Every time Barbara Taylor Bradford had a novel published, her doting husband Bob would buy her a gift.
It would always be a carefully selected piece of jewellery or a new handbag she’d been craving.
But this time his gift was far more precious – he gave her an idea.
For it was when Barbara, 88, was sitting by her husband Bob’s hospital bedside, holding his hand as he grew weak, that he inspired her.
Not only did he want her to keep writing when he was gone but, pivotally, he helped her realise she had to return to her roots.
Two years after having lost her husband of 55 years, Barbara has finished the book she imagined while she held her vigil at his side.
And as well as helping her through her grief, it’s also given fans another chance to revisit the world of her most famous heroine: Emma Harte, from 1979’s A Woman of Substance.
The novel was a global success for the Yorkshire-born journalist, selling 30 million copies, and making it still one of the world’s Top 10 bestselling novels of all time.
It spawned another six books in the series, the last in 2009.
Now Barbara’s releasing a prequel from the point of view of its dashing hero, Irish immigrant Shane O’Neill, nicknamed “Blackie”, for his dark hair.
It was all thanks to film producer Robert Bradford, and those solemn moments during Barbara’s vigil as he fought for life in a New York hospital following a sudden stroke.
“Bob was the love of my life, my biggest supporter,” explains Barbara.
“My life would never be the same when he passed away but I also knew he’d want me to go on with my work.
“Bob always told me, ‘Keep writing if anything happens to me, it’s your solace as well as your career’. I knew I would be devastated and would struggle to research in-depth the planned next novel in the Falconer Trilogy, so I sat next to Bob and thought, what can I do?’”
That’s when it came to Barbara, returning to Emma’s world with this prequel about Shane, her loyal friend.
“Even today, the book sells well,” she says. “So that was Bob’s final gift to me, the idea for this book.
“In those early months [after he died] I would go for lots of walks, I did not like being in the apartment.
“But then I had a word with myself and thought I’d better get on with the novel.
“I wrote every day. I wrote about what I knew at a time I was vulnerable and it provided a distraction to my grief. It distracted me from dwelling on the emptiness Bob has left behind.”
Shane was famously played by Liam Neeson opposite Jenny Seagrove’s Emma in the 1985 Emmy-nominated TV series, which was produced by Bob.
Shane was a chimney sweep at Fairley Hall where he met Emma –then a kitchen maid who strove to become the head of a retail empire.
The series was watched by 13.8million viewers, and remains one of the Channel 4 ’s highest ever audiences. He also produced another eight of his wife’s books as movies or mini-series.
As with all her previous 38 books – which have sold a staggering 90 million copies in 90 countries and have been published in 40 languages – the new book, A Man of Honour, is dedicated to her husband, who died aged 94.
This one says: “Always my joy and inspiration and in my heart forever”.Its immigration plot is also poignant, as the Berlin-born producer fled to the US to escape Nazi Germany during the Second World War.
Barbara says: “If Bob was alive, he’d want to make A Man of Honour into a film. Grief never goes away. It stays with you.
“As the Queen once famously said, it is the price you pay for love. I miss him every day.”
- A Man of Honour by Barbara Taylor Bradford is out on Thursday. Harper Collins, £16.99
