HOLD THE DREAM by BARBARA TAYLOR BRADFORD

 HOLD THE DREAM

by

BARBARA TAYLOR BRADFORD

THE BLURB:

Emma Harte was the heroine of Barbara Taylor Bradford's multi-million copy bestseller

A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE

Now she is eighty years old and ready to hand over the reins of the vast business empire she has created.

To her favourite grandchild, Paula McGill Fairley, Emma bequeaths her mighty retailing empire with these heartfelt words: “I charge you to hold my dream.”

HOLD THE DREAM

is the glorious sequel to the story of Emma Harte. A towering international success, this is the powerfully moving story of one woman's determination to “hold the dream” which was entrusted to her- and in so doing so find the happiness and passion which is her legacy.

THE REALITY:

I have seen this book reviewed- and we're talking back in 1985 when it was first released!- with the opinion that this is nowhere near in the same league as A Woman of Substance. That was a mighty family saga, spacing over a period of 65 years and this takes in only two years yet, at over 800 pages, is quite a tome. It's the second time around for me with this book and, although it kept me entertained, I do get where that reviewer was coming from (by the way, I was 13/14 at the time, and the review was in teenage girls' magazine MIZZ. Does that even exist any more?)

A Woman of Substance is my favourite novel ever, and I've reviewed it here:-

https://elainerockett.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-woman-of-substance-by-barbara-taylor.html

The TV mini-series first brought it to my attention, and actually moved me to tears! I have seen the TV mini-series to Hold The Dream as well. I suppose, like the book, it was entertaining but not in the same league as its predecessor.

This book did have the odd typo and misuse/ misspelling of words (schadenfreude? You betcha!)😉 To me the biggest disappointment was the lack of information about the Fairley family. I would have loved for Emma's original antagonists to come into play more. I also didn't quite get that the first novel was built around the notion of Paula, Emma's favourite granddaughter, falling in love with a forbidden Fairley. So why now have her fall out of love with him? It kind of grated.

I suppose you had to have the trouble with Edwina's family in Ireland and the death of her daughter-in-law to give the story a bit of bumph and fill it out but that was all that it was- bumph. I am glad that Edwina made up with her mother, though. Again, I would have loved to have Edwina exploring her Fairley bloodline in detail. That would have made for a fascinating storyline.

Unfortunately I wasn't writing the book! If you've read A Woman of Substance maybe think about giving Hold The Dream a miss. It would have been better to leave this series at the first book, methinks.