Barbara Taylor Bradford obituary

Graham Greene unintentionally set Barbara Taylor Bradford on her path to success, which ultimately led to her being honored in 2003 with a place in the Writers Hall of Fame of America, joining the ranks of literary giants like Mark Twain, Robert Frost, and Ernest Hemingway. In one of his articles, Greene stated that character is the essence of plot, and this revelation helped Bradford grasp the true nature of fiction.

In the mid-1970s, BTB, as she became known, was thriving as a journalist, with over a dozen of her columns published nationwide in the United States. However, in her role as an author, she had only found success with books about decorating and design, having given up on several efforts to write a novel. She recognized, "If I didn't like them, then readers wouldn't like them either."

Greene's insight was eye-opening. "In an instant, I realized that writing fiction is essentially about your identity and that of your main character. If the character is weak or timid, they won’t achieve much. However, if you create a strong, determined woman who refuses to be held back, she will undoubtedly embody traits from the powerful women I look up to, like Marie Curie, Catherine the Great, and Elizabeth Tudor."

This is the essence of the woman, and from it emerged Emma Harte, the main character in Bradford's first novel, A Woman of Substance, which was released in 1979. The book was sold for $25,000 based on just a few initial pages and quickly became a hit, selling 32 million copies and staying on the New York Times bestseller list for an impressive 43 weeks. The story follows a 16-year-old kitchen maid who finds herself pregnant and must leave her job to forge her own path. By the end of the novel, she transforms into a wealthy matriarch managing her global empire from the luxury of a private jet. The subsequent television miniseries that aired in 1985, featuring Jenny Seagrove and Liam Neeson, was also a tremendous success, attracting nearly 14 million viewers in the UK.

Shortly after the book was released, Bradford started getting enthusiastic letters from readers curious about what would happen to Emma next. Throughout the years, seven additional novels explored the ups and downs of the Harte family: Hold the Dream (1985), To Be the Best (1988), and Emma’s Secret (2004), which resurrected Harte through a collection of never-before-seen diaries that detailed the lost years during the London blitz. This was followed by three more titles, culminating in the release of a prequel, A Man of Honour, in 2021.

Bradford hailed from Yorkshire, where she spent her childhood, and she took great pride in her background. Although her accent might have strayed into unfamiliar territory across the Atlantic, and her style—characterized by power suits, jewelry, and her sun-kissed face framed by a blonde hairstyle—was more reflective of New York than her hometown of Leeds, there remained a distinctly British essence about her. This was evident when she buzzed for afternoon tea during my interview with her in her Upper East Side apartment back in 1995.

She held a deep respect for Margaret Thatcher, describing her as someone who was firm in her beliefs and always clear about her opinions. Recently, she voiced her frustration over Conservative leaders who seem to be dividing the nation. She lamented that the divisive and aggressive nature of politics in the United States had made its way to the UK. "We've lost statesmen of Churchill's caliber, who instilled hope, dignity, and bravery in the British people," she noted.

Barbara, the only daughter of Freda and Winston Taylor, was born in Armley, Leeds. Her father, an engineer, had lost a leg during World War I. Her mother faced hardship in her early years, having spent part of her childhood in the Ripon workhouse. However, she was a determined woman who, much like the resilient female characters in her daughter's stories, worked hard to create a better life for herself, ultimately becoming a children's nurse and nanny.

Freda was an enthusiastic reader and inspired her daughter to embrace reading as well. By her teenage years, her daughter had tackled the works of Dickens and the Brontës, even if some parts were a bit beyond her understanding.

At the age of seven, Barbara began writing her first tales, and by the time she turned 12, she had sold her very first short story. “I received 10 shillings and sixpence for it—quite a significant amount for a young girl back then. I bought my mother a lovely green vase and some handkerchiefs for my father from the local store,” she remembered, sharing the kind of vivid detail that was typical in her books.

Her parents were not pleased when young Barbara chose to skip college for “the finest university in the world – a newspaper office.” She began working at the Yorkshire Evening Post just before turning 16, where she would later cross paths with fellow journalist Peter O’Toole. Initially brought on as a typist, she quickly moved up to the position of cub reporter. Much to her mother's chagrin, she donned a worn-out trench coat that she believed was crucial for her job.

She shared her dreams of becoming a novelist with the editor. He advised her, “Everyone has a story to tell, Barbara. Just pick a day, touch someone lightly on the arm, and ask them to share their life experiences with you—just like that, you'll have the material for a novel.”

However, she decided to set aside her ambitions and embraced her life as a journalist, relishing all the different experiences it brought her. It was her colleague, Keith Waterhouse, who sat across from her and introduced her to the essential “who, what, where, when, how rule,” a principle she still applies in her writing today.

By the age of 18, she had taken on the role of women's editor, and just two years later, she relocated to London to become the fashion editor for Woman's Own. She later worked as a columnist for the Evening News.

During a blind date in London set up by their friends, she encountered the man who would eventually become both her spouse and business partner. Robert Bradford, a film producer, was an American with roots in Berlin and an education from Switzerland, and he certainly had a striking presence. Reflecting on their four decades together, she recalled, "It may not have been immediate love, but there was definitely a powerful attraction."

They tied the knot in 1963, and the next year—just as the Beatles arrived at JFK, bringing British culture into the limelight in America—they moved to New York to follow their own professional paths. During the 60s and 70s, alongside her work in journalism, Bradford authored several nonfiction books, including *Etiquette to Please Him* as part of the series *How to Be a Perfect Wife* in 1969. She also created collections of Bible stories for kids and wrote several books on interior design.

In the 1980s, as Barbara Taylor Bradford became an international sensation, Robert stepped in to manage her career, overseeing the production of television series and films inspired by her numerous novels. "I like to call him the General, and he playfully refers to me as Napoleon," she joked, mentioning that the key to their successful partnership, apart from their love and shared interests, was having their own offices and separate TVs. She referred to him as her "most cherished asset."

After spending two years writing, Bradford submitted her novel A Woman of Substance to her publisher in the United States, and the manuscript was as thick as a small child. Since then, she has released around 40 additional titles, including the Emma Harte Saga and the Cavendon Chronicles series, with total sales reaching 90 million copies across 40 languages in 90 different countries. Additionally, ten of her books have been adapted into feature films or TV mini-series. Her most recent novel, The Wonder of It All, came out in 2023.

Some might say that *A Woman of Substance* created a fresh genre by turning the saga into a blockbuster hit. These pages, along with all of Bradford's other works, are now housed in the Brotherton Library at Leeds University, nestled among other notable literary figures from Yorkshire, including Alan Bennett (who attended nursery school with her) and the Brontë sisters.

In 2007, she received the OBE honor and was recognized as one of the 90 remarkable Britons, joining the ranks of Ray Davies, Barbara Windsor, and Mary Berry, in a portrait celebrating Queen Elizabeth II’s 90th birthday in 2016.

"I consider myself a writer; it's a big part of who I am," she once shared, revealing her desire to "pass away while working at my desk." "I believe in a strong work ethic—I'm convinced that if I'm not working hard, something bad will happen." Additionally, she mentioned, "Authors create structure from disorder."

She was preceded in death by Robert, who passed away in 2019.