A Woman Of Substance

The story of Emma Harte, told in flashback style, telling of her origins as a servant at Fairley Hall, from where she is forced to leave after falling pregnant to the youngest scion of the family. She heads to Leeds, and from there she meets and befriends several people, at one point working in a clothing workshop, and later, as the birth of her baby arrives, she is introduced to Laura Spencer, who she moves in with. Forced by circumstance to leave her baby with a cousin, she works two jobs, eventually earning enough to open a shop.

Due to hard work, she makes a success of her business, expanding into several stores. After an unexpected visit from one of her former lovers brothers, which erupts into violence, she accepts that she needs protection, and marries her landlord. They soon have a child, but her husband is killed during the war that engulfs Europe.  Emmas friend Laura dies in childbirth, leaving Emma to look after the child, as well as her own son.

The years pass and Emma is involved with other men, marrying and having more children, who in turn give her grandchildren. She becomes an incredibly successful business woman, creating a vast business empire, which she bequeaths to her children.

We eventually return to the present, where Emma is preparing to do battle with those children, having learned of their plans to break up and sell off her empire.  Dismayed, she changes her will, leaving each of her children one million pounds, while the remainder she divides between her grandchildren, who promise to look after her legacy.

This book is a great choice for fans of historical novels, and while it has elements of romance, at heart it is the story of a womans determination to not let her fate be decided by others, even her own children. Emma is the kind of woman that shows the depth of character required to survive trials and tragedies, becoming greater than anyone would have given her credit for.

Set in the years between the turn of the century, and the late sixties, it shows an historical overview of the place of women in society, and how it evolved, from a time when women were not even able to take part in the political life of their country, to one where the birth of the women's movement saw the advent of remarkable changes in society.


Publishing Details

• Paperback: 944 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 13 Anv edition (October 13, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312588887
• ISBN-13: 978-0312588885
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.6 inches 

Search Tags

100 Bradford, Barbara Taylor, | d1933-
245 A Woman Of Substance /| cBarbara Taylor Bradford.
650 Businesswomen | zGreat Britain | vFiction.
650 Family owned enterprises | zGreat Britain | vFiction.
651 Yorkshire (England) | vFiction.
800 Bradford, Barbara Taylor, |d1933-| tEmma Harte saga ; |v1.


Links

Wikipedia - A Woman Of Substance