Lucinda Riley (1965–2021)

The Seven Sisters is a dual timeline historical romance by Northern Irish author Lucinda Riley. It is the first of a series involving the adopted daughters of entrepreneur and sailor Pa Salt, all named after the stars in the constellation Pleiades. The first book tells the story of the eldest daughter Maia D’Apliése and her journey to discover her roots after Pa Salt passes away. Maia travels from their home Atlantis, on the banks of Lake Geneva, to Rio de Janeiro, and works with historian Floriano to discover her connection to prominent Brazilian family the Aires Cabrals.

The story shifts between the contemporary timeline and the 1920s in Brazil and Paris. Heiress of “new money” from the coffee plantations, Izabella Bonifacio, is promised in marriage to Gustavo Aires Cabral but takes a trip to Europe before the marriage. Here she spends time in Montparnasse with Heitor da Silva Costa, the architect working on the Christ the Redeemer statue, and meets handsome sculptor Laurent Brouilly.

Generally I prefer the earlier timeline in historical fiction but I found the relationship between Laurent and Izabella irritating in the extreme. This is basically my least favourite romance trope: beautiful unavailable woman meets playboy, who is instantly converted to loyal boyfriend material, and after she leaves struggles to find comfort from the other women visiting his bed, because he has all these feelings, poor thing. Give me a break. Then there is the fiancé Gustavo whose character seems to do a 180 degree turn when convenient for the plot.

The contemporary romance was more promising as it at least had more of a slow burn feeling to it, even if the hero was somewhat controlling and the heroine a jellyfish. Other reviewers have commented on the improbability of the premise: a single man adopting six baby girls. This doesn’t bother me, as it’s fiction peeps and the story is clearly set up with mythological overtones with the Seven Sisters legend and the coordinates of their birthplaces. My last gripe is the sisters. Although this story was engaging, none of the other sisters were portrayed in a particularly positive light and I’m unsure if I want to continue and read about any of them. 3.5 stars for me.… (more)

This is the fifth book in The Seven Sisters series by Northern Irish author Lucinda Riley, featuring the adopted daughters of Pa Salt, each named after one of the stars in the Pleiades. This is Tiggy’s story (Taygete) and shifts between her life on the Kinnaird estate in the Scottish highlands and the story of her Gitano (gypsy) ancestors in Spain.

Tiggy is an animal conservationist and delighted to be working in Scotland rehoming wild cats. Everything changes when she meets Chilli, an ancient gypsy living on the estate who believes he is to send her home to Sacromonte, Granada, to meet her family. Given the awkward situation she finds herself in feeling a strong attraction for her boss, the Laird of Kinnaird, Charlie, and pursued by persistent millionaire Zed, she decides to do just this.

In Granada, she discovers the story of the Gitanos living in caves built into the slopes of Cerro de San Miguel on the edge of the Camino del Sacromonte. In particular she learns about Lucia Amaya-Albaycin, her grandmother, a famous flamenco dancer. The book shifts back to 1912 to Lucia’s story, which moves from Sacromonte to Barcelona, and through the Spanish Civil War she flees to Portugal, then Argentina and the USA where she pursues her dream of becoming a famous dancer.

I found both stories interesting and the settings atmospheric, but both also had their irritations. Lucia is a selfish, stubborn and childish character who I wanted to shake at times. Tiggy is constantly referred to as the intuitive one, but with very little evidence to support this in my mind. In Spain she spends a whole 10 days learning to be a Bruja, which apparently transforms her life and gives her both the second sight and healing hands, enough to get her employed by a vet with no qualifications . There are glaring medical errors. Zed is a major part of the story and then this storyline simply evaporates, possibly to recur in the subsequent book. The Spanish Civil War is almost mentioned in passing with very little context. Despite the flaws, the settings and secondary characters such as Annalina, Chilli and Meneque were engaging enough to make it a pleasant read. I’m not entirely sure whether I am committed enough to read any more of the series but I can see that the premise is attractive enough to get readers hooked in for the ride. 3.5 stars… (more)