JUST REWARDS

The saga of the Harte family began with A WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE, the compelling story of Emma Harte's rise from poverty and illegitimacy to found England's finest department store. This story, ostensibly about Emma Harte's great-grandchildren, is a disappointment. Terry Donnelly does a credible job portraying the various British aristocrats. But the characters themselves are not likable, and the plot is bogged down in detail and in trying to tie the current generation to the past. Further, the characters' adulation of a great-grandmother long dead seems unhealthy to this listener. This is one series that should have stopped a generation or two ago. A.C.P. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/ SEP 07]