Overview

The new blockbuster from one of the world's greatest storytellers continues where Emma's Secret left off, charting Emma Harte's -- the original Woman of Substance -- wartime experiences and the repercussions the past has for the present members of the Harte clan. The great-grandaughters of Emma Harte, the heroine of A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE and EMMA'S SECRET, follow in her legendary footsteps Evan Hughes, Emma's American great-grandaughter, is trying to integrate into the powerful Harte family. She is caught between her estranged parents, her new family, and new love. Meanwhile a dangerous enemy hovers in the background. Tessa Longden, Evan's cousin, is battling her husband for custody of their daughter, Adele. When Adele suddenly goes missing, Tessa seeks her sister Linnet's help. Linnet O'Neill, the most brilliant businesswoman of the four great-granddaughters, shows that she is the natural heir to her mother, Paula. But her glittering future at the helm of the vast Harte empire means many sacrifices. India Standish, the traditionalist in the family, falls in love with a famous British artist from a working-class background. Madly in love, India is determined to marry him. When Evan discovers letters from Emma Harte to her grandmother, the story is swept back to the 1950s. In the post-war boom years Emma builds her business empire, using a combination of determination and sheer nerve, and she embarks on a relationship with a handsome acquaintance from the war years. But it is the revelations in Emma's letters to her grandmother that give Evan a new perspective and help to set her free from her own past. This latest dramatic story in the on-going saga of an extraordinary family dynasty is full of love, passion and jealousy and is Barbara Taylor Bradford at her inimitable best.

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9780007134342

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Reviews

'The storyteller of substance.' THE TIMES'Queen of the genre.' SUNDAY TIMES'Few novelists are as consummate as Barbara Taylor Bradford at keeping the reader turning the page. She is one of the world's best at spinning yarns.' GUARDIAN'A sweeping saga full of passion and intrigue... a gripping read.' HELLO

The Hartes again. And their numbers are legion-in fact, no fewer than 53 names are featured in the genealogy upfront, not including Evan Hughes, heroine of Emma's Secret (2003) and an American twig of the Harte family tree. Now dwelling in London, lovely Evan lives and breathes retail, just like long-dead Emma Harte, the plucky shopgirl who started it all. Now that Evan has her dream job as an assistant to Linnet O'Neill, Emma's great-granddaughter, she's planning a future with her true love, Gideon Harte, Linnet's cousin and a newspaperman. Linnet, though, has other things to worry about after she fields a frantic phone call from her half-sister Tessa-Adele, Tessa's precious little girl, has disappeared! Has Mark Longden, Tessa's estranged husband, kidnapped the child? The cad. Is he after (gasp!) the Harte money? Billions are at stake, and, yes, Adele may be in danger as well. When the clan gathers to discuss the matter, one quiet voice of dissent is raised: Evan wonders whether Adele was in fact taken by a pedophile. Jack Figg, ace investigator, wonders ditto. Carefully modulated anguish sets the tone: Tessa presses a hand to her mouth. Mummy will have to be told before American TV broadcasts the news worldwide! Perhaps it's just as well that Mummy, otherwise known as Paula O'Neill, director of Harte's department store in Knightsbridge, is in New York, musing on the cityscape and recapping the legacy of Emma Harte for the umpteenth time, not to mention the family's power, immense wealth, and ineffable sense of privilege. Yet not even all those wonderful things can stop history: it seems terrorists have flown planes into the World Trade Center. Newspaperman Gideon sees it on CNN and is suitably aghast. But back to the plot: Evan's dear ones are about to find out that everything is not what it seems, and the revelation of still more family secrets is looming. And-good heavens!-what about Adele? For the fans, their numbers also legion. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Barbara Taylor Bradford was born in Leeds, and by the age of twenty was an editor and columnist on Fleet Street. Her first novel, A Woman of Substance, became an enduring bestseller and was followed by eighteen others, most recently Emma's Secret which reached No. 2 in the Sunday Times bestseller list. Her books have sold more than seventy million copies worldwide in more than ninety countries and forty languages, and ten mini-series and television movies have been made of her books. She lives in New York City with her husband, television produces Robert Bradford.

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