Barbara Taylor Bradford will write a prequel to "A Woman of Substance"

Barbara Taylor Bradford is writing a prequel to her 1979 bestselling novel, A Woman of Substance.

The Guardian reports that Bradford came to the decision this summer, during her husband’s final illness this summer.

She told the paper that she knew writing would help take her mind off of grief, but the thought of doing a research-intensive historical novel seemed overwhelming.

And then it dawned on her to return to Blackie O’Neill; Blackie and Emma will take place five years before A Woman of Substance, when the hero is just thirteen.

Bradford has written over thirty novels, including follow-ups to A Woman of Substance and, most recently, the Falconer historic series.

Read more about what to expect from Blackie and Emma, which has just left the outline stage, in the Guardian.

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