...reveals the popular novel that she wishes she had written...
A Woman of Substance by Barbara Taylor Bradford
“I’m a popular novelist and delighted to be one, but I would be even more delighted if I had written this. It’s an enormously popular novel, but the thing about it which distinguishes it from other novel of this sort is that it has a female character who is really strong and really achieves. The problem with a lot of popular fiction is that women are portrayed as rather pathetic, sitting around in bedsits, waiting for Mr Right to turn up. In this book, the heroine starts as a skivvy in the big house, but rises to become one of the most powerful, rich women in the world, but she does it all through her own brains and her own effort. That’s the reason it’s such an enduring bestseller and that’s why it’s such an inspiration to me.”