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Barbara Taylor Bradford

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Barbara Taylor Bradford
OBE
Born
Barbara Taylor

(1933-05-10) 10 May 1933 (age 91)
Leeds, Yorkshire, England
OccupationNovelist
Spouse
Robert E. Bradford
​
​
(m. 1963; died 2019)​
[1]
Parents
  • Winston Taylor (father)
  • Freda Taylor (mother)

Barbara Taylor Bradford OBE (born 10 May 1933) is a British-American best-selling novelist. Her debut novel, A Woman of Substance, was published in 1979 and sold over 30 million copies worldwide.[2] She has written 40 novels, all bestsellers in England and the United States.

Early life

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Barbara Taylor was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England[3] to Freda and Winston Taylor. Her father was an engineer who had lost a leg while serving in the First World War.[4] She attended a nursery school in the Leeds suburb of Upper Armley alongside the writer Alan Bennett.[4] As a child during the Second World War, she held a jumble sale at her school and donated the £2 proceeds to the "Aid to Russia" fund. She later received a handwritten thank-you letter from Clementine Churchill, the wife of Prime Minister Winston Churchill.[5]

Her older brother Vivian died of meningitis before she was born. She later described her mother as having "put all her frustrated love into me."[6] Her parents' marriage is fictionalized in her 1986 novel An Act of Will.[4]

In her youth, Barbara Taylor read Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Thomas Hardy, and Colette.[7] At the age of ten she decided to be a writer after sending a story to a magazine. She was paid 7s 6d for the story, with which she bought handkerchiefs and a green vase for her parents.[4]

Taylor Bradford's biographer, Piers Dudgeon, later uncovered evidence that her mother Freda Walker was the illegitimate daughter of Oliver Robinson, 2nd Marquess of Ripon, a local Yorkshire landowner who employed her mother, Edith Walker, as a servant. Dudgeon informed Taylor Bradford that her grandmother and Ripon had had three children together. After some hesitation, Taylor Bradford allowed Dudgeon to publish this information in his biography.[4] Although initially angry at Dudgeon's discovery, she later said that "I came round. There's no stigma now."[4] Her grandmother later spent time in workhouses,[4] which Taylor Bradford explored in the ITV television series Secrets of the Workhouse (2013).[8]

Career

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Taylor left school aged 15. After working briefly in the newspaper's typing pool, she became a reporter for the Yorkshire Evening Post. While there, she worked alongside Keith Waterhouse.[4]

At the age of twenty, Taylor moved to London, where she later became the fashion editor of Woman's Own magazine and a columnist for the London Evening News. She went on to write an interior decoration column syndicated to 183 newspapers.[4]

Her first fiction writing efforts were four suspense novels, a genre she later abandoned.[4] Taylor Bradford would subsequently describe "interviewing herself", saying that "I was in my late thirties. I thought: what if I get to 55, and I've never written a novel? I'm going to hate myself. I'm going to be one of those bitter, unfulfilled writers."[4] Her debut novel, A Woman of Substance, became an enduring best-seller and, according to Reuters, ranks as one of the top-ten best-selling novels of all time.[9] It was followed by 39 other novels, all bestsellers in the United Kingdom and the United States.

Taylor Bradford considers Irish historian and author Cornelius Ryan her literary mentor. Ryan encouraged her writing and was the first person (other than her mother) to whom she had confided her literary ambitions.[10] Her favourite contemporary authors are P. D. James, Bernard Cornwell, and Ruth Rendell.[5]

Recurring plotlines and common themes

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A common pattern in her novels is a young woman of humble background rising in business through years of hard work, often involving enormous self-sacrifice. As Taylor Bradford is often quoted: "I write about mostly ordinary women who go on to achieve the extraordinary."[11]

Film adaptations

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Ten of Taylor Bradford's books were made into television mini-series and television movies, produced by her husband Robert E. Bradford.[citation needed]

Five of her television adaptations were rereleased on DVD in the UK in September 2008 by Acorn Media UK:

  • A Woman of Substance
  • Hold The Dream
  • To Be The Best
  • Act of Will
  • Voice of the Heart

Personal life

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Taylor Bradford met her husband, American film producer Robert E. Bradford, on a blind date in 1961 after being introduced by the English screenwriter Jack Davies.[4][12] They married on Christmas Eve 1963, and moved permanently to the United States. Taylor Bradford became an American citizen in 1992.[13]

Taylor Bradford received an honorary doctorate from Leeds University, the University of Bradford, Mount St. Mary's College, Sienna College, and Post University.[4][13] She was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II as part of the 2007 Birthday Honours for her contributions to literature. Her original manuscripts are archived at the Leeds University Brotherton Library Special Collections beside those of the Brontë sisters.[14][13] In 2017, Bradford Taylor was recognised as one of 90 "Great Britons" to commemorate the Queen's 90th birthday.

