Just Rewards
A Novel of the Harte Family
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
From the blockbuster bestselling author comes the dramatic conclusion to the saga that began with Emma Harte and A Woman of Substance
Four women at a crossroads. A family in crisis. And an enemy planning for his long-awaited chance at revenge. Who will have their Just Rewards?
Linnet O'Neill, great-granddaughter of Emma Harte, finds herself following in the footsteps of the original woman of substance as she battles to modernize the family business. Returning from her honeymoon full of fresh ideas for bringing the Harte empire into the new century, Linnet locks horns with her mother, Paula, in a battle about the future. But due to unexpected circumstances, Linnet finds herself alone at the helm, just as her great-grandmother once was. Tessa Fairley is ready to start a new life after an acrimonious divorce--which might include rivaling her sister Linnet for the top spot in the Harte business. India Standish, in the midst of planning her own glamorous summer wedding in Ireland, is thrown off balance when her fiance's daughter Atlanta comes to live with them--closely followed by his unstable ex-girlfriend, intent on trouble. And Evan Hughes, their American cousin, unwittingly brings an enemy into their midst. But Evan's sister Angharad, who tries to infiltrate the quartet of young women, meets Jonathan Ainsley, the deadly enemy of the Hartes. Together, they spin a web of vengeance whereby no Harte is safe. Just Rewards brings the story of Emma Harte and A Woman of Substance full circle.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Can this be, as advertised, the final episode in the Harte family saga? A Woman of Substance (1979), the story of Emma Harte's triumph over poverty and illegitimacy to found England's greatest department store, and its four sequels were huge bestsellers. Now Emma's great-granddaughter, Linnet O'Neill, must defend the empire and family against evil uncle Jonathan Ainsley. But words such as "granddaughter" and "uncle" don't do justice to the complexities. It takes four and a half pages of front matter to enumerate the Harte, Kallinski and O'Neill clans whose intertwining lives drive the saga. Emma's descendants offer a helping hand to new in-laws and the reader by uttering sentences such as these: "Through his great-grandfather, Winston the First, Emma is Gideon's great-great-aunt. But she is also Gideon's great-grandmother, because Emma was my grandmother." Weddings and funerals keep the local caterer busy and offer crescendos of activity, if scant emotion. Although Ainsley's malevolence hovers behind the story and leads to near disasters, there's never a doubt that the strong women will triumph though not without struggle. Series devotees will take heart at the ending, which hints that Ainsley's evil will survive his death and the struggles will continue offstage even if Bradford lays down her golden pen.
