A Woman Of Substance author slams 50 Shades of Grey as 'terribly badly written'

Best-selling author Barbara Taylor Bradford, who has dismissed erotic romance 50 Shades Of Grey (PA)

Best-selling author Barbara Taylor Bradford has dismissed erotic romance 50 Shades Of Grey.

The writer, 80, who has penned 28 novels, amassing a £200 million fortune, said that the E L James' novel was "terribly badly written".

She told the Radio Times that 50 Shades Of Grey, which became the top-selling book in Britain since records began, was "repetitive and not even sexy."

"When the female character has her bottom smacked with a whip it's the end of the book, except her saying, 'Holy cow!' in excitement," she told the magazine.

She said of the trilogy, a series of erotic romance dubbed mummy porn: "The 'hero' is every woman's worst nightmare, in my opinion, although he's rich."

The author of A Woman Of Substance also told the magazine that she believed that men and women were "wired differently".

She said: "Some women can be a bit devious, especially if you're successful. They're jealous and envious, although they'd be afraid to display that with me. I'd punch them in the face."

She added: "I used to think it was true what mummy said - 'a woman makes a marriage work' - but now I think the man has to put something into it, too. When my 31-year-old goddaughter has problems with her husband I tell her, 'Keep your mouth shut and do your own thing."'

"Men and women are wired differently..... Last night I had haddock and chips at Scott's and he (film producer husband Bob Bradford) suddenly got up. 'Where are we going?' I asked. 'Home,' he said. 'You can sit here all night if you want'.

"I explained I couldn't because someone would certainly pick me up. He said if that happened he'd come after them with a gun."

The writer, who was awarded an OBE in 2007, said of her career: "I never had any harassment, or feeling up. It's strange today that the slightest compliment can be seen as harassment. It's this generation. I don't know why."

The best-selling author has recently been involved in ITV show Secrets From The Workhouse, in which she traces her mother's history.

She said: "My mother was illegitimate - probably the daughter of the Marquess of Ripon for whom my grandmother, Edith, was a maid - and had been in a workhouse.

"I didn't know any of that, but it explains a lot about the way my mother brought me up. She taught me to read at four...she dragged me to Studley Royal (home of the Marquess) and I didn't know why at the time."

PA