I really enjoyed the book, and am keen to read the next one in the series of 7!

I remembered watching the tv series many years ago, and so thought I'd read the book, even if it is rather long.

There was lots to admire about Emma Hart, her work ethic for one. I feel sorry for her in a way that she spent her whole life wanting revenge, but I'm glad that the first book ended on a good note, and look forward to seeing what unfolds in the next book.

as a young woman, i loved this book. The whole family saga - rags to riches thing had me hooked.

epic novel

Not as good as I remember...

Read it years ago and loved it.

This book was realistic fiction at its finest. I felt the "nod" of previous works such as Jane Eyre, Pride & Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, even short stories like "The Yellow Wallpaper"... then put that in a blender with 80s classics like Dallas and Dynasty and you have this fabulous book. This isn't a work for everyone - the early parts of the book are intensely descriptive, again like those great British literature works, listed above, so there is great description of the sweeping moors, the stately manors, etc. This book is a fine wine you savor - and then you find yourself hooked and returning for another slow sip. Admittedly, it became slow in parts, and I found our main character Emma Harte to not be the most likeable person at times, but I found her ambition, and character believable, although it was much to the detriment of caring for her family, but that's the age-old question - can a woman have a high-powered career and a successful family? I wound up enjoying the main character and felt the detailed description of her life painted a true characterization of a complex woman such as she. I enjoyed this fallable character and greatly enjoyed this long book. Again, if you don't enjoy long, sweeping, narrative descriptions of people & places, don't go for this book. If you enjoy this, then give it a go : )

When I first began reading this book, I didn't think I was going to be able to make it through. There were a few things this author did that caused me some minor annoyances. It was hard to develop any true feeling toward Emma in the beginning of the book because many of her thoughts seemed contradictory. The beginning is really slow going. Also, this author likes to make extremely long-winded descriptions of interiors, which I find detract from the plot, especially when a character is ruminating on important things and these ruminations are interrupted with a long description. Not only this, but the author then communicates how each room fits each character's traits and how these rooms say something important about that character, which is something I felt I could have figured out on my own and which was a further waste of page space. She also knocks you over the head with the fact that Emma has an iron will and that she's extremely ambitious. I really felt that Emma's actions could have spoken for themselves and that this repeated reminder of her strengths was unnecessary.

Having said this, however, I was able to make it through the first part of the book and after this point, I began to really connect with the story. The characters in this book are so real, and many, like Blackie, are lovable. Emma's journey from an impoverished, working-class girl to a powerhouse is extremely satisfying, as are the various ways in which she overcomes challenges. The story is great, the characters wonderful. Ultimately, I enjoyed the book. I would recommend this book only to someone who has a lot of time for reading (the book is quite long) and who is willing to read through the beginning, which is mainly where all the long and technical interior descriptions are; as the book progresses, they tend to get shorter.

I read this book in the 80's. Stil consider it one of my all time favorites