Her own rags-to-riches story mirrored those of many of her resilient heroines, and her dozens of novels helped her amass a fortune of $300 million.

Author Barbara Taylor Bradford, best known for her debut novel "A Woman of Substance," has died at age 91. Her books often starred strong women.

Barbara Taylor Bradford, a British journalist who became a publishing sensation in her 40s with the saga “A Woman of Substance” and wrote more than a dozen other novels that sold tens of millions of copies,

Starting with 'A Woman of Substance,' published in 1979, Bradford averaged nearly a book a year as one of the world's most popular and wealthiest writers.

Mrs. Bradford amassed an enormous following and fortune with books that championed women who were strong, ambitious, resilient — and fabulously rich and beautiful. She wrote more than 30 bestsellers.