Posts Tagged The Seven Sisters Series
The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books on November 7, 2024
Previously I’ve waxed lyrical about Lucinda Riley’s Seven Sisters series on this blog. 
Tragically, Lucinda died in 2021 and the final book in that series was completed by her son, Harry Whittaker. I’ve now read, and thoroughly enjoyed, one of Lucinda’s earlier books, The Midnight Rose.
This book is also a dual timeline story and features a character searching for their roots, this time it’s a man, Ari Malik, and he’s following up the story that his great-grandmother’s son died at a young age. The ‘present day’ part of story is set in 2011 at a UK stately home which is being used as a filmset. The main protagonist is a young actress who is being hounded by the press. The historical story starts in India around 100 years earlier and features a mixed race love story at that same stately home, Astbury Hall.
In this book it feels almost like Lucinda is practising (in an already accomplished way!) for the feat of literary engineering that is the Seven Sisters. The Midnight Rose is a wonderful and educational work of fiction which combines the modern theme of celebrity with the enduring themes of social class, prejudice, family dynamics and love in all is guises.
A recommended read. And please leave a comment below to let me know what you think!
The Seven Sisters Series (continued)
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Books on August 3, 2023
At the beginning of 2023 I posted about how much I was enjoying the books in Lucinda Riley’s Seven Sisters Series. That post has become one of my most popular ever (alongside Icebreakers for Creative Writing Classes) and therefore I’m following it up with a ‘part two’.
Since January I’ve read books four and five in the series: The Pearl Sister and The Moon Sister. Again, I completely lost myself in the stories and learned something along the way.
In The Pearl Sister, Ce Ce, the fourth daughter of Pa Salt, travels to Australia and follows clues to the discovery of her ancestors amongst the pearl industry of a century ago. There’s love and relationships as well as mystery and intrigue.
It’s Tiggy’s turn to discover her roots in The Moon Sister. Tiggy is a nature lover and wildlife conservationist. Her story spans the wilds of the Scottish Highlands in the present day to the gypsies of Granada in Spain several generations ago. This is the only book in the series that made me do a ‘second take’ on one of the sentences. Towards the end of the book, Tiggy is in conversation with someone she particularly admires and decides that this lady is who she aspires to be one day, describing her as a ‘… wife, mother, homemaker, full-time vet and lovely, lovely human being.’ It made me wonder how healthy it would be for a person to strive to be all of those things. That goal sounds like a recipe for stress overload – I’m sure many of you will agree that for a woman to ‘have it all’ is very difficult. However, it didn’t spoil the book, it just made me think – and surely that’s a good reaction to a book?
I’m going through the stories gradually because I find they are better enjoyed with a gap in between, during which I read lots of other genres including crime and also novels for the book group which I run. I save The Seven Sisters for high days and holidays when I have the time to read big, indulgent chunks in one session. I’m looking forward to picking the next one up in a few months’ time!
And if you enjoy books about people, their pasts and their relationships, you might also enjoy Little Museum of Hope, described in one review as, “
one big blanket of optimism to wrap around the reader. I loved it”.
The Seven Sisters Series by Lucinda Riley
Posted by Sally Jenkins in Authors, Books on January 5, 2023
The Seven Sisters – Book Three
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!
The Seven Sisters – Book 1
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!
Sally Jenkins 