A Woman of Substance is a novel by Barbara Taylor Bradford, and was published in 1979. Barbara Taylor Bradford (born May 5, 1933) is an English novelist. ... In political geography and international politics, a country is a political division of a geographical entity, a sovereign territory, most commonly associated with the notions of state or nation and government. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The family saga is a genre of literature which chronicles the lives and doings of a family or a number of related or interconnected families over a period of time. ... A romance novel is a literary genre developed in Western culture, mainly in English-speaking countries. ... A publisher is a person or entity which engages in the act of publishing. ... It has been suggested that The Crime Club be merged into this article or section. ... A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) book is bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with cloth or heavy paper) and a stitched spine. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ... ISBN-13 represented as EAN-13 bar code (in this case ISBN 978-3-16-148410-0) The International Standard Book Number, ISBN, is a unique[1] commercial book identifier barcode. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... Barbara Taylor Bradford (born May 5, 1933) is an English novelist. ... Also: 1979 by Smashing Pumpkins. ...

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 in six novels of the Harte family. Subsequent novels are Hold The Dream, To Be The Best, Emma's Secret, Unexpected Blessings and Just Rewards. A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ...

Plot summary

The film starts with an octogenarian Emma, rich and powerful beyond her dreams. She is now enjoying and contemplating the empire she has created with her own hands. She is also training her favorite grandchild, Paula McGill Amory, to be her successor in the head of Harte Enterprises.

The second part goes back to her upbringing and presents Emma Harte, born April 30th 1889, who lives in the Yorkshire rural area. Her parents are Jack Harte and his wife Elizabeth, who dies early on in the film, allegedly of tuberculosis. Emma is left to take care of her father and siblings, firstborn Winston and the young Frank.

By now, she is also working as a maid at Fairley Hall, the manor house where Adam Fairley, his wife Adele and their children Gerald and Edwin live. Olivia Wainright, Adele's widowed sister (who will later be Adam's second wife) pays frequent visits. The house is also inhabited by the wicked butler Murgatroyd, the cook, the housekeeper and another maid.

One day on her way to work, she meets the man who will be her best friend for more than half a century, an Irishman named Shane Patrick Desmond O'Neill, also known as Blackie. O'Neill is a building worker hired by the "Squire" (Mr Fairley) to do some repairs in Fairley Hall.

After Adele Fairley dies under mysterious circumstances surrounding her alcoholism and psychological problems, Emma and Edwin became friends. They end up making love in a cave up in the moors and she falls pregnant. He then spurns her for fear of being disinherited or disowned by his father and family.

Emma goes to Leeds to have her baby. Because the book is set in a time when having children out of wedlock is deeply taboo, she tells new friends that she has a husband in the Royal Navy who is away at sea.

Soon after moving to Leeds, she meets the Kallinskis, a Jewish family working in the textile industry. Emma meets the father, Abraham Kallinski, after rescuing him from an incident with anti-semitic boys out in the street. After she defends him, he takes her home and introduces her to his family. David, Abraham's eldest son, falls for Emma almost immediately. In return for the favor Emma has done for Abraham, they give her a job and treat her as family while she's away from home.

Shortly she leaves for Leeds, her father dies of burn injuries caused while trying to save Edwin from a fire in the Fairley Mill.

Some time later, Blackie reunites with Emma in Leeds and it is he who, in the late stages of her pregnancy, takes her to the house of a beautiful, kind and loving woman named Laura. The story progresses to tell of her fantastic rise to success and her ongoing struggle against the Fairleys.

Emma begins by opening a small store in the town where she is living with Laura. This store, which Emma labours day and night over, eventually expands and fills two shops, then three, until finally Emma is one day ready to open Harte's - the Emporium.

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

In 1983, the book was adapted as a television miniseries starring Malaysian-born British actress Jenny Seagrove as 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. Jenny Seagrove (born on 4 July 1957 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) is an English actress. ... Channel 4 is a public-service British television station, broadcast to all areas of the United Kingdom (and also the Republic of Ireland), which began transmissions in 1982. ...