There are a lot of books that have taken me by surprise. The book that comes to my mid based on the topic of today is A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford.
I first heard about the book due to the controversy about the TV series with Karishma Kapoor which was based in the book. The writer sued the company and I am unsure of the outcome but I did come to know about the book.
I was going through a phase and picked up the book without any expectations. I am not into soap opera style of books, which is what this one was, in 944 pages. But once I started reading it, I fell in love with the protagonist Emma Harte.
The rags to riches story is always interesting and definitely stirs a few primal emotions. But a woman creating an empire through her shrewdness and acumen in 18th century England spins a good story.
The book is like a good Bollywood movie and keeps you glued. It goes through all the emotions but what stands out is the strength of the heroine – how she creates the big retail empire on her own.
The author wrote 7 books called the The Emma Harte book collection but nothing comes close to the first one. I did end up owning and reading all seven, just in case you were wondering.
Do I recommend the book? Yes, if you like family sagas and long books, then you will definitely like Emma Harte and her story. Go ahead abandon visit your library to get it.