Story-telling on a cinematic scale

• Book: The Seven Sisters
• Location: Geneva, Paris, Rio de Janeiro
• Author: Lucinda Riley

Review Author: Being Anne

When I finished reading this book, I put it down with a satisfied sigh after three days of unadulterated joy.

I adore Lucinda Riley’s writing … from Hothouse Flower through The Girl on the Cliff and The Light Behind The Window, then the sublime The Midnight Rose, and the last, The Italian Girl. This book is every bit as perfect, total escapism between the covers, another world that envelops you from the first page to the last.

As a series, the concept is wonderful – seven sisters mourning the death of their adoptive father at his sumptuous home on the shores of Lake Geneva, finding the armillary sphere in the garden, and each given a set of coordinates for where they came from together with a letter. The scene set, this book follows the story of the eldest daughter Maia and follows her to Rio de Janeiro where she searches for the secrets of her past.

She uncovers the story of Izabela Bonafacio through the discovery of some letters – a wonderful story, moving to Paris and back to Rio at the time of the construction of the statue of Christ the Redeemer, the story of a wonderful love affair tinged with all the sadness of loss and the burden of duty. Maia is a strong character, with secrets of her own, and her modern story is every bit as engaging as that of Izabela – well, almost, because Izabela’s story is simply enthralling, set against a mesmerising historical backdrop. Lucinda Riley writes quite beautifully with perfectly drawn characters, vivid descriptions and an exceptional talent for telling a story.

I sometimes have a bit of a problem with big books. In my younger days I can remember weighing down my holiday suitcases with the latest blockbusters, believing that the bigger the book, the better the story. Then my tastes changed – I started to avoid them, finding anything over 400 pages too daunting. Lucinda Riley’s wonderful books have totally changed my mind again – this book might be enormous, but the pages turned so quickly and thoroughly enjoyably that I never really noticed. And I’m so excited by the fact that this is only the first book in a planned series of seven – I can hardly wait for the next, particularly as this book ends with a tantalising glimpse of Ally’s story to follow. Overall, this is storytelling on a wide-screen cinematic scale, and absolutely perfect.

This book has stayed so vivid in my memory that it actually became a bit of an obsession to actually visit the statue of Christ the Redeemer – Lucinda Riley’s wonderful book is one of the main reasons I’ll be in Rio on holiday in October!

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