A Woman of Substance - A Review

I recently re-read the bestseller "A Woman of Substance" by Barbara Taylor Bradford for the umpteenth time. It is a powerful story - there is really no other word to describe the character of  Emma Harte. So many things to learn from her...

1. Her incredible willpower

If I were to select one single trait that leads to success - Emma's or anybody else's, it would be willpower. It surely was the focused power of her determination to thwart the Fairleys that steered her onward the path of success and glory.

2. Her immense talent 

Emma's perfection in all she undertakes is wrought more owing to her farsightedness and preparedness. Looking out for opportunities in life and preparing for them (she notes down recipes from Olivia and similar tidbits in a notebook for reference...she learns the basics of bookkeeping from her first husband...) is what eventually lead her to the pinnacle of power.

3. Her genuine fairness 

A sense of impartiality and honest compassion is a feature that distinguishes the truly admirable and exemplary aristocrats of the world from the numerous unloved and abhorred magnates around us. Even though consumed by hatred for the Fairley clan, she maintains her integrity and dignity throughout all the circumstances of her life.

4. Her unrelenting endurance

In the scene where the indomitable Emma relaxes with the staunch Blackie at the end of the book, she tells Blackie that she has learned the secret of life - It is to endure. Life in a nutshell, truly. To succeed, one must above all have the spirit of endurance. This is the last line of the book - the takeaway, the spirit of the story. To endure...



There are some tomes which do not leave you unchanged - every time one revisits such classics, one learns something new -  a new insight, a new idea, a new goal. This time too, I bid farewell to the grande dame Emma Harte with new reflections, new perceptions, new resolutions...

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Varsha