The seven sisters: a walk through the world of Lucinda Riley

Lucinda Riley turned out to be a great and pleasant surprise for me. An easy and quick read, despite being large books, she manages to enchant with her engaging and familiar narrative. Her first book was released when she was 24 and her stories have already been translated into 36 countries. Her books are always on the bestseller list of the The New York Times and The Sunday Times. A best-selling author, she is currently writing the Seven Sisters series. Riley, the writer who won my heart, has been applauded wherever she goes and it's no different in Brazil, a country she has a special affection for and which, incidentally, is the setting for the first book in the series.

The Seven Sisters is a historical novel full of drama, love, loss, separation and even a few mysteries. The narrative has a wonderful historical addition in the characterization of the places where the narratives take place. Every time a place is visited, a detailed historical context shows the writer's impeccable research work. Each book, a place, a story, set at the end of the 19th century, throughout the 20th century and up to the present day at the beginning of the 21st century.

So let's get to the synopsis:

The Seven Sisters is a series of seven books. However, only five have been released.

The main story features an enigmatic, powerful and very wealthy man (Pá Salt) who lives in Switzerland, on the shores of Lake Geneva. He mysteriously decides to adopt six daughters from different nationalities around the world. He has no wife. Just a governess who plays the role of mother to these children. His daughters don't know much about their adoptive father's life, or even his profession. They only know that it must be a very important job that takes him away from home for weeks at a time.

After his sudden death, the six sisters find themselves bewildered and the wall of security built around them by Pa Salt seems to be crumbling.

However, before he died, he left the coordinates for each daughter to pursue their past, a letter giving clues and an object that refers to their past. He He does this so as not to "throw in the face" of each daughter a past that past that the daughter herself often doesn't want to know about. However doubt: was Pa Salt already ill and didn't want to tell his daughters? his daughters? Did he already know he was going to die?

The daughters' names refer to the Seven Sisters, stars in the constellation Pleiades. The whole story has a few mysteries, including why Pa Salt only adopted six girls and not seven, according to the constellation.

The seven sisters

The story of the first book, of the same name as the series, is the life of Maia, the eldest sister, set in Rio de Janeiro with a few visits to Paris. There are important elements to this plot, such as the construction of Christ the Redeemer, and so many stories that we Brazilians probably don't know about, Brazilians probably don't know. Like, for example, the important participation of women in this construction. It's a historical novel, like all the other books, which tells the story of several generations, up until Maia.

This is the case with all books. Several generations of love, drama, difficulties, overcoming and conquests.

A sister of the storm

The second book is Ally's story. She is an important and recognized sailor who is preparing for a regatta and, when she learns of her father's death, abandons all her plans in order to return home and be with her sisters. In this moment of sadness, she also finds support in a new love, who is going to disrupt her life. It will turn poor Ally's life upside down. So she follows the clues left by her father in search of her past and is in for some big surprises. The story is set in Norway, during the period of the European Wars. Anyway, I think I can say that this is the book I loved the most in the series. Perhaps because it has elements that I can relate to. Apart from the fact that I love Europe!

A sister of the shadow

The third book in this series is The Sister in the Shadow, which tells the story of sister Estrela. A very introspective girl, with no attitude and who lives in the shadow of another sister, Estrela finds herself in a complicated situation when she realizes that, without her father and with his clues about her origin, she would have to make decisions that would only depend on her and not on her sister Ceci, who has always been her voice. She always hid behind her sister, because they were around the same age. Her life was always a bit hidden. No one knew for sure what she was feeling. After Pa Salt's death, she, a nature lover, moves with her sister Ceci to London. But she can't be happy in her new life, which wasn't hers, but her sister's. So, for the first time in her life, she makes a decision: she goes in search of her origins. In this search, she meets various people and discovers that she is very close to her ancestors. A beautiful story of overcoming and rediscovery.

A sister of the pearl

The fourth book in this series that I love so much is The Pearl Sister, which tells the story of Ceci. At the beginning of this book, I was a little repulsed by this sister. As I had already read the other books in the series, I had already created a stereotype of a manipulative and often even evil Ceci. This issue of manipulating her sister Estrela, and the other things that happen as soon as Pa Salt dies, left me with my "foot on the door" with regard to her and her intentions. However, as the story progresses, we manage to understand her behavior a little and even form an affinity with her. Her origin is one of the most beautiful. After she feels that she has "lost" her sister Estrela, she goes in search of her story and discovers that it is in Australia. Before arriving in Australia, she decides to take a few days' sabbatical in Thailand and experiences some very important moments there. When she arrives in her country of origin, she feels an immediate identification, something spiritual. The feeling of belonging is very evident in her. And there, she also manages to rediscover herself.

A sister of the moon

The last book released was The Sister of the Moon. This book tells the story of Tiggy, a sister who is initially a little quiet, but who has a beautiful connection with animals and a very strong spirituality. And this connection with nature and the supernatural is the theme of her entire story. After the death of her father, she decides to settle in Scotland, where her job is located, dealing with the adaptation of wild animals. It's also there that she meets a gypsy who changes the whole trajectory of her life. Her origins are linked to Spain and flamenco dancing.

What I can say most about this series is that Lucinda, the writer, has a sensational ability to interconnect stories. All the books, despite having independent narratives, are interconnected. That's why I emphasize that you have to read them in order. There is a larger plot introduced in the first book. Although, as I said, all the other books relate to this plot, it is essential to follow this order in order to put the pieces of the puzzle together. When I was reading this series, I had a particular experience that I'd like to tell you about. Every book I finished, I felt like an orphan. With each book I started, I thought I wouldn't enjoy it as much as I did the last. And I was always surprised.

Lucinda has written five books, of absolutely the same genre and style, and makes each experience a experience, without repeating herself. I loved it and I can't wait to read the last two last ones.

I'll leave the links below for you to buy the books if you want to. I'll leave the link for each book, but if you want to buy other books through the same link, you can. Remember that buying the books through this link is a way for you to help our project to make reading a pleasurable habit and bring more and more readers to our side!

I'll also leave a link to an interview with Lucinda here in Brazil and three other videos from the writer's channel to give you a taste for reading.

The Seven Sisters - https://amzn.to/2SuqSr8

The Storm Sister - https://amzn.to/2H3cBja

The sister of the shadow - https://amzn.to/2H2MQQ4

The sister of the pearl - https://amzn.to/2T19qQ1

The sister of the moon - https://amzn.to/2tBIk2Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8_05-ROpoY - Interview with Lucinda