Just Rewards [Paperback]

Barbara Taylor Bradford (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2006

The new blockbuster from one of the world's greatest storytellers continues where Unexpected Blessings left off in the latest act of the amazing Harte family story! Love, passion, duty and honour collide as the members of this extraordinary dynasty try to protect their family name at all costs. Linnet O'Neill, heir apparent to Emma Harte and all she created, is determined to bring the Harte empire into the twenty-first century. But she and her mother Paula, head of the dynasty, lock horns. When Paula falls dangerously ill, Linnet is suddenly alone at the helm, just as her great-grandmother Emma once was. Linnet finds herself following in the footsteps of the original woman of substance as she battles to save what Emma created -- upsetting her sister Tessa, who believes herself to be the rightful heir, in the process. Meanwhile, Emma's American great-granddaughter Evan faces her own headache. Her adopted sister Angharad is making trouble in the family, latching on to Jonathan Ainsley -- deadly enemy of the Hartes -- and so putting them all in danger. And when grief and heartbreak strike the family, all of Emma's great-granddaughters are tested to the limit as the extraordinary story of the Harte family takes another astonishing turn !

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Can this be, as advertised, the final episode in the Harte family saga? A Woman of Substance (1979), the story of Emma Harte's triumph over poverty and illegitimacy to found England's greatest department store, and its four sequels were huge bestsellers. Now Emma's great-granddaughter, Linnet O'Neill, must defend the empire and family against evil uncle Jonathan Ainsley. But words such as "granddaughter" and "uncle" don't do justice to the complexities. It takes four and a half pages of front matter to enumerate the Harte, Kallinski and O'Neill clans whose intertwining lives drive the saga. Emma's descendants offer a helping hand to new in-laws—and the reader—by uttering sentences such as these: "Through his great-grandfather, Winston the First, Emma is Gideon's great-great-aunt. But she is also Gideon's great-grandmother, because Emma was my grandmother." Weddings and funerals keep the local caterer busy and offer crescendos of activity, if scant emotion. Although Ainsley's malevolence hovers behind the story and leads to near disasters, there's never a doubt that the strong women will triumph—though not without struggle. Series devotees will take heart at the ending, which hints that Ainsley's evil will survive his death and the struggles will continue offstage even if Bradford lays down her golden pen. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

The descendents of Emma Harte (A Woman of Substance, 1979) continue to pursue love and matrimony in this newest chapter in the Harte family saga. Evan Hughes, who only recently discovered she was related to Emma, is pregnant with twins and all set to marry handsome Gideon Harte. Her cousin Linnet frets about the wedding when she hears that cousin Jonathan Ainsley, who loathes the rest of the family and causes trouble at every turn, is back in London. To make matters worse, Evan's family has arrived, and her adopted sister, Angharad, is still seething with envy over Evan's perfect life. Another cousin, India Standish, is also preparing for a wedding, but then her fiance's child from a past relationship is left in his care, bringing his troubled ex-girlfriend back into his life. Linnet's sister, Tessa, is trying to decide if she can give up her claim to the Harte's department stores to marry her French war correspondent boyfriend. When Jonathan Ainsley and Angharad team up, the entire clan fears the evil they might try to perpetrate together. Readers who have followed the trilogy that began with Emma's Secret (2004) and continued in Unexpected Blessings(2005) will be pleased with this romantic conclusion to the long-running saga. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (February 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007197594
• ISBN-13: 978-0007197590
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,836,108 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

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Continuing Harte Family Saga, December 23, 2006

By 

J. Kirkman "book jen" (St. Petersburg, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Just Rewards (Hardcover)

I really did enjoy this continuing saga of the Harte family and their ever-thriving Harte-empire.

Evan Hughes is preparing to marry her cousin Gideon Harte, and is pregnant expecting twin boys. India Standish is going to marry the artist Dusty Rhodes, and she is also pregnant with their first child. And Tessa, Linnet's sister and true rival in the Harte business is deeply in love with the famous Jean-Claude. They just become engaged in the book when Jean has to travel to Afghanistan to fight in the war, and Tessa is worried sick when he is suddenly reported missing over there.

Johnathan Ainsley is still after revenge for Paula for cutting him out of the family will. On the day of Evan's wedding he sets a bomb in the church and blows a big hole in the wall. Paula had a feeling that Johnathan would find a way for revenge at the wedding, so they wisely moved the time or the whole family would have been killed.

Linnet wants to modernize Harte Enterprises with many new exciting ideas, however her mother Paula, of whom is the boss of course, doesn't fall for this at all. Paula has never wanted to change the business from her grandmother Emma Harte's foundation. And Linnet was still trying to push these ideas on her mother in the office one day when Paula has a sudden aneurysm and is taken to the hospital very quickly. Paula has a very long recovery after this and may not be able to work again.

And to make all matters worse, Angharad Hughes, Evan's sister is engaged to the evil Johnathan Ainsley. No one can trust Angharad as she is a malicious person and has a jealousy that is awful in the family. Elayne, Evan's other sister is directly the opposite, and a very nice person.

The only thing preventing me from giving the book five stars is the author's singling out of Angharad and Elayne because they were adopted. They were not even included in the family tree at the beginning of the book, AND called "The Adoptees," very often when mentioned which I thought was prejudiced. Bradford also used the word "fondlings" when she spoke of them at one point in the story, and that seriously made me angry.

But other than that, it was a wonderful story and Bradford did an overall great job.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I hope this is the last Harte saga, April 21, 2006

By 

Ann M. Macpherson "passionate reader" (Newcastle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Just Rewards (Hardcover)

I absolutely loved Woman of Substance and others that followed. So I eagerly bought this book to follow the saga of the Harte women especially. However, even though I had read the first books, I found this one was much too confusing with the constant reference to the past relationships. Much too much time was spent on the past relatives and not enough story line.And there are far too many past relatives. I think Bradford is still an awesome writer and I will continue to read other books by her. But I do believe it's time to put the Harte family to rest and start something new. And it was a great ride. What a family----truly wish they were real and alive today. They would have been fun to know.I'm a shopaholic---and would love to shop in their store. But it's time to move on. I had a hard time finishing this one------a sign to me that it's a worn out story. Sorry.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing End (Yeah Right!) to the Series, June 26, 2006

By 

agg-ie - See all my reviews

This review is from: Just Rewards (Hardcover)

With Just Rewards, BTB has managed to write the worst book of Woman of Substance series! Emma's Secret and Unexpected Blessings lacked a certain punch and certainly rewrote the history of the first 3 books. However, the characters in those 2 books were at least likable.

In this book, Linnet appears to be a unbelievable snob - pretty much turning up her nose at Evan's sisters because they're adopted (People without the noble Harte/Oneil/Kallinski) blood aren't as good as everyone else.

Evan's mother, father, and grandmother love Evan much more than her adopted sisters. Apparently, Evan's sister was a 'foundling' and has no chance of being as good as a Harte.

Evan is shocked that her father would feel that he is cut out of her life! However, she allows her 'in-laws' to plan her whole wedding, ends up having a secret ceremony in which she is more concerned that Paula and Shane attend than her own parents.

Paula, who used to be one of the smartest business women in the last 30 years, has all of sudden become one of the dumbest.

In the past, BTB made her heroines a bit too perfect - but at least down to earth. Now, we're supposed like people that seem to be insensitive snobs.

Also, this certainlly doesn't appear to be the LAST book of the series...