Taylor Bradford's wealth is estimated at between £60–166 million, and there have been rumours that she owns 2,000 pairs of shoes and that her former Connecticut home's lake was heated for the benefit of her swans.[4][15][16] Taylor Bradford addressed the rumours in a 2011 interview, tracing the shoes rumour to a joke and the heated lake to the previous owners of the house who had installed it on part of the lake to provide an ice-free area for a pair of swans in winter.[17]

In 1990 she was the subject of This Is Your Life where she was surprised by Michael Aspel at Heathrow Airport.[citation needed]

Her husband died in 2019.[6] Taylor Bradford lives in Manhattan, New York City.[4]

Selected works

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Fiction

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The Emma Harte Saga
  • A Woman of Substance (1979)
  • Hold the Dream (1985)
  • To Be the Best (1988)
  • Emma's Secret (2003)
  • Unexpected Blessings (2005)
  • Just Rewards (2005)
  • Breaking the Rules (2009)
  • A Man of Honour (2021)
The Ravenscar Trilogy
  • The Ravenscar Dynasty (2006)
  • Heirs of Ravenscar (2007) (published as The Heir in the U.S.)
  • Being Elizabeth (2008)
The Cavendon Chronicles
  • Cavendon Hall (2014)
  • The Cavendon Women (2015)
  • The Cavendon Luck (2016)
  • Secrets of Cavendon (2017)

The House of Falconer

  • Master of His Fate (2018)
  • In the Lion's Den (2020)
  • The Wonder Of It All (2023)
Other fiction
  • Act of Will (1986)
  • The Women in His Life (1990)
  • Remember (1991)
  • Angel (1993)
  • Voice of the Heart (1983)
  • Everything to Gain (1994)
  • Dangerous to Know (1995)
  • Love in Another Town (1995)
  • Her Own Rules (1996)
  • A Secret Affair (1996)
  • Power of a Woman (1997)
  • A Sudden Change of Heart (1999)
  • Where You Belong (2000)
  • The Triumph of Katie Byrne (2001) (NL, De wereld aan haar voeten)
  • Three Weeks in Paris (2002)
  • Playing the Game (2010) (NL, Liefdesspel)
  • Letter From a Stranger (2011) (NL, De geheime brief)
  • Secrets From the Past (2013)
  • Hidden (2013) (published as an eBook)
  • Treacherous (2014) (published as an eBook)
  • Who Are You? (2016) (published as an eBook)
  • Damaged (2018) (published as an eBook)

Non-fiction

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  • A Garland of Children's Verse (1960)
  • The Dictionary of 1001 Famous People: Outstanding Personages in the World of Science, the Arts, Music and Literature (with Samuel Nisenson, 1966)
  • Etiquette to Please Him (How to be the Perfect Wife series) (1969)
  • Bradford's Living Romantically Every Day (2002)
Interior design
  • The Complete Encyclopedia of Homemaking Ideas (1968)
  • Easy Steps to Successful Decorating (Illustrated) (1971)
  • How to Solve Your Decorating Problems (1976)
  • Making Space Grow (1979)
  • Luxury Designs for Apartment Living (1983)
Christian books
  • Children's Stories of Jesus from the New Testament (1966)
  • Children's Stories of the Bible from the Old Testament (1966)
  • Children's Stories of the Bible from the Old and New Testaments (1968)

References

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  1. ^ Evans, Greg (5 July 2019). "Robert E. Bradford Dies: Film & TV Producer, Husband of Novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford Was 92". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved 12 July 2019.
  2. ^ "Barbara Taylor Bradford". HARDtalk. BBC News. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  3. ^ Barbara Taylor Birth Index. Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2005 database on-line. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2008. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Cooke, Rachel (8 October 2006). "You can never be too rich". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  5. ^ a b Slater, Jessica (22 October 2009). "The World of Barbara Taylor Bradford". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  6. ^ a b Wintle, Angela (15 March 2013). "My Family Values – Barbara Taylor Bradford". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  7. ^ "Booky Ramblings Interviews Barbara Taylor Bradford". Blogspot. 14 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  8. ^ Dowell, Ben (17 June 2013). "Barbara Taylor Bradford: Fifty Shades of Grey is "not even sexy"". The Radio Times. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  9. ^ Goldsmith, Belinda (9 January 2007). "Author Bradford attributes success to stamina". Reuters. Archived from the original on 28 July 2011. Retrieved 11 May 2011.
  10. ^ Morris, Sophie (25 September 2006). "My Mentor: Barbara Taylor Bradford on Cornelius Ryan". The Independent. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  11. ^ Roy, Amit (22 November 2019). "Prequel to A Woman of Substance". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  12. ^ Bradford, Barbara Taylor (22 December 2013). "Barbara Taylor Bradford: my golden husband". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
  13. ^ a b c "Barbara's Biography". Random House. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
  14. ^ "Barbara Taylor Bradford Archive". Special Collections. Leeds University Library. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  15. ^ Macdonald, Marianne (20 July 1997). "The BTB Effect". The Independent. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  16. ^ Kean, Daunta (26 September 2010). "Sapphires and steel: The glittering life of global bestseller Barbara Taylor Bradford". The Independent. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
  17. ^ Jarvis, Katie (11 October 2011). "Cotswold Character: Barbara Taylor Bradford". Cotswold Life. Retrieved 20 February 2014.
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