This book scratched my itch for reading about people who pull themselves up from their bootstraps and make something of their lives. That said, I did not like the way in which Emma trod on others to get to the top, and the way in which she married such ridiculously wrong men. Overall though, a very engrossing story of one woman's rise to power. ( )

This is one great doorstop of a book, and yet I slogged through the 900 pages in record time - partly to get to the end and partly because I skipped a lot of the pedestrian description. Every new room or character is described in intimate detail, and with the characters especially I was left longing for some more showing and less telling. I found the writing style quite boring and the plot quite predictable, but I still read to the end. ( )

A book to really sink your teeth into. Memorable. Generations are portrayed well, and struggle. ( )

I read this in my late teens (long long ago). It set me on the path of liking strong women driven stories. I thought Emma was great. ( )

I tried to like this book. I really did. I loved Jennifer Donnelly's The Tea Rose, and a friend recommended this one because it's also a family drama and historical fiction. But the main difference between these two novels is the quality of the writing—Barbara Taylor Bradford's writing style was annoying, frankly. Every description was excessive and flowery (the elegant clothes, rooms, furniture...), and the plot was incredibly predictable. I couldn't feel attached to any of the characters; the main one, Emma Harte, because she was so cold to everyone (and not in a good way like Scarlett O'Hara, who Bradford was clearly trying to channel), or anyone else, because I knew exactly what would happen to them (and which ones would die) as soon as they were introduced. Emma's great revenge scene was very anti-climactic, and her supposed "great" romance was a cheap imitation of Scarlett and Rhett (and with GWTW being my absolute favorite everything, that was particularly grating). I slogged through the whole thing because I figured things had to improve after the flowering beginning—and they did, mostly, during the middle when Emma moved away from Fairley Hall to begin making her fortune—but the ending was incredibly disappointing. But I couldn't not read the last 100 pages after reading the first 800! Save yourself the trouble and avoid this one. ( )