‘A Woman of Substance’ gets a new life
A Woman of Substance (Courtesy BritBox)
In 1979 bestselling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford penned “A Woman of Substance.” This story about a self-made woman captured the hearts of readers, and in 1985 it was made into a television miniseries. Now this story inspired by the novel has been given a new life by BritBox.
In this version of the classic story, Brenda Blethyn stars as Emma Harte in the 1970s. She is a mogul whose family is seeking to undermine her authority in the company. Her kids are snobs who have been give everything they ever wanted, but they do not appreciate it nor do they appreciate their hard-working mother.
As a young woman, Emma starts out as a maid in Yorkshire in the 1910s. The young Emma is beautifully played by Jessica Reynolds. The episodes show the young Emma as she struggles with life and money.
Having been employed by the rich Fairley family, which consists of the patriarch (Emmett J. Scanlan), his mentally ill wife Adele (Leanne Best), her sister Olivia (Lydia Leonard), and the sons Gerald (Harry Cadby) and Edwin (Ewan Horrocks), Emma works hard and proves her worth. But things change when she and Edwin become lovers. When it comes down to it, he won’t commit. So Emma leaves her employment and her family and moves far away to start a new life, literally. No one except Edwin knows Emma is pregnant with his child.
Her goal in life is now clear. She is going to raise her daughter and exact revenge on the Fairley family for their mistreatment of her over the years and their selfishness when it came to helping her father who died because of them. Revenge is always at the top of her mind and in everything she does. Her entire life is dedicated to revenge.
As the older Emma recounts her life and how she went from nothing to being one of the most successful women in the world, she discovers another Fairley is right there, but is this generation different from the last two?
Emma is bright, determined, and driven. But she is also very talented and has a mind for business, which she puts to good use, and ultimately makes her one of the wealthiest women in business.
As viewers see her climb to success, they will undoubtedly be amazed at how she adds to her empire, one business at a time. And now, Emma Harte is a woman of means, revenge, and substance. This is the ultimate rages to riches story.
The episodes are engaging and addicting. While they roll out over eight weeks, it might be a good idea to wait for them all to be streamable to binge the entire season over a week or weekend. It is that good.
