The author of A Woman of Substance tells the compelling story of Mallory Cheswick--a woman who has it all and loses everything to tragedy--and her desperate struggle to conquer despair and take charge of her own destiny.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Bradford weighs in with a maudlin saga about a woman's struggle to go on after a devastating tragedy. Her narrator, New York wife and mother Mallory Keswick, feels she is showered with blessings, but just as the family is making plans to go to London for Christmas, her husband, twin children and dog are murdered in an attempted carjacking. Depressed and contemplating suicide, Mal flees to London, where she slowly learns to accept her losses. Returning to the States, she turns the family's Connecticut weekend retreat into a successful business venture and eventually meets a man who is able to breach her emotional barricades. Spanning five years and two continents, Bradford's chronicle offers several affecting passages--but when Mal continues to mention the loss of her dog in the same tragic litany as her husband and children, credibility evaporates. Monotonous inventory listings of the trappings of material success slow the narrative momentum, as does the author's flat prose and tin-ear dialogue, especially ludicrous since Mal is supposedly a Radcliffe graduate. Nor does Bradford reach beyond her tried and true romantic formula for greater complexity--or even to tie up some potentially intriguing plot lines that mysteriously evaporate after they are introduced. Major ad/promo ; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection ; audio rights to HarperAudio ; author tour.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
In Bradford's first book with her new publisher, heroine Mallory Keswick must learn to live again after a terrible tragedy, traveling first to her country home and then to the Yorkshire moors for refuge and, eventually, revelation.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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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
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
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Oh My God....!!!,
By jackie (Essex) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Everything to Gain (Mass Market Paperback)
I thought this book was so badly written thata)I couldn't read anymore than the first half b)I kept laughing outloud What a load of tosh. I have only ever read one other Barbara Taylor Bradford and the was about 20 years ago, the well known 'Woman Of Substance' and I remember absolutely loving it. I can't say I even liked this one. The characters are so one dimensional and frankly BORING. The description and the dialogue are saccharine sweet. The way Mal talks about her husband and her marriage and her life in general is so idealistic it made me want to puke.Anyone who thinks this is a good read must have a brain the size of a gnat and haved the mental age of 12.I've written more interesting shopping lists.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing is THIS perfect,
This review is from: Everything to Gain (Mass Market Paperback)
I found this book so far from believable that I actually found myself shouting the words "Oh, come on!" at least ten times.It didn't start out all that bad - you more or less expected the life-is-so-perfect stuff as a build up to the tragedy. And, I guess it was a bit over-done, but Malory's grief was acceptable. But, after that - there was no point left to the story. There was not one single obstacle put in this woman's way - everything she tried to do turned into a roaring success! She hints at money problems immediately after the husbands death - yet there is no indication ever that money is a concern. Matter of fact, she just buys whatever she wants, keeps a staff of housekeepers on the payroll while she trots off to England for six months. Who was footing the bills? Anyone who struggled after the death of a spouse, or anyone who ever struggled to build a business best NOT pick up this book. You'll end up throw it across the room.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
You COULD put yourself in Meg's shoes...,
By A Customer
This review is from: Everything to Gain (Mass Market Paperback)
Except that the main character's name is Mal (short for Mallory) and NOT Meg! Did you even read this lousy book?? I was bored to tears, only stuck with it because I promised someone I'd read it. Now I have, and what drivel it was. The first half of the book dragggggged on and on. The second half wasn't even remotely realistic. My advice is to stay as far away from this book as possible--it stinks!
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