Trilogy of dramas based on the novels by barbara taylor bradford in a woman of substance 1985 successful businesswoman emma harte deborah kerr is worried that her sons are plotting against her and begins to look back on her life she remembers how as a young woman jenny seagrove she was abandoned when pregnant by her wealthy lover had to work to build a future for herself and her child and marry the weak joe lowther joe duttine for her childs sake during the first world war emma