Determined to ruin the upper-class Fairley family who wronged her, Emma Harte (Jenny Seagrove) aims to become one of the richest women in the world. Although anachronistic for a woman born around 1890, it is exhilarating to watch her think and act like a contemporary woman with the benefits of late-20th-century feminism. In just over five hours, this Emmy-nominated version of Barbara Taylor Bradford's bestselling novel A Woman of Substance traces Emma's life from overworked Yorkshire maid to the triumphant 79-year-old matriarch (Deborah Kerr) of a vast business empire. Married twice, but only truly loving a man she could never marry, Emma devotes herself to building her business empire. Surrounded by a loyal few, including Irishman Blackie O'Neill (Liam Neeson), Emma lives her life as a strong, uncompromising protagonist similar to Gone with the Wind's Scarlett O'Hara in a social environment reminiscent of Upstairs, Downstairs. Her life is a sort of feminist retrospective on the social issues of 1890s-to-1930s England--poverty, illegitimate children, illness, anti-Semitism, World War I, whether to marry for security or passion, the role of women in the workplace, and such--making A Woman of Substance a historical and inspiring film to watch. --Tara Chace
