The Shadow Sister (The Seven Sisters, 3)

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A hundred years earlier Flora McNichol leads a happy life in the Lake District looking after her animals and being outdoors and living near her idol Beatrix Potter. When circumstances change she is thrown into London Society and the home of one of London’s most notorious players, Alice Keppel, Flora finds herself a pawn in a game that she has no control over. As the truth comes out, Flora finds answers to questions she has been asking her whole life. From the very moment Star finds her way to the bookstore, I could smell and feel the books as well as her excitement as making a step closer to the truth. The brothers – Orlando and ‘Mouse’ were such funny and vivid characters and I was as wrapped up in their story as I was in the fate of the shop. I do love a good brooding hero and these two were very distinct but equally fascinating. The past histories of two old country houses reveal a path of hidden secrets and brotherly spats. The ways families hang together, expectation and duty get in the way of free spirit and how a house can destroy as well as bring a family together – and what it means to love and be loved. There is such detail and warmth in this story, and it reads like a song. I got very engaged in both Star's and Flora's lives. Sure there were times I wanted to scream at them to not be stupid and think of themselves, but they are both very undemanding and their love for their sisters makes them make decisions that go against what they really want. I did have moments when I just wanted them both to be a bit more selfish, and tell them to reach for the stars!

Star D’Aplièse is at a crossroads in her life after the sudden death of her beloved father – the elusive billionaire, named Pa Salt by his six daughters, all adopted by him from the four corners of the world. He has left each of them a clue to their true heritage, but Star – the most enigmatic of the sisters – is hesitant to step out of the safety of the close relationship she shares with her sister CeCe. In desperation, she decides to follow the first clue she has been left, which leads her to an antiquarian bookshop in London, and the start of a whole new world . . . Darling Star,” she’d said, when some of us sisters had gone out onto the lake to sail, simply trying to distract ourselves from our grief, “I know you find it hard to speak about how you feel. I also know you’re full of pain. Why don’t you write your thoughts down?” As I said there is a certain amount of investment as a reader when dipping into a book from this series, the author weaves such elegant and complex story-lines that you need to be paying attention to what is happening whether it be with the characters from the past, or the story playing out in the current. I was interested to see what Star would get up to as she had up to this point very much let her sister CeCe, steer the ship that they were on. It was good to see her step out of the Shadow that CeCe cast over her, and see her come into her own, through the telling of Flora’s story and the discoveries about her own paternal family that came with it.

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Do you think Alice Keppel was naive to believe that she could have any influence over the King during his final days? Leicht schwächer als die ersten beiden Bücher aber trotzdem fesselnd und wieder ein schönes Leseerlebnis.

When the reader first meets Mouse, he comes across as arrogant and detached. Were you completely sympathetic to him once you learnt of the reasons behind his behaviour? Alice Keppel was clearly a remarkable woman. As a result of your research do you see her as a fundamentally positive, well meaning character, or misguided and manipulative? Lucinda Riley was born in 1965 in Ireland and, after an early career as an actress in film, theatre and television, wrote her first novel aged twenty-four. Her books have been translated into thirty-seven languages and continue to strike an emotional chord with cultures all around the world. The Seven Sisters series specifically has become a global phenomenon, creating its own genre. No thanks.” Although CeCe only used it when we were alone, I mentally chided myself for being irritated by the pet name she had coined for me when we were little. It came from a book Pa Salt had given me for Christmas, The Story of Anastasia, about a young girl who lived in the woods in Russia and discovered she was a princess. blogtour Adventure Ancient Egypt Art History Australia Book Blogger Bookliterati Book Recommendation Book review Contemporary Fiction Crime Del Rey Doubleday Emmeline Kirby and Gregory Longdon Mystery