Emma's Secret [Paperback]

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Harper Collins (2003)
• ISBN-10: 0007809115
• ISBN-13: 978-0007809110
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,903,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

BARBARA TAYLOR BRADFORD

Barbara Taylor Bradford, OBE is one of the world's best loved storytellers. Her 1979 debut novel, A Woman of Substance, ranks as one of the top-ten bestselling books of all-time, with more than 30 million copies in print. All 25 of her novels to date have been major worldwide bestsellers. Her 26th book, Playing The Game, will be published on October 12th by St. Martin's Press.

Bradford was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire (UK) as the only child of Freda and Winston Taylor. She grew up in the Leeds suburb of Armley and after Town Street Church of England School worked in the typing pool at the Yorkshire Evening Post before going into journalism. By the age of twenty she was the fashion editor of Woman's Own Magazine and an editor and columnist on Fleet Street for the London Evening News.

Bradford's books have sold more than eighty-two (82) million copies worldwide in more than ninety (90) countries and forty (40) languages. Ten (10) of her books have been made into miniseries and television movies, making her one of the best-selling authors over the last 30 years.

In April of 2003, Mrs. Bradford was inducted into the Writers Hall of Fame of America alongside Mark Twain, Langston Hughes and Dr. Seuss. She was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II in the Queen's 2007 Birthday Honours list for her contributions to literature. Her original manuscripts are archived at the Brotherton Library at Leeds University, alongside the works of the Bronte sisters. In 2009, Barbara's publishers began a worldwide 30th anniversary celebration of A Woman of Substance. The first annual Woman of Substance Awards took place on September 10th 2009 at the Dorchester Hotel in London. She lives in New York City with her husband, of 43 years, television producer Robert Bradford.

Her official website is: www.barbarataylorbradford.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Terrible, June 14, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Emma's Secret (Hardcover)

This book was very disappointing. So many things could have been developed to make it exciting but none of them ever were.
The book doesnt seem to really have any ending. It felt like the last chapter must have been left out. I have read Bradford before and this has got to be her worst.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Emma Returns, January 6, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Emma's Secret (Hardcover)

Emma Harte is back! But that is hardly the whole story here.

Barbara Taylor Bradford has written a most satisfying continuation to the saga that began with A Woman of Substance. Combining the next generation of Harte's and O'Neils with earlier flashbacks of Emma and Blackie, this book is sure to captivate any BTB fan/reader.

The best aspect of Emma Harte's return is the fact that she is not brought back to life in 'soap opera' fashion. Instead, Barbara cleverly revives her legendary heroine through the discovery of her wartime diaries. It is in this segment of the story that a shocking family secret is discovered.

Who can nitpick with the small detail that the secret is actually not Emma's, but another member of her family. This is a stupendous effort to add another chapter to a brilliant saga for all generations.

Fans who have not yet read A Woman of Substance, Hold The Dream and To Be The Best are encouraged to do so. Emma's Secret is the 4th book in this series.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not much of a secret!, April 13, 2005

By 

Nancy R. Katz "NancyK18" (NJ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Emma's Secret (Mass Market Paperback)

For many years I tried and tried to read A Woman of Substance. And while I read many of this authors other books, this title always eluded me and remained on a list of books I was someday determined to read. The beginning of 2005 saw me finally read this book or shall I say skim many pages since almost from the beginning I found the book too wordy and overly descriptive for me. When I finished it, I thought I read about as much concerning Emma Harte as I wanted to. Then other readers from my book group began talking about Bradford's new book Emma's Secret which filled in Emma's doings during the war years. And somehow I was enticed by the lure of this secret about Emma's past and finally decided to listen to audio of this book. Unfortunately by the time I finished the 12 CD's, I found there wasn't much of secret after all.

As Evan Hughes' grandmother Glynnis lies on her deathbed, Glynnis tells Evan to find Emma Harte in London. That this woman holds the key to Evan's future. Evan who bears a striking resemblance to Emma's beloved granddaughter Paula, journeys to London when her grandmother dies and is heartbroken when she learns that Emma has been dead for over 30 years. But not to worry. Evan is hired to be Paula's daughter's assistant and is not only taken in by a couple of Emma's great granddaughter's but becomes romantically engaged with another Harte, Gideon. While the rest of the family is also quite taken with Evan, most of all her looks they quickly realize that she isn't any relationship to the late Paul McGill, Paula's grandfather. And what could be better than when two of Emma's great granddaughters find her diaries from the war years. From there the story progresses to the end when we find out the secret which I'm afraid wasn't much of a secret after all. And while the main story is about Evan and her father's true background, there are also the familiar threads of a large family fighting over who will become the number one heir when Paula retires or dies. And as every wealthy family in books, at least, has to have a bad seed, Jonathn Ainsley is back with his hopes of somehow controlling Harte industries.

A stickler for reading all of the books in a series and always in order I wondered if I would miss reading the two books in between this title. But much to Ms. Bradford's credit, she does fill in her readers with events from all three previous books, A Woman of Substance, To Be the Best and Hold the Dream. But once again I found Emma's Secret like A Woman of Substance to be overly wordy and descriptive. Do I really care for all of the folds and creases of Emma's couture clothing collection or her objets d'art found in her Belgravia home or Pennistone Royal? In the end I imagine that the author missed her favorite character, Emma, and this was a convenient way to return to yesteryear and provide her loyal Emma Harte readers with another book. But on the plus side if you like large family trees and a family saga over many years, this book is definitely for you. But for me the lure of another new Emma book, Unexpected Blessings isn't enough of a lure. I'm afraid that I have reached the end of my time with Emma Harte and her family. I will continue to read family sagas since I do enjoy them but Emma and her families days for me are over and not a day too soon, I'm afraid.