The Triumph of Katie Byrne

Barbara Taylor Bradford delivers all the drama, suspense, and romance her readers expect in a riveting novel that begins with a murder in an old Connecticut barn…

We first meet Katie Byrne at seventeen. A tall beauty with reddish-gold hair, she has always wanted to be an actress. Her two best friends share her passion for the theatre, and the three girls have spent much of their childhood rehearsing plays in an old barn in Connecticut. Leaving early one day to help her mother prepare dinner, Katie realizes she has left her schoolbooks at the barn and she and her older brother return to retrieve them. When they arrive, they find the barn, the setting of so many happy dreams, has become the scene of a nightmare: one of Katie's friends has been raped and murdered, and the other lies unconscious.

Ten years later, Katie, a struggling actress in New York, is still haunted by the tragedy. Her friend Carly remains in a coma, and Katie desperately wants to achieve success and stardom not only for herself but also for her two old friends. Her big chance comes when she is discovered and wins a major role in a Broadway play.

But Katie must face the demons of the past before she can embrace the possibilities of the future…

Reviews

Praise for Barbara Taylor Bradford:

'Queen of the genre.' Sunday Times

‘Few novelists are as consummate as Barbara Taylor Bradford at keeping the reader turning the page. She is one of the world’s best at spinning yarns.’ Guardian

‘As romantic and thrilling as the rest’ Independent on Sunday

‘Another great yarn from the ultimate storyteller’ The Sun

‘The storyteller of substance.’ The Times

‘A compulsive, emotional read about love, lies and the ties that bind… Taylor Bradford is the most fabulous teller of stories’ Daily Mail

About the author

Barbara Taylor Bradford was born and raised in Leeds. She left school at 15 for the typing pool at the Yorkshire Evening Post.

At 16, she became a reporter on the paper and, at 18, its first Woman’s Editor. Aged 20, she moved to London and became a columnist and editor on Fleet Street.

Her first novel, A Woman of Substance, is one of the bestselling novels of all time and Barbara’s books have sold more than 90 million copies worldwide. In 2007, Barbara was appointed an OBE by the Queen for her services to literature.

Barbara was married to her beloved husband, television and film producer Robert Bradford, for 55 years until he died in 2019. She continued to live in New York and write novels, her last entitled The Wonder of It All, until she died in November 2024.