Emma's Secret
A Novel of the Harte Family

Name: Emma's Secret
Brand: Macmillan Audio
Availability: InStock
Author: Barbara Taylor Bradford
ISBN: 9781593973988

Author: Barbara Taylor Bradford

Series: Harte Family Saga #4

Narrator: Kate Burton

Abridged: 5 hr 14 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Published: 01/06/2004

Categories: Fiction, Women

Synopsis

The legendary Emma Harte, heroine of A Woman of Substance, returns in Emma's Secret, an audiobook that showcases the storytelling power of Barbara Taylor Bradford.

Paula O'Neill, beloved granddaughter of Emma Harte and the guardian of her vast business empire, believes that everything Emma left to the family is secure. However, beneath the surface, sibling rivalry and discontent flare. Linnet and Tessa, her daughters, are as different as two women can be. One of them wants desperately for the empire to be hers but has a devastating secret that may put her very life in danger.

Into this volatile mix walks Evan Hughes, a young American fashion designer who is looking for Emma Harte. But Emma has been dead for thirty years. And Evan bears an uncanny resemblance to Paula O'Neill. Troubled by Evan's presence, Paula turns to her grandmother's recently discovered wartime diaries to find the truth, and Emma comes vividly back to life.

The decades fall away. It is London in 1940: the Blitz. Emma, working hard under war-time conditions, is also holding her family together as bombs drop, sirens wail, and her sons go off to war. While she struggles with grief, her indomitability, willpower, and strength come to the fore. As the pages unfurl, Paula discovers the secret Emma took to the grave to protect others, a secret whose repercussions inevitably change lives and may shake a dynasty to its very foundations.

About 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 her novels to date have been major worldwide bestsellers.Barbara was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, the only child of Freda and Winston Taylor. She grew up in the Leeds suburb of Armley and left school at 15 for the typing pool at the Yorkshire Evening Post. At 16 she was a reporter, and at 18 she became the paper’s first woman’s page editor. By the time she was 20, she had moved to London where she became a fashion editor and columnist on Fleet Street. Barbara started writing fiction when she was just seven, and sold her first short story to a magazine for seven shillings and sixpence when she was ten years old.Barbara’s books have sold more than 91 million copies worldwide in more than 90 countries and 40 languages. Ten of her books were made into Emmy-nominated miniseries and television movies by her late husband, the film producer Robert Bradford.In 2007, Barbara was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II in the Queen's Birthday Honours list for her contributions to literature. A passionate supporter of literacy, she is an ambassador for the National Literacy Trust; in 2019 she was made an ambassador for Women in Journalism and in the same year she was presented with The Leeds Award, which recognised her loyalty to, and depiction of, her Yorkshire roots. Her original manuscripts are archived at the Brotherton Library at Leeds University, alongside the works of the Brontë sisters. She lives in New York City.Her official website is: www.barbarataylorbradford.com

About Kate Burton

Tony-award nominee Kate Burton has appeared on Broadway in The Constant Wife, The Cherry Orchard, Spring Awakening, Hedda Gabler, and The Grand Manner. She played the title role in Alice in Wonderland with her father, Richard Burton, on PBS. She was featured on Grey’s Anatomy as the title character’s mother, Ellis Grey and has also appeared in Law & Order, The Practice, The West Wing, and Judging Amy. Kate earned a bachelor's degree in Russian studies and European history from Brown University in 1979 and was awarded an honorary doctorate from Brown University in 2007. She has narrated numerous audiobooks, including works by Patricia Cornwell, Lisa Scottoline, Iris Johansen, and Barbara Taylor Bradford.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Diane on July 14, 2017

Great saga! a continuing story of three families who work hard all their lives to keep the dream of Emma Harte alive..it's enjoyable and intriguing also (paperback!)......more

Goodreads review by Sidna on August 19, 2010

Years ago I read A Woman of Substance, Bradford's first book about Emma Harte. It was basically a romance novel, but I knew that when I started it. It told the story of an unusual woman who pulled herself up from nothing to found a wealthy department store chain in Great Britain. The first book was i......more

Goodreads review by Shirley on March 21, 2018

I listened to the audiobook version of this story and I really enjoyed listening. The narration was really good and the story was really interesting. I will be looking for more from this author as this book was a first for me. Recommended.......more

Goodreads review by Jane on July 16, 2023

An updated story in this book - set in 2001 so a bit ahead of the others. New characters introduced to keep the story going but it’s still a bit too much perfection and over the top adjectives about the family!......more

Quotes

“Emma Harte is one of those characters whom we never want to leave behind, and thank goodness Bradford has brought her back to us with a story worthy of this truly remarkable woman.” —RT Book Reviews

“Barbara Taylor Bradford has woven yet another enchanting episode in the continuing saga of the Harte family .... It is no surprise that Barbara Taylor Bradford's books have sold more than 70 million copies in over ninety countries and forty different languages.” —Bookreporter.com

“Barbara Taylor Bradford is the storyteller of substance.” —Times (London)

“An extravagant, absorbing novel of love, courage, ambition, war, death and passion.” —The New York Times on A Woman of Substance

“Pure gold.” —Cosmopolitan on Act of Will

“She is one of the world's best at spinning yarns.” —The Guardian (UK) on Dangerous to Know

“This story has suspense, intrigue and high drama as Bradford reels the listener in with period details. Kate Reading has a cornucopia of voices. She easily slips into an upper-class English accent, adds pomposity for some of the English gentlemen, and then switches back to Evan's American accent. Although this is the present-day sequel to Bradford's trilogy that began with A Woman of Substance, it can stand alone.” —KLIATT