Today we want to introduce you to a unique book series which follows seven sisters on their discovery of her roots. In 2014, Lucinda Riley published her first book in the Seven Sisters series and since then, every year a new and beautiful book has been released.
The Northern Ireland historical fiction author says she wanted to celebrate the achievements of women, especially in the past. Every volume contains two stories—one in the past and one in the present.
The Seven Sisters tells the story of six sisters, adopted by a Swiss billionaire called by them as Pa Salt. He adopted the girls as babies from all over the world and gave them a home on his island in the middle of Lake Geneva. After his unexpected death, the sisters receive letters with coordinates and clues which will lead each of them to their roots and explore where they come from. On this journey, each of them not only find themselves, but also find love in different ways—a future husband, an additional family, and new friendships. In between, Riley tells also the story of a female ancestor of the protagonists books, which unfortunately for the sisters, they did not have a happy ending.
The book series name is inspired by the open star cluster located in the constellation of Taurus, which is the nearest cluster to earth, The Pleiades. The name comes from Ancient Greek, plein—to sail. The constellations are important to navigate on sea, which is a part of the books as well, because Pa Salt loved to be in the open water. In Greek Mythology, the Pleiades have been the seven companions of Artemis, Daughters of the Titan Atlas and Pleione. Because of their father’s faith and the loss of their brothers, the Hyas, the sisters committed suicide. Zeus took their remains and put them in the sky, but one sister, Merope, unfortunately disappeared from the night sky, because she is now not visible for the naked eye.
Before they became the star cluster they all had an important role in Greek mythology:
- Maia—the eldest sister, was mother of Hermes by Zeus
- Electra—mother of Dardanus and Iasion, by Zeus
- Taygete—mother of Lacedaemon by Zeus
- Alcyone—mother of Hyrieus, Hyperenor and Aethusa by Poseidon
- Celaeno—mother of Lycus, Nycteus and Eurypylus by Poseidon and Lycus and Chimaereus by Prometheus
- Sterope (Asterope)—mother of Oenomaus by Ares
- Merope—the youngest sister, wooed by Orion. Other sources claim she was married to Sisyphus was mother of his children and became mortal.
The books see the sisters want love in their lives, but not in a traditional way. Riley’s goal is to show how women in the past had to be strong due to facing sexual and racial prejudices. Whereas women in the present have to be another kind of strong, to not be defined by clichés and be a modern woman who can follow her dreams. During her research, Riley travelled the world and explores the places she later wrote about.
In her own words:
“The world is sadly still not a perfect place, and I doubt it ever will be, because there will always be a new challenge ahead. Yet I truly believe that humans – especially women – thrive on this. We are, after all, the goddesses of multi-tasking! And every day – with one hand guiding my children, and the other a manuscript – I celebrate the fact that my ‘freedom’ to be who I am was won by thousands of generations of remarkable women, perhaps leading right back to The Seven Sisters themselves…
I’m sure that like me, there will be one sister in particular you will most identify with, and a sister you like the least. However, the beauty of writing about the girls is that each of them have their own unique strengths and weaknesses. Just as we all do.
The Seven Sisters is a story about humanity: love, family, joy, loss, fear and pain. And above all, the one gift that is more important than any other, and has kept us humans alive throughout unbearable suffering: HOPE.”
The Seven Sisters | 2014
This book about the oldest sister, Maia, who is a translator and prefers to stay home on Lake Geneva. When her sisters leave after their father’s funeral, she opens the letter her father left for her. She soon finds herself in Brazil where she not only finds out where she comes from, but also love.
The Storm Sister | 2015
Ally loves sailing as much as her father did and her letter brings her to Norway and a sailing contest. She ends up with a new family and it may not seem as a happy end for her, but it is in its own unique way.
The Shadow Sister | 2016
Star and CeCe were brought together by Pa Salt in a short period of time that they are almost like twins. Star is more introverted and steps out of her sister’s shadow when she started to work at a bookshop in London where her journey begins.
The Pearl Sister | 2017
CeCe has to find herself again after Star seems to not rely on her as much as she used to. She drops out of college and follows her father’s letter to Thailand and Australia.
The Moon Sister | 2018
The latest novel will tell the journey of Tiggy, which will take her to Scotland. The book will be published in late 2018.
This then leaves Electra’s story to be told in 2019. It will be interesting to see how the book series will end and if we will finally meet Merope. I cannot wait for the mystery to be revealed!
Have you read The Seven Sisters series? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Maia D’Apliese 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, who adopted them all as babies, has died. Each of them is handed a tantalizing clue to her true heritage—a clue which takes Maia across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once there, she begins to put together the pieces of her story and its beginnings.
Eighty years earlier in Rio’s Belle Epoque of the 1920s, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for his daughter to marry into the aristocracy. Meanwhile, architect Heitor da Silva Costa is devising plans for an enormous 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 cafes 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 novels—Lucinda Riley showcases her storytelling talent like never before.
