Part one of Woman of Substance was subtitled "Nest of Vipers." Here we find Emma discharged from her job after a desultory affair with her employer's son (Peter Chelsolm)
After losing her job due to a romantic entanglement with her employer's son, Emma Harte (Jenny Seagrove) heads to Leeds, where she starts a small business. Her enterprise blossoms beyond her wildest dreams, and by episode's end Emma is the wealthiest woman in the region.
Expanding her business activities beyond the small town of Leeds, former serving girl Emma Hart (Jenny Seagrove) seeks vengeance on the aristocratic family that has wronged her. She also falls in love with handsome Major Paul McGill (Barry Bostwick).
Paula Fairley, now head of the Harte chain of department stores, has taken on the burden of preserving Emma's legacy. However, she suffers dissent within her extended family, in particular her devious cousin Jonathan Ainsley. Her marriage to Jim Fairley is unhappy, leading her into the arms of her childhood sweetheart, Shane O'Neill (Stephen Collins), grandson of Blackie O'Neill (Liam Neeson). Struggling to prove herself in a male dominated world, just like her grandmother before her, Paula would suffer heartache and loss that mirrors the life of her grandmother. Emma's request that Paula hold her dream is what drives Paula to fight and overcome personal tragedy and come out on top, so as to save the Harte name for the next generation.
The Barbara Taylor Bradford trilogy that began with A Woman of Substance ends with this epic tale! Paula O' Neill feuds with her cousins as she fights to save her grandmother's business-and struggles to salvage her marriage.
