‘A Woman of Substance’ author, Barbara Taylor Bradford, dies

Author and former British journalist Barbara Taylor Bradford has died at the age of 91.

Her spokesperson confirmed Bradford’s death, saying that she died at her home in New York City on Sunday, The Associated Press reported.

Bradford was from Leeds, West Yorkshire, and was an only child. She had one of her first stories published in a local magazine when she was a young girl. She left school at the age of 16 and became a reporter with the Yorkshire Evening Post. She became a fashion editor of Woman’s Own Magazine, a writer for the London Evening News and a columnist in the U.S. She also wrote children’s stories and advice books, but always wanted to write a novel.

Bradford’s first book, “A Woman of Substance,” was published in 1979. It became a bestseller and remained on The New York Times list for 43 weeks, the BBC reported.

She continued writing, publishing nearly a book a year and having her works printed in 40 languages. Bradford had a strict routine, the AP reported, writing by 6 a.m., taking a break around 1 p.m. then writing until 6 p.m.

Most of her stories focused on women living in a man’s world while trying to learn love and power, the AP said.

In her 45-year career, she sold more than 90 million copies of her novels globally and had an estimated net worth of more than $200 million.

Several were made into television films or miniseries, the BBC reported.

Along with her prolific publishing she was honored with a postage stamp in 1999 and an OBE, or The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, awarded by Queen Elizabeth II in 2007, the AP reported.

Bradford was married for 56 years to Robert, whose escape from the Nazis inspired her book “The Women In His Life.” He died in 2019.