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Fans frequently ask British-born best-selling author Barbara Taylor Bradford how they, too, can write a bestseller. She hates to disappoint them, but as she told the Hallmark Channel, she has no formula or secrets to share. "All I do," she said, "is sit down and try to tell a good story about one single character because to me, character is plot." In 1979, her first novel, "A Woman of Substance," had Emma Harte as that character. Bradford took her sweeping story, which ultimately covered three generations and the ups and downs of a department store empire, through five more novels. Remarkably, for a first novel, "A Woman of Substance" ranks as one of the ten top best-selling books of all time.
Now, after 25 novels that have entertained millions of fans worldwide, Bradford unveils her new book, "Playing the Game." In it, Annette Remington, an art consultant and private dealer, has a hidden past, as well as a handsome journalist and a lost Rembrandt to contend with. The U.K.'s Independent called novel number 26 " as romantic and thrilling as the rest."
The strong female characters Bradford writes about seem to mirror many of her own experiences. Born in Leeds, England, she insisted on leaving school at 15 to write for the Yorkshire Evening Post. Her newspaper career flourished and she moved to London where, in 1963, she married her own great love, Bob Bradford. As she transitioned to novels, they moved to New York and he has overseen the business side of her writing, which, with over 82 million books in print and ten television mini-series based on her work, is its own outsized career.
Learn more about this proflific, talented and down-to-earth best-selling author when she gives a talk on October 31 at 2 p.m. at the Westport Library. The event is free but the opportunity to hear about her extradordinary career is, as they say, priceless. For more information visit the library's website.
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