Barbara Taylor Bradford was a giant of postwar British literature. Her 40 novels sold more than 91mn copies and she transformed the landscape of fiction, writing books about women who — like their author — set themselves goals which they achieved and surpassed. Her first novel, A Woman of Substance, was published in 1979 when she was 46 years old: like Toni Morrison, Annie Proulx, Penelope Fitzgerald and many other eminent women writers, success came after 40.
The first volume of what became the Emma Harte Saga was a rags-to-riches tale about a poor maidservant who rises to become the founder of one of the world’s most successful department store chains. At the apex of her career, Taylor Bradford’s heroine remembers advice she was once given: “We are each the authors of our own lives, Emma. We live in what we have created. There is no way to shift the blame and no one else to accept the accolades.” A Woman of Substance spent 43 weeks in The New York Times bestseller lists: its author accepted the accolades. Her final book, The Wonder of it All, was published just last year.