A few months ago I mentioned on my Facebook page that I’m currently working my way through The Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley. These are wonderful doorstep size tomes which drag you in and make you look forward to any spare minutes for absorbing more of the story. I’m around halfway through the third book, The Shadow Sister. The series was recommended to me by my sister-in-law and it’s a recommendation that was well deserved.
In a nutshell: the elusive billionaire, Pa Salt, dies leaving each of his six adopted daughters a clue about their true heritage. Each book is a timeslip novel which follows one of the girls in the search for their roots. The historical part of each story is based around a real-life happening and I’ve found these educational as well as enjoyable fiction. The contemporary part of the story contains an element of romance. Both parts are equally compelling!

Book one follows eldest daughter, Maia, to Brazil in the hunt for her heritage and the historical part deals with the construction of the giant Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio. In book two, sister Ally investigates her connection to Grieg’s iconic music for Ibsen’s play ‘Peer Gynt’. Book three is set in the UK and features Edward VII and his mistress, Alice Keppel – I have yet to uncover the full significance of this to the search of the third sister, Star, for her roots. It’s intriguing!
An ongoing mystery runs throughout all the books – why did Pa Salt never adopt and bring home his planned seventh daughter? Apparently, all is revealed in the last book of the series, aptly named, The Missing Sister.
Lucinda’s books are popular across the globe and, uniquely for a fiction author from the British Isles, over 90% of her sales have been in foreign languages. According to the Lucinda Riley website, there are plans to create a seven-season TV series based on The Seven Sisters.
Lucinda was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and died in 2021, aged only 56. ‘The Missing Sister’ was published only three weeks before she died.
If you get the chance to read these books – DO!

P.S. You might also be interested in this quick fire Q & A with Harry Whittaker, Lucinda’s son.