New York Times best-selling romance author Barbara Taylor Bradford discusses her breakout first novel, A Woman of Substance, one of the top ten best-selling novels ever written with more than 32 million copies sold.
A Woman of Substance was my first novel. I had attempted to write four others, and every time I stopped when I’d written about 90 or 100 pages. I simply didn’t like them.
And then one day, unexpectedly, a young girl popped into my head as if from nowhere. I could see her clearly in my mind’s eye. She was a girl of 12, and I knew she would grow up to be a beautiful young woman. Her hair was auburn and she had green eyes. But the important thing was that I sensed she was determined and clever and had a strong will.
That very moment, I took out my yellow pad and started to make notes. And soon I knew her very well indeed! Her name was Emma Harte. I understood she was driven and ambitious, and she was going to become and extraordinary woman. In fact, I wanted her to become a woman who would make it in a man’s world of business when women were not doing that. I decided she would become a great tycoon.
Essentially, A Woman of Substance is the life story of a girl who started with nothing in life, who overcame hardships and adversity of every kind and triumphed in the end. I believe it’s an inspiring book because Emma achieves her dreams.
When I started to write the book, I knew I would finish this one. I had to because Doubleday in New York had bought it on a 12-page outline plus 90 pages – and they had done so within 48 hours of first reading those pages.
People have asked me why A Woman of Substance became so successful, and so quickly. I think there are many answers to this question. To begin with, Emma is a compelling character, as are her life long friends Blackie O’Neill and Paul McGill, the love of her life. And of course, the book has everything in it… drama, intrigue, money, passion, power and revenge – all of those great human emotions that make for a good story.
Eventually, A Woman of Substance was published in 90 countries and 40 languages. And I’m happy to tell you that it is still selling today. Woman all over the world told me that Emma Harte was their true role model, and that the book had changed their lives for the better. Some had started businesses. Others left bad relationships or abusive marriages. Many had gone to live in other cities. But they had all moved on and been successful. They thanked me for creating Emma Harte.
I had set out to simply tell a good story about a strong woman. I hadn’t intended to send a message. But apparently, quite unconsciously I had. To sum it all up, all I know is that I wrote the kind of story I love to tell about an ordinary woman who becomes extraordinary in living her life a certain way and goes out to conquer the world.
Published in the Kindle Daily Post 6th March 2014
