorkshire to the glittering cities of America and the rugged vastness of Australia. But what is the price she has paid? A Woman of Substance is as impossible to put down as it is to forget. This multi-million copy bestseller is truly a novel of our times.

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About the Author

Barbara Taylor Bradford was born in Upper Armley, Leeds, the only child of Freda and Winston. Her mother, a former children’s nurse and nanny, was a voracious reader and introduced Barbara to books when she was four years old and by the age of 12 she had read all of Dickens and the Brontes. Barbara started writing at the age of seven and sold her first short story to a children’s magazine at the age of twelve for 10/6p! For over twenty years, Barbara Taylor Bradford has been one of the world’s most cherished storytellers and best-selling novelists, with total sales of more than 62 million books in 39 languages in 89 countries. It all started in 1979 when Doubleday published the novice novelist’s sweeping saga of the indomitable Emma Harte, wich stayed on the New York Times bestseller lists for 15 months. ‘A Woman of Substance’ – delivered some months earlier as an 11 pound, 1,592-page manuscript – was followed by 13 other bestsellers, including two sequels about the Harte family. Her 15th book, ‘A Sudden Change of Heart’ (February 1999) marked the author’s return to Doubleday More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation