Emma's Secret [Mass Market Paperback]

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Emma's Secret [Mass Market Paperback]

Product Details

Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (November 2, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312985738
ISBN-13: 978-0312985738
Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

By : Barbara Taylor Bradford
Price : $7.99

Customer Reviews

This book was very disappointing. So many things could have been developed to make it exciting but none of them ever were.
The book doesnt seem to really have any ending. It felt like the last chapter must have been left out. I have read Bradford before and this has got to be her worst.

For many years I tried and tried to read A Woman of Substance. And while I read many of this authors other books, this title always eluded me and remained on a list of books I was someday determined to read. The beginning of 2005 saw me finally read this book or shall I say skim many pages since almost from the beginning I found the book too wordy and overly descriptive for me. When I finished it, I thought I read about as much concerning Emma Harte as I wanted to. Then other readers from my book group began talking about Bradford's new book Emma's Secret which filled in Emma's doings during the war years. And somehow I was enticed by the lure of this secret about Emma's past and finally decided to listen to audio of this book. Unfortunately by the time I finished the 12 CD's, I found there wasn't much of secret after all.
As Evan Hughes' grandmother Glynnis lies on her deathbed, Glynnis tells Evan to find Emma Harte in London. That this woman holds the key to Evan's future. Evan who bears a striking resemblance to Emma's beloved granddaughter Paula, journeys to London when her grandmother dies and is heartbroken when she learns that Emma has been dead for over 30 years. But not to worry. Evan is hired to be Paula's daughter's assistant and is not only taken in by a couple of Emma's great granddaughter's but becomes romantically engaged with another Harte, Gideon. While the rest of the family is also quite taken with Evan, most of all her looks they quickly realize that she isn't any relationship to the late Paul McGill, Paula's grandfather. And what could be better than when two of Emma's great granddaughters find her diaries from the war years. From there the story progresses to the end when we find out the secret which I'm afraid wasn't much of a secret after all. And while the main story is about Evan and her father's true background, there are also the familiar threads of a large family fighting over who will become the number one heir when Paula retires or dies. And as every wealthy family in books, at least, has to have a bad seed, Jonathn Ainsley is back with his hopes of somehow controlling Harte industries.
A stickler for reading all of the books in a series and always in order I wondered if I would miss reading the two books in between this title. But much to Ms. Bradford's credit, she does fill in her readers with events from all three previous books, A Woman of Substance, To Be the Best and Hold the Dream. But once again I found Emma's Secret like A Woman of Substance to be overly wordy and descriptive. Do I really care for all of the folds and creases of Emma's couture clothing collection or her objets d'art found in her Belgravia home or Pennistone Royal? In the end I imagine that the author missed her favorite character, Emma, and this was a convenient way to return to yesteryear and provide her loyal Emma Harte readers with another book. But on the plus side if you like large family trees and a family saga over many years, this book is definitely for you. But for me the lure of another new Emma book, Unexpected Blessings isn't enough of a lure. I'm afraid that I have reached the end of my time with Emma Harte and her family. I will continue to read family sagas since I do enjoy them but Emma and her families days for me are over and not a day too soon, I'm afraid.