Review: THE SEVEN SISTERS, Lucinda Riley

• format: Kindle (Amazon)
• File Size: 2068 KB
• Print Length: 400 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan; Air Iri OME edition (November 1, 2014)
• Publication Date: October 28, 2014
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00M7VH4XG
• #1 in series

Synopsis (Amazon)

Their future is written in the stars . . .

Maia D'Apliése and her five sisters gather together at their childhood home, 'Atlantis' - a fabulous, secluded castle situated on the shores of Lake Geneva - having been told that their beloved father, the elusive billionaire they call Pa Salt, has died. Maia and her sisters were all adopted by him as babies and, discovering he has already been buried at sea, each of them is handed a tantalising clue to their true heritage - a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Once there, she begins to put together the pieces of where her story began . . .

Eighty years earlier, in the Belle Epoque of Rio, 1927, Izabela Bonifacio's father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into aristocracy. Meanwhile, architect Heitor da Silva Costa is working on a statue, to be called Christ the Redeemer, and will soon travel to Paris to find the right sculptor to complete his vision. Izabela - passionate and longing to see the world - convinces her father to allow her to accompany him and his family to Europe before she is married. There, at Paul Landowski's studio and in the heady, vibrant cafés of Montparnasse, she meets ambitious young sculptor Laurent Brouilly, and knows at once that her life will never be the same again.

In this sweeping epic tale of love and loss - the first in a unique, spellbinding series of seven books, based on the legends of the Seven Sisters star constellation - Lucinda Riley showcases her storytelling talent like never before.

My Take

While there is plenty of mystery in this novel, it is not crime fiction.

There is also plenty of human interest to keep you reading, as Maia D'Apliése, adopted soon after birth, searches for the truth about her parentage. She and her 5 sisters, all adopted is shocked to learn of the death of their adoptive father, Pa Salt. They are also told that he has already been buried at sea. For each of them he has left some clues about their parentage, if they want to take up the search.

Maia's journey takes her to Brazil and back 4 generations, which sometimes becomes a bit confusing (to the reader).

I very much enjoyed this story and am already looking forward to the next in the series.

My rating: 4.5

About the author
Lucinda Riley was born in Ireland, and after an early career as an actress in film, theatre and television, wrote her first book aged twenty-four. Her books have been translated into over thirty languages and sold thirteen million copies worldwide. She is a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller.

Lucinda is currently writing The Seven Sisters series, which tells the story of adopted sisters and is based allegorically on the mythology of the famous star constellation. The first four books, The Seven Sisters, The Storm Sister, The Shadow Sister and The Pearl Sister have all been No.1 bestsellers across Europe, and the rights to a multi-season TV series have already been optioned by a Hollywood production company.