In this prequel to Woman of Substance, we learn the origin of Blackie O'Neil. The poverty of his childhood in Ireland and becoming an orphan early in age. Despite it all, he learned to be kind and hard working. He seemed to charm everyone. When he moved to Leeds to live with his uncle, his life really takes off.

He meets Emma Hart. They develop a life long friendship. It also gives us her origin story.

The author creates for us a world that is vividly descriptive fro the grittiness of the slums, the world of the working class as well as the luxury life of the Gentry, in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

I'd like to thank NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions are strictly my own.

This is a prequel to A Woman Of Substance, which I had read and loved in the early 1980's. It is the story of the childhood and young adulthood of Blackie O'Neill, who befriends Emma Harte later in this novel.

I enjoyed this tale, set in Ireland and England. I had been a big fan of Barbara Taylor Bradford in the past and had read all her novels. I was thrilled to be able to read another from her. If you enjoy the epic story type of book, you will enjoy this much as I did.

I really loved the story of Blackie O'Neill about his life growing up in Ireland. . How he became the man he was. This character is in the book published by this author about Emma Harte , A Woman of Substance and other books in that series. You will note that in this story Emma Harte is featured.. If you enjoyed any of those books you definitely enjoy this one. I do not do spoilers because I don't like to know the whole story before I start a book and having read the Emma Harte series, I just felt this book had to be good. It is a VERY GOOD READ.

This is a very intense but great story about loss, grief, poverty and resilience,
I enjoyed it and it's one of those books that would stay with me for a long time.

The prequel to 'A Woman of Substance,' which I read years ago. It was fun reading the backstory of Emma Harte. Anyone who remembers reading A Woman of Substance should add this to their TBR pile. I highly recommend this book.

I believe I read A Woman of Substance back in the late seventies. I got this from NetGalley hoping for a revisit to a story I remember enjoying. I do think that the author's fans will fall into this blast from the past, but unfortunately I found it really hard going.

Part of the problem was the narrative voice stopping the story repeatedly to tell the reader, in flat, journalistic prose, the history of a character--including after the gist of it had already been shown through scene, creating a sense of repetition, and slowing the pacing to snail speed.

Then there were the scenes in which characters told each other things they already knew, in order to impart yet more information to the reader--and that too often in a kind of Irish dialect that bordered on caricature. I make no claim to being well versed in Irish speech patterns, especially those of a century ago, but in no novel written by an Irish person, about Irish people, have I ever seen quite so much "Faith, and [. . .]."

Then there was the fact that Blackie never sounded like any thirteen year old boy I've ever heard. I think the author wanted the reader to see that he had a good heart from the time he was small, but he was so fulsome that he came off priggish, reminding me of Eddie Haskell in the old Leave it to Beaver show.

I began skimming in search of story, finding the pacing to be more disjointed, with a lot more narrative voice instructing the reader carefully exactly what to think about the characters--with a heavy emphasis on slut-shaming in places, and so forth. Meanwhile Blackie's diction as he approached manhood, remained that same strange, robotic simulacrum of "I'm a good boy, I am," of his thirteen year old self, which made me skim the faster.

I hope that the book finds its audience and pleases them. I'm sorry I wasn't one of them. Maybe I ought to find another copy of that first book and reread it instead.

I have always been a fan of Barbara Taylor Bradford and was so excited to see that she had written a prequel to A Woman of Substance, one of my favorite books from years ago.

A Man of Honor takes place five years before “The Woman of Substance’ and begins when Blackie O’Neill was thirteen years old and moves from Ireland to England to work for his uncle. He was born in poverty and was determined to become a rich man. We know from the later stories that he and Emma became lifelong friends.

I enjoyed this book and it made me want to read more of her books all over again.

I have read and enjoyed Barbara Taylor Bradford's books in the past and will again. I tried to pick up this book over and over but found the action too slow and mundane to continue, sorry to admit. I will not post this review because others may enjoy more than I.

A great historical fiction story. I loved the background of all the characters. The story was full of wonderful people I would like to meet. In this present social climate it was an escape to read about acceptance and neighbors helping each other during tough economic times, despite the social class system . While the story did move slow at times with the author repeating things already explained, I still enjoyed it.

A Man of Honor is the first Barbara Taylor Bradford novel that I have read. There was much to like about this book, or at least that is what many reviewers have to say. I found the depiction of the main protagonist, Blackie, well done and interesting, although there was a great deal of repetition. His Irish dialect/dialogue never varied at all, even several years after leaving Ireland when he was only 13 years old. Blackie was inevitably polite and gentlemanly, which meant his personality never wavered. Given the sameness of his behavior, it seemed strange that after so many years and having become an adult, he never seemed to grow. For example, he often designed buildings for wealthy clients, and yet, his speech never matured even after all the exposure he received from "posh" people. Other reviewers have mentioned the digression about Lord Lassiter and his unhappy marriage, which was pointless. It went nowhere, and I began to wonder if Bradford was revealing a Dicksonian talent for wasting pages. The difference was Dickens was paid by the word. I doubt Barbara Taylor Bradford was similarly afflicted. The same could be said for the story about Lord Lassiter's illegitimate cousin. Why were these two stories included? I am glad that I read this book, but I wish the writer could tighten her prose. I appreciate having been given this ARC by St Martin's Press and NetGalley. The above comments are my unvarnished and honest comments.

