Historical Melodrama

I acknowledge that the author did a lot of research on the history of the location in which the
to follow her heart?
The characters were flat and seemed shallow, especially the sisters. They jet set to their adoptive father's magnificent mansion, never wondering where the money comes from. When he dies they each experience an existential crisis, hence the series, each set in an "exotic location."
I'm getting off the train here.
( )

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. ( )

Quite popular amongst my female students. Not badly written I have to say, sometimes a little bit slow to my liking though. I listened to it while doing daily chores. It would be hard for me to finish the book the old fashioned way. ( )

The 1st of a series and sets up the stories and relationships so the reader is intrigued to learn the background story of each. The 1st sister's story leaves a number of threads hanging so that the reader is encouraged to read the rest of the series to discover whether the hints and clues carry through to a reveal later. ( )

Well where to start on this book!

I absolutely in love with this book and the whole series of them, book 4 The Pearl Sister is due for release in the uk on the 2nd November 2017 and i can’t wait!

This is the beginnings of a series of 7 books and what a start it is.

This book has excellent historical detail, heart-wrenching romance, mystery and has a time slip element which is engrossing.

I guess a little farfetched as in if things such as this really do happen, but then that is why it is a work of fiction.

I can not recommend this book highly enough and if you loved this book as much as i did you will be a Lucinda Riley fan for life!

As well as the books in this series she has all released a silver charm bracelet and will release the charms to coincide with the books. The money raised goes towards feeding a child for a year.

https://thesevensistersshop.com

I don’t want to give to much of the plot away but it all begins when the sisters extremely wealthy father dies and to each of his 6 daughters (yes there are only 6 as far as we know of at the moment!) bequeaths them each a letter containing the coordinates of the birth. He adopted all his daughters from different locations around the world and now he has given them all the knowledge they need if they wish to find out their own history before Papa Salt adopted them.

This book starts with Maia’s story, the first of the sisters to follow her destiny and find out her past.

Brilliant story, brilliant series.
https://bookreviewsbyanmesuffer.wordpress.com/2017/08/18/the-seven-sisters-by-lu...