Emma's Secret

by Barbara Taylor Bradford

Overview

Paula O'Neil has inherited her grandmother Emma Harte's dream for success-a magnificent business empire in London shared by Paula's daughters, Linnet and Tessa. Yet their future is far less secure than any woman imagines. For beneath the dazzling surface, flares a rivalry and discontent that leave them vulnerable to the dreams of others.

Into the fray arrives enigmatic American fashion designer Evan Hughes seeking employment. But her interest in the Harte dynasty is a personal one. Bearing a striking resemblance to the Harte lineage, Evan's arrival begins to unravel a mystery that hides in the family's shadows, and that waits to be revealed in Emma's long-lost diaries.

Now as the past unfolds, so emerges an extraordinary tale of money and power, passion and revenge, and survival and triumph at any price-one that will irrevocably change the lives and loves of four women and shake an empire to its very foundation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250055538
Publisher:	St. Martins Press-3PL
Publication date:	11/01/2004
Pages:	558
Sales rank:	154,479
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 1.24(d)

About the Author

Barbara Taylor Bradford was born in Leeds, England, and by the age of twenty was an editor and a columnist on Fleet Street. Her first novel, A Woman of Substance, became an enduring bestseller and was followed by eighteen others, including Emma's Secret. Her books have sold more than seventy million copies worldwide in more than ninety countries and forty languages. She lives in New York City, with her husband, producer Robert Bradford.

Hometown:

New York, New York

Place of Birth:

Yorkshire, England

Education:

Christ Church Elementary School and Northcote Private School for Girls in Yorkshire, England

Website:

http://www.barbarataylorbradford.com

Table of Contents

Editorial Reviews

It has been nearly 25 years since Bradford made her name with the female rags-to-riches saga A Woman of Substance, the first in a trilogy of novels that concluded with 1988's To Be the Best. Gambling that there is still life to be squeezed out of the story of indomitable super-survivor Emma Harte and her descendants, Bradford returns to the chase with this present-day sequel. The novel opens in 2001 at Pennistone Royal, Emma's magnificent country estate in Yorkshire, now occupied by her granddaughter Paula's family. Paula heads the Knightsbridge store, flagship of the nationwide Harte chain, and her grown daughters, Linnet and Tessa, work there. A young American, Evan Hughes, with an uncanny Harte family resemblance, appears one day seeking a job. She's hired at once, since Linnet needs help with an upcoming fashion spectacular, a retrospective featuring Emma's couture wardrobe. Linnet's cousin Gideon, who works for the Harte newspapers, is smitten with Evan, and soon the mystery of her background is of concern, especially when it's discovered that Evan's grandmother had a close relationship with Emma. The overwhelming amount of descriptive detail clothing, interior decor, food and drink slows down the narrative, but such Victorian props as a decorative locked box, a key taped behind a photograph and long-lost diaries provide mild suspense. The saga was already losing steam with To Be the Best, and this fourth installment is further diluted. Lacking the dynamic impact of the original, it will be best appreciated by those with an irresistible desire to follow the further adventures of the Harte clan. (Jan. 6) Forecast: A substantial 25th-anniversary marketing campaign will help rope in old fans, though some may find the series has lost its luster. True stalwarts, however, will be pleased to hear that another entry is in the works. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Public libraries should expect high demand for this long-awaited fourth installment in Bradford's Emma Harte saga (after A Woman of Substance, Hold the Dream, and To Be the Best), which also celebrates its 25th anniversary. Before American Evan Hughes's grandmother dies, she advises Evan to go to London in search of Emma, who holds the key to her future. Department store founder Emma has actually been dead for many years, but her legacy lives on through granddaughter Paula and competitive great-granddaughters Linnet and Tessa. While Tessa struggles with a shaky marriage, Evan is hired to help Linnet work on an 80-year fashion retrospective that spotlights Emma's couture. Several people are suspicious of Evan, who looks like Paula. Is she related somehow? What does she want? What was Emma's secret? Those who haven't read the previous books will get a crash course on the characters, while series fans will get a refresher. Because there are so many characters to keep straight, the genealogical information that precedes the text is essential. Although plagued by stilted dialog and passages that are sometimes too descriptive and long-winded, this book has plenty of drama, romance, and intrigue to keep readers interested. Bradford is already working on the next installment. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/03.]-Samantha J. Gust, Niagara Univ. Lib., NY Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Emma Harte returns, though not in the flesh, for a hefty fourth in the series that began with the bestselling A Woman of Substance (1979). The gold-flecked blood of a true retailer flows in the veins of Linnet O'Neill, great-granddaughter of the legendary Emma Harte, founder of the world-famous department store that stands in Knightsbridge to this very day. Like her ancestor, Linnet loves to roam the misty moors in pink-cheeked solitude, warbling like the wild bird she's named for, crushing the fragrant heather underfoot, just aglow with the glory of it all, not to mention the ladylike ambition to sell that burns within her soul. And she is but one of Emma's many descendants, born on the right and wrong sides of various blankets (of pure wool trimmed with silk, madam, and just feel the quality). Meet Linnet's mother, Paula McGill Harte Amory Fairley O'Neill. (How's that for crossbreeding?) Linnet's nearest and dearest include Tessa, Lorne, Toby, Gideon, Lady India, Chloe, Fiona, Emsie, Desmond, and that's just for starters. The Hartes and the O'Neills and Kallinskis (clans founded by friends from Emma's youth) have gone forth and multiplied indeed. A handy genealogical chart is provided for the hopelessly confused. Meanwhile, back at the store, Linnet is setting up a display of eighty years' worth of fashion, basking in the approving glow of her great-grandmother's painted portrait smile. Pages of gushy descriptions of assorted frocks follow, plus a few steamy sex scenes tucked in here and there. Then-aha! Emma's diary is found. Though the great lady has been dead for decades, those still living are reluctant to read it. Perhaps it holds further secrets. Oho! It seems that Emma's long-agosecretary, gorgeous Glynnis, was pregnant by an Unknown Admirer when she married a nice American GI. Could the Unknown Admirer have been a Harte? If so, which one? Fans will be interested. Everyone else, mystified. Agents: Mort Janklow & Anne Sibbald/Janklow & Nesbit

Kirkus Reviews