I was so looking forward to this read based upon my past experiences with Ms. Bradford. Unfortunately, about 50% in, the storyline took an unrealistic over the top romantic caper. I was very much enjoying Blackie and Patrick’s construction and building dreams until then.
I don’t mind a little bit of romance but this story had so much going for it, it was sad to see it go down that path. If you love romance, this would be a good read for you. I was more into wanting to follow the saga, trials, tribulations, and seeing how hard work makes your goals and dreams come true.
Received an ARC from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for my unbiased review – This one comes in with 3***.

3.8 but rounding up. I read A Woman of Substance by this author about 40 years ago and loved it. I really liked epic novels of which it was. Perhaps my tastes have changed, but this book did not quite reach the level of what I thought about A Woman of Substance, but again that was quite a while ago. It was good and entertaining, and for those who like epic novels, this will likely please. This book is considered a prequel to A Woman of Substance, the latter that focused on the life of Emma Harte, a rags to riches story. So we don't meet Emma until the end of A Man of Honor, but are introduced and meet other characters who appear in the later novel, such as Emma' lifelong friend, Blackie O'Neill, who is supposed to be the main character, but also goes into others, such as Lord Lassiter and his coterie of friends, and then a third plot with the introduction of Emma. Blackie is the glue to all of this but in my opinion got sidelined when Emma was introduced. It's a good tale, a tad simplistic and totally predictable. But for those fans of A Woman of Substance and of epic stories, this will likely be a good read. What an impressive undertaking by tgexauthor to write this novel so long after the first. I received an advance copy if this novel from NetGalley in exchange for a candid and unbiased review.

This is the prequel to “The Woman of Substances”. I read it back when it was originally published which was 1979. I also read “Hold the Dream” Book # 2 in the Emma Harte Saga as well as “To Be the Best” Book #3. I read them before Goodreads ~ and cannot find the book journal where I did make comments. I went into rather cold; but I do remember being a big of Barbara Taylor Bradford.

This story is five years before “The Woman of Substance’ and begins when Blackie O’Neill was thirteen years old and moves from Ireland to England to work for his uncle. He was born in poverty and was determined to become a rich man. We know from the later stories that he and Emma became lifelong friends.
I was looking forward to this ~ I remember when I read the three in this sage; I couldn’t wait for the next one to be published.
I am a tad disappointed.~ I am sure it is because my reading preferences have changed over the years and has nothing to do with the writing.

Want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for November 16, 2021

A Man of Honor by Barbara Taylor Bradford- Review

An enjoyable story that is set in England and Ireland. I loved Blackie's Irish brogue. The plot was not something that is full of action, but surely one that is character driven.

A gentle, thoughtful tale of the life of Blackie O'Neill who grew up in Ireland. He had a young life of poverty and loss, losing his mother, father, and sister, and at the young age of 13 travelled to England to apprentice with his Patrick, a builder. The story chronicles Blackie's growth from child to adult. I found the character enchanting. He had a positive attitude, an affinity for building, a strong moral character, and a generous spirit.

I haven't read a Woman of Substance (published in 1979) yet, but I look forward to it. The character Emma Harte is introduced in this prequel, and she is already a strong, enterprising young woman with many ideas for making money. She and Blackie became friends in this book.

I enjoyed this story set in England and Ireland. Love Blackie's Irish brogue. The plot was not one that was full of action, but the story was more character driven.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on November 16, 2021.

I have read "A Woman of Substance" years ago as many other reviewers have. I fell in love with that book and it was my favorite novel and still is to this day. "A Man of Honor" being the prequel will stand next to it. Blackie O’Neill brought that story back to me, back to the 1900's and an era I love to read about. More than likely, I will go back and read "A Woman of Substance" as I'm sure many readers will. My thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have not read the books this one is the prequel to, so I am unsure if that changed my reading experience or reaction. However, I understand this series and character are beloved, and I am sure the author's many fans eagerly anticipate this release. This book was just not for me, though. The repetition of phrases and descriptions caused me to lose interest, and the story felt disjointed at times. Many of the characters were vivid and likable, but I felt somehow disconnected from their conversations. On the other hand, I enjoyed the historical aspects of the story, and the environment was colorful and well depicted.

I couldn’t resist picking up this prequel to A Woman of Substance, which I recall nothing more than that I loved it. To discover that I undoubtedly read it in 1979, the year it came out, is a tribute to how much I must have treasured the novel.
This book felt like more of an artist’s sketch than a finished painting, yet it was a good read and will assure that I will reread the earlier book. A Man of Honor kicks off the story, but isn’t complete enough to stand on its own. I imagine most readers will buy or borrow both books, not this alone.

Barbara Taylor Bradford is a great storyteller and this novel is no different. It is a nice prequel to her Harte Family Saga series. However, nice as it was to learn about Blackie’s origins, I found it rather bland. Fortunately, the descriptions and dialogue of that period of time in Ireland and England made it easy to emerge myself in the book. Thank you NetGalley for the advance copy of this book to review.

I have enjoyed Barbara Taylor Bradford's books so I accepted an advance review copy of A Man of Honor, and was not disappointed! At the time, I was unaware that it was a prequel to A Woman of Substance which is part of a series, the Harte Family Saga. A Man of Honor follows Blackie O'Neill from when he is orphaned in County Kerry to joining his aunt and uncle in England. He is a hard worker who fulfills his dreams of building, yet his empathy for those around him leads him through adventures.

Now that I know I've read the prequel, I need to read A Woman of Substance. Bradford weaves a tale that is part mystery, part empathy, part wonder of Irish and English culture. I was entranced - and you will be too!