Lucinda Riley and her Literary Legacy

Submitted: 11th June 2023

Lucinda Riley and The Seven Sisters

The literary wonder that was Lucinda Riley died on this day in 2021 and I just wanted to create a little corner of the internet, a little corner of The BookTrail dedicated to her work and star power. I was lucky enough to meet her several times and have lunch in London at the very start of the series, when The Seven Sisters were a sparkle in both hers and Pa Salt’s eyes. Having lost her, and having now finished the end of the amazing series, it’s especially poignant. I got to meet the lovely Olivia too – her stepdaughter who was also her publicist and general guardian of Lucinda’s work. She died walking her dogs in London when a drunk driver knocked her over. Just around a year after her stepmum had passed….

The series in order:

The Seven Sisters – Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Geneva

The Storm Sister – Geneva, Greece, Aegean Sea, Oslo, Bergen, Liepzig

The Shadow Sister – London, Near Sawrey, Ambleside, Kent, Tenterden

The Moon Sister – Granada,Scottish Highlands, Argentina, New York

The Sun Sister – Kenya, Nairobi, New York

The Missing Sister – New Zealand, Ireland

Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt – Worldwide

The wonderful settings of these books gave me the chance to map out some of the most extensive and fascinating book trails. Normally I have to limit the number of locations on a trail, but I couldn’t resist plotting every single one of Lucinda’s on the maps. I travelled to them via the books and sometimes in real life too – Granada in Spain was a place I loved and it was wonderful to go again in The Moon Sister. Again, Beatrix Potter’s house was somewhere I visited in real life and loved and then The Shadow Sister came into my life.

I recently read the final installment where we finally find out how the Seven Sisters came to be. It was everything I could have hoped for and more. I hope that Harry Whitakker, her son, who finished off the notes and wrote the manuscript that Lucinda never got a chance to do, really is proud of putting the cherry on this stunning body of work.

I have read all of Lucinda’s books and I have several favourites both within the Seven Sisters series and beyond. A few special mentions –

The Light Behind The Window

I adored this book. Sad but poignant. Lucinda knew how to pull those heart strings! The cover is divine and it made me appreciate things in life. I loved Emilie de la Martinieres and made me wish I could be left a crumbling castle if it turned out to be this magic.

The Italian Girl

I knew nothing about opera but I was enthralled with this story about a young singer who goes on to sing in opera halls around the world. The scene when she walks up to the house before her first lesson was just as powerful as that of her walking on to the grand stage. Very moving and even though I still don’t like opera in real life, I have a real appreciation for it now!

The Midnight Rose

I remember where I was when I read this novel. In Edinburgh waiting for my friend to come out of a shop ( it wasn’t a bookshop obviously) and I sat on the bench in the street and finished this book. It was a big one and I had carried it around me all day as I just had to finish it. The ending made me cry. This got me big time. Very emotional and a gripping read.