A Woman of Substance
Encyclopedia
A Woman of Substance is a novel
by Barbara Taylor Bradford
, and was published in 1979.
This novel is the first of a saga about the fortunes of a retail empire and the machinations of the business elite across three generations.
It is the first of six novels about Emma Harte
and her family. Subsequent novels are Hold The Dream, To Be The Best, Emma's Secret, Unexpected Blessings and Just Rewards.
On their arrival in New York, Emma's secretary, Gaye, tells her that she heard Emma's sons discussing a plan to force her to retire and break up her empire so the pieces can be sold. Devastated initially, Emma isn't surprised but changes her will, choosing to leave her business interests to her grandchildren instead.
The story then goes back to when Emma was a teenager and working as a servant at Fairley Hall in rural Yorkshire
. Her father, Jack, and two brothers, Winston and Frank, also work for the Fairley family. Jack and Frank work at the mill and Winston works at the brickyard. After the death of his mother, Winston joins the navy as he had wanted to since he was a child. As parlourmaid, Emma sees a lot of the Fairley family and becomes friends with the younger son, Edwin. They bond over the death of their mothers. Emma also meets Blackie O'Neill, a wandering Irish navvy
who has been hired to do some work at Fairley Hall, and they become fast friends. One day, Emma and Edwin realise they feel more for each other than friendship. Their friendship becomes intimate and Emma gets pregnant. Edwin, horrified at this news, does not offer to marry her so she runs away to Leeds. Wanting to protect herself and her child from gossip, Emma tells her landlady and new friends that she is married to Winston, a sailor currently away at sea.
While looking for work, she meets Abraham Kallinski and rescues him from an attack by local youths. After she gets rid of them, she sees Abraham isn't well and walks him home. He introduces her to his wife, Janessa and sons, David and Victor. Janessa, out of gratitude, invites Emma to stay for dinner. When Emma tells them she is looking for work, Abraham immediately offers her a job at his clothing workshop. He and David are pleased with Emma's work and she becomes good friends with them.
As the birth of her baby approaches, Blackie arranges for her to meet his friend Laura Spencer in the village of Armley. Laura needs someone to share household expenses and Emma needs someone to look after her so it seemed ideal. They become good friends, Emma moves in and Laura gets her a job at Thompson's Mill. In March, Emma has a daughter and names her Edwina. Needing to work to support them, Emma's cousin, Freda, takes Edwina. After a year of working two jobs, Emma makes enough money to rent a shop in Armley. This shop is a success and Emma's business expands to two shops, then three. Not expecting to see the Fairleys, she is horrified when Gerald visits. He found her after seeing she worked at Thompson's Mill, now owned by his father. He tells her Edwin will soon be engaged and demands she tell him where the child is. Emma refuses to admit that there is a child, and after a violent confrontation, realizes she needs someone to protect her. Worried Gerald will return, she marries her landlord, Joe Lowther. They became friends when he taught her how to do her own accounts. Soon after their marriage, he and Emma have a son, Christopher, nicknamed Kit.
Emma's business continues to expand with Emma going into business with the Kallinskis. Unfortunately her private life doesn't run as smoothly. Joe is killed in the battle of the Somme and Laura, now married to Blackie, dies giving birth to a son, Bryan. Emma raises Bryan until Blackie returns from the war.
In early 1918, Emma meets Paul McGill. They fall in love and while their time together is short it is a very intense affair. Paul is in the Australian army and returns to France after recovering from a leg injury. After the war, he goes home and despite promising to write, never does. Emma, hurt and disappointed, especially when she finds out he and his wife have a son, turns to an acquaintance for consolation and marries again. She and her new husband have twins, Robin and Elizabeth, but the marriage is unhappy (her husband, Arthur Ainsley, is possibly homosexual and certainly has a drinking problem) and ends when Paul returns. Paul has kept in touch with Emma's brother Frank who informs him that Emma's marriage is unhappy. At Paul's request, Frank arranges a meeting between Emma and Paul. Emma is initially angry but calms down when Paul explains why he never wrote to her. They start dating again and she divorces her husband when she finds out she is pregnant with Paul's child. Emma has a daughter that they name Daisy after his mother.
In February 1939, seeing war on the horizon, Paul goes to Australia to get his affairs in order, as he anticipates that once war starts travel will be difficult if not impossible. While there, he is seriously injured in a car crash and almost dies. He survives but disfigured, and is told that he will be dead within a year. He redraws his will, leaving almost everything to Emma and Daisy, and commits suicide. Emma is devastated but eventually recovers enough to look after her family and business empires.
Emma's life goes on. Her children marry and have children of their own: Edwina marries Lord Jeremy Standish and has a son Anthony; Kit has a daughter Sarah; Robin has a son Jonathan; Elizabeth marries repeatedly resulting in son Alexander and daughters Emily and twins Amanda and Francesca; Daisy marries David Amory and has two children, Philip and Paula.
Back in 1968, Emma invites her family to her house in Yorkshire for the weekend. They come, curious to see how she is after recovering from pneumonia, and she tells them that she has discovered their treachery and outmaneuvered them by changing her will. Her older children are furious but each accepts a one million pound trust that Emma offers as a bribe not to cause trouble. Her grandchildren are pleased and all promise to run their section well. Emma also gives her blessing to Paula becoming involved with Jim Fairley. He is Edwin's grandson and she tells him Edwina is his aunt but he had guessed, seeing her resemblance to his great-grandmother, Adele. Jim also has a surprise for Emma, giving her a stone she and Edwin found, revealing the woman painted on it, was her mother, Elizabeth. He tells her about the history of brief but tragic relationships between Fairley men and Harte women and tells her that on his deathbed, Edwin asked Jim to beg Emma to allow Paula and Jim the happiness they were denied. He also asked for her forgiveness as Jim revealed Edwin had never recovered from the guilt he suffered for abandoning her and their child. Emma was happy to forgive Edwin and give her blessing to Jim and Paula's marriage.
starring Malaysian-born British actress Jenny Seagrove
as the young Emma Harte. Deborah Kerr
plays the older Emma Harte. The debut UK screening of this series in January 1985 gave Channel 4
its highest ever audience figures, with 13.8 million viewers. The sequels Hold The Dream and To Be The Best were made in 1986 and 1992 respectively. Hold The Dream again features Deborah Kerr
as Emma Harte but now stars Jenny Seagrove
as her granddaughter, Paula (replacing Miranda Richardson
who had played her in the first mini-series). To Be The Best stars Lindsay Wagner
as Paula, running the Harte empire ten years after Emma's death. All three programmes are available on DVD.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Barbara Taylor Bradford
Barbara Taylor Bradford
Barbara Taylor Bradford OBE is an English novelist, and one of the world's most beloved storytellers. Her debut novel, A Woman of Substance, was published in 1979 and has sold over 32 million copies worldwide. To date, she has written 27 novels -- all bestsellers on both sides of the Atlantic...
, and was published in 1979.
This novel is the first of a saga about the fortunes of a retail empire and the machinations of the business elite across three generations.
It is the first of six novels about Emma Harte
Emma Harte
Emma Harte is the protagonist of the novel A Woman of Substance. In the 1984 TV mini-series, the character was played by actresses Deborah Kerr and Jenny Seagrove....
and her family. Subsequent novels are Hold The Dream, To Be The Best, Emma's Secret, Unexpected Blessings and Just Rewards.
Plot summary
The book starts with Emma, now an old lady, flying to New York with her personal assistant and favourite grandchild, Paula. Emma contemplates the empire she has created. She has trained Paula to be her successor, both as the head of Harte Stores and as representative of her mother, Daisy Amory, at Sitex.On their arrival in New York, Emma's secretary, Gaye, tells her that she heard Emma's sons discussing a plan to force her to retire and break up her empire so the pieces can be sold. Devastated initially, Emma isn't surprised but changes her will, choosing to leave her business interests to her grandchildren instead.
The story then goes back to when Emma was a teenager and working as a servant at Fairley Hall in rural Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
. Her father, Jack, and two brothers, Winston and Frank, also work for the Fairley family. Jack and Frank work at the mill and Winston works at the brickyard. After the death of his mother, Winston joins the navy as he had wanted to since he was a child. As parlourmaid, Emma sees a lot of the Fairley family and becomes friends with the younger son, Edwin. They bond over the death of their mothers. Emma also meets Blackie O'Neill, a wandering Irish navvy
Navvy
Navvy is a shorter form of navigator or navigational engineer and is particularly applied to describe the manual labourers working on major civil engineering projects...
who has been hired to do some work at Fairley Hall, and they become fast friends. One day, Emma and Edwin realise they feel more for each other than friendship. Their friendship becomes intimate and Emma gets pregnant. Edwin, horrified at this news, does not offer to marry her so she runs away to Leeds. Wanting to protect herself and her child from gossip, Emma tells her landlady and new friends that she is married to Winston, a sailor currently away at sea.
While looking for work, she meets Abraham Kallinski and rescues him from an attack by local youths. After she gets rid of them, she sees Abraham isn't well and walks him home. He introduces her to his wife, Janessa and sons, David and Victor. Janessa, out of gratitude, invites Emma to stay for dinner. When Emma tells them she is looking for work, Abraham immediately offers her a job at his clothing workshop. He and David are pleased with Emma's work and she becomes good friends with them.
As the birth of her baby approaches, Blackie arranges for her to meet his friend Laura Spencer in the village of Armley. Laura needs someone to share household expenses and Emma needs someone to look after her so it seemed ideal. They become good friends, Emma moves in and Laura gets her a job at Thompson's Mill. In March, Emma has a daughter and names her Edwina. Needing to work to support them, Emma's cousin, Freda, takes Edwina. After a year of working two jobs, Emma makes enough money to rent a shop in Armley. This shop is a success and Emma's business expands to two shops, then three. Not expecting to see the Fairleys, she is horrified when Gerald visits. He found her after seeing she worked at Thompson's Mill, now owned by his father. He tells her Edwin will soon be engaged and demands she tell him where the child is. Emma refuses to admit that there is a child, and after a violent confrontation, realizes she needs someone to protect her. Worried Gerald will return, she marries her landlord, Joe Lowther. They became friends when he taught her how to do her own accounts. Soon after their marriage, he and Emma have a son, Christopher, nicknamed Kit.
Emma's business continues to expand with Emma going into business with the Kallinskis. Unfortunately her private life doesn't run as smoothly. Joe is killed in the battle of the Somme and Laura, now married to Blackie, dies giving birth to a son, Bryan. Emma raises Bryan until Blackie returns from the war.
In early 1918, Emma meets Paul McGill. They fall in love and while their time together is short it is a very intense affair. Paul is in the Australian army and returns to France after recovering from a leg injury. After the war, he goes home and despite promising to write, never does. Emma, hurt and disappointed, especially when she finds out he and his wife have a son, turns to an acquaintance for consolation and marries again. She and her new husband have twins, Robin and Elizabeth, but the marriage is unhappy (her husband, Arthur Ainsley, is possibly homosexual and certainly has a drinking problem) and ends when Paul returns. Paul has kept in touch with Emma's brother Frank who informs him that Emma's marriage is unhappy. At Paul's request, Frank arranges a meeting between Emma and Paul. Emma is initially angry but calms down when Paul explains why he never wrote to her. They start dating again and she divorces her husband when she finds out she is pregnant with Paul's child. Emma has a daughter that they name Daisy after his mother.
In February 1939, seeing war on the horizon, Paul goes to Australia to get his affairs in order, as he anticipates that once war starts travel will be difficult if not impossible. While there, he is seriously injured in a car crash and almost dies. He survives but disfigured, and is told that he will be dead within a year. He redraws his will, leaving almost everything to Emma and Daisy, and commits suicide. Emma is devastated but eventually recovers enough to look after her family and business empires.
Emma's life goes on. Her children marry and have children of their own: Edwina marries Lord Jeremy Standish and has a son Anthony; Kit has a daughter Sarah; Robin has a son Jonathan; Elizabeth marries repeatedly resulting in son Alexander and daughters Emily and twins Amanda and Francesca; Daisy marries David Amory and has two children, Philip and Paula.
Back in 1968, Emma invites her family to her house in Yorkshire for the weekend. They come, curious to see how she is after recovering from pneumonia, and she tells them that she has discovered their treachery and outmaneuvered them by changing her will. Her older children are furious but each accepts a one million pound trust that Emma offers as a bribe not to cause trouble. Her grandchildren are pleased and all promise to run their section well. Emma also gives her blessing to Paula becoming involved with Jim Fairley. He is Edwin's grandson and she tells him Edwina is his aunt but he had guessed, seeing her resemblance to his great-grandmother, Adele. Jim also has a surprise for Emma, giving her a stone she and Edwin found, revealing the woman painted on it, was her mother, Elizabeth. He tells her about the history of brief but tragic relationships between Fairley men and Harte women and tells her that on his deathbed, Edwin asked Jim to beg Emma to allow Paula and Jim the happiness they were denied. He also asked for her forgiveness as Jim revealed Edwin had never recovered from the guilt he suffered for abandoning her and their child. Emma was happy to forgive Edwin and give her blessing to Jim and Paula's marriage.
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
In 1984, the book was adapted as a television miniseriesA Woman of Substance (mini-series)
A Woman of Substance is a British/American television miniseries, produced in 1984. It is based on the 1979 book of the same name by the author Barbara Taylor Bradford.- Plot :In 1970, Emma Harte is a wealthy, formidable businesswoman...
starring Malaysian-born British actress Jenny Seagrove
Jenny Seagrove
Jennifer Ann Seagrove is an English actress. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and rose to fame playing the lead in a TV dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance and the 1983 film Local Hero...
as the young Emma Harte. Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr, CBE was a Scottish film and television actress from Glasgow. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time...
plays the older Emma Harte. The debut UK screening of this series in January 1985 gave Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
its highest ever audience figures, with 13.8 million viewers. The sequels Hold The Dream and To Be The Best were made in 1986 and 1992 respectively. Hold The Dream again features Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr, CBE was a Scottish film and television actress from Glasgow. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time...
as Emma Harte but now stars Jenny Seagrove
Jenny Seagrove
Jennifer Ann Seagrove is an English actress. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and rose to fame playing the lead in a TV dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance and the 1983 film Local Hero...
as her granddaughter, Paula (replacing Miranda Richardson
Miranda Richardson
Miranda Jane Richardson is an English stage, film and television actor. She has been nominated for two Academy Awards, and has won two Golden Globes and a BAFTA during her career....
who had played her in the first mini-series). To Be The Best stars Lindsay Wagner
Lindsay Wagner
Lindsay Jean Wagner is an American actress. She is probably best known for her portrayal of Jaime Sommers in the 1970s television series The Bionic Woman , though she has maintained a lengthy career in a variety of other film and television productions since.-Early life:Wagner was born in Los...
as Paula, running the Harte empire ten years after Emma's death. All three programmes are available on DVD.