A Woman of Substance review – a lavishly absurd, cliche-packed tribute to simpler times

Barbara Taylor Bradford’s 1979 novel became a massive TV hit in the 1980s. Now, Brenda Blethyn has donned a fabulous wig to whisk us back to the age of excess and escapism Basically, there was trouble at ’mill. Or at least t’mill owner’s house. This is the fons et origo of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s A Woman of Substance. The quintessential rags-to-riches tale, of impoverished Yorkshire lass Emma Harte making her way to the top of the fashion business, was published in 1979 – but it anticipated...

By Lucy Mangan