“A Woman of Substance” author Barbara Taylor Bradford died in her New York City home on Sunday. She was 91.
Bradford conquered the literary world with her 1979 novel about a woman of modest means who conquers the business world. She then wrote dozens more novels in 40 languages that sold more than 90 million copies. The British writer was honored with a postage stamp in 1999.
Bradford was believed to have been worth $200 million.
Her other works include 1990’s “The Women in his Life,” 2003’s “Emma’s Secret” and 2023’s “The Wonder of It All.”
She was married to German filmmaker Robert Bradford, who died in 2019. According to the Hollywood Reporter, he was planning to turn “A Woman of Substance” into a new film. The novel was made into a 1985 miniseries featuring Liam Neeson and Miranda Richardson.
The “Women in his Life” was inspired by Robert Bradford’s escape from Nazi Germany. The pair were married for 56 years.
Bradford left school when she was 16 to become a reporter at her hometown paper, the Yorkshire Evening Post, and it wasn’t until she was in her 40s that she became successful as a novelist. She remained prolific, penning 40 novels over the course of an exceptional career, according to Deadline.
According to an unauthorized biography published in 2006, Bradford religiously started writing at 6 a.m. and typed until 6 p.m. with a 1 p.m. break in-between.
Queen Elizabeth II recognized her with The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire honor.