TO BE THE BEST

By Barbara Taylor Bradford

Synopsis

Set in Yorkshire, Hong Kong and America, this remarkable novel continues the story of an unorthodox and endlessly fascinating family. As the spirit of Emma Harte lives on in her granddaughter, Paula O’Neill, an engrossing drama is played out in the glamorous arena of the wealthy and privileged, underscored by a cutthroat world of jealousy and treachery. Paula must act with daring and courage to preserve her formidable grandmother’s glittering empire from unscrupulous enemies - so that Emma’s precious dream lives on for the next generation.

Sample Player

Narrator	Bea Holland
Length	16hrs 30mins
Catalogue No.	15364
Publisher	Harper Collins; 2019

Other audiobooks by Barbara Taylor Bradford

CAVENDON HALL

Cavendon Hall is a grand house in the Yorkshire Dales, home to the aristocratic Ingham family, and the Swann family who serve them. But in the summer of 1913, a devastating event changes their futures forever, and life as the families of Cavendon Hall know it, is about to alter beyond recognition as the storm clouds of war gather. First book of the series.

THE CAVENDON LUCK

As the clouds of war gather over Cavendon Hall, sons, husbands and brothers are called up to fight; trials and tragedies strike the great house itself. The women must rise to meet the terrible threat posed by Hitler. The Cavendon Luck has held for a long time. Can it hold in the face of this greatest threat of all – and can it protect the next generation? Book 3 of the series.

THE CAVENDON WOMEN

The estate is under threat: the aftermath of the Great War has left Cavendon facing ruin. Four young women will be the ones to shape its future – Daphne, fighting to modernise her ancestral home; Cecily Swann, a fashion designer in London; Deidre, the career girl, and Dulcie, the outspoken debutante. They will change the estate’s future for good or ill. Nothing will ever be the same again… Book 2 of the series.

DANGEROUS TO KNOW

When Sebastian Locke, the head of a philanthropic foundation, is found dead in mysterious circumstances the police are baffled. His former wife, an American journalist, is determined to find out the truth.

EMMA'S SECRET

Paula O'Neill, beloved granddaughter of Emma Harte and the guardian of her vast business empire, believes all that Emma left to the family is secure. However, beneath the surface tension is mounting and sibling rivalry brewing. And as the pages unfurl, Paula discovers the secret Emma took to the grave.

HER OWN RULES

A woman searching for her past and her true identity leads the reader on an exciting and unforgettable journey of discovery.

HIDDEN

On the surface, Claire Saunders has it all: a rewarding career and a talented daughter, and a loving husband who is one of the country’s most trusted diplomats. But Clare has a secret hidden even from her best friends, but they know her too well. Can they protect her from a man who is as ruthless as he is charming and powerful? Quick Reads.

HOLD THE DREAM

Emma Harte is now eighty years old and ready to hand over the reins of the vast business empire she has created. To her favourite grandchild, Paula McGill Fairley, Emma bequeaths her mighty retailing empire with these heartfelt words: ‘I charge you to hold my dream.’

IN THE LION'S DEN

London 1889: Victorian London is a place of wealth, privilege and poverty. For James Falconer, working his way up Henry Malvern’s trading company in Piccadilly, it is a city of opportunity. Embarking on a love affair with the daughter of Russian émigrés, James’s life begins to transform. But as treachery and danger threaten, James must decide where his future lies – with Henry Malvern or following his own dream…

JUST REWARDS

Linnet O'Neill, heir apparent to Emma Harte, is determined to bring the Harte empire into the twenty-first century. But she and her mother Paula, head of the dynasty, lock horns. When Paula falls dangerously ill, Linnet is suddenly alone at the helm, just as her great-grandmother Emma once was. Linnet finds herself following in the footsteps of the original woman of substance as she battles to save what Emma created – upsetting her sister Tessa, who believes herself to be the rightful heir, in the process. When grief and heartbreak strike the family, all of Emma's great-granddaughters are tested to the limit as the extraordinary story of the Harte family takes another astonishing turn.

LETTER FROM A STRANGER

When award-winning film maker Justine Nolan returns to her beautiful childhood home, she is intrigued by an envelope she finds in her absent mother's post. But the letter inside contains a shocking revelation. If genuine, it will change everything she believes about her family's recent history.

MASTER OF HIS FATE

London, 1884: James Falconer works as a barrow boy in a flourishing London market owned by Henry Malvern, but hungers for more. He dreams of building an empire of stores and believes that Henry, along with his daughter and heir Alexis, could offer him a way to climb beyond his beginnings. But tragedy and betrayal threaten the dreams of both James and Alexis - and jeopardise everything they hold dear....

POWER OF A WOMAN

At 47, Stephanie Jardine is at the apex of her career and life, but discovers that success and wealth cannot help when tragedy strikes.

REMEMBER

A TV war correspondent loses her greatest love and is confronted by suspicions about his double life.

SECRETS OF CAVENDON

It's the summer of 1949, and things have run smoothly at Cavendon Hall for years, but since the end of World War II, changes have arrived. A new generation is at the helm and at the forefront of new scandal and intrigue. With romance, betrayal, heartbreak and possible murder threatening to tear them apart, the Inghams and Swanns will have to find a way to come together…

A SUDDEN CHANGE OF HEART

Laura Valiant is a successful art historian, running her own company. She and her husband, Doug, a Wall Street lawyer, share an idyllic marriage. But Laura’s trust in her husband is shaken when she discovers he has a secret life apart from her – a life which will rock their love.

TREACHEROUS

Hayley Martin and Fiona Chambers have been best friends since they were ten. From the moment that beautiful Fiona stood up to the school bullies for Hayley, the misfit, the two have been inseparable. Twenty years on, they still share everything, and even run their own business together. Until a dark secret threatens to test their loyalty to breaking point…Is anyone really who they appear to be?

THE TRIUMPH OF KATIE BYRNE

When seventeen-year-old Katie Byrne went to the barn for a play rehearsal she discovered one friend murdered and the other in a coma. Ten years on Katie is still haunted by the tragedy and feels that the crime must be solved if she is to be able to get on with her life!

UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS

Evan Hughes, Emma's American great-grandaughter, is trying to integrate into the powerful Harte family. She is caught between her estranged parents, her new family, and new love. Meanwhile a dangerous enemy hovers in the background.

VOICE OF THE HEART

With her stunning beauty, brilliant talent, and magical allure, Katherine Tempest has the world at her feet. Her rise from unknown actress to Hollywood legend is marked by a ruthless determination to succeed. Katherine irrevocably changes the lives of her closest friends: the two men who love her, and the woman who trusts her implicitly. She never looks back until she needs the one thing they alone can give her- forgiveness.

A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE

In 1905 a young kitchen maid leaves Fairley Hall. Emma Harte is 16, single and pregnant. By 1968 she is one of the richest women in the world, ruler of a business empire stretching from Yorkshire to the glittering cities of America and the rugged vastness of Australia. But what is the price she has paid?

THE WOMEN IN HIS LIFE

Maximilian West: filthy rich and a man of almost mythical power, glamour and charm. He appears to have everything. But in reality Maximilian is riven with internal conflict and torn apart by personal doubts. Many women have loved Maxim – and many strive to reach his fortress heart: But only one woman holds the key that will unlock Maximilian’s secret – and set his soul free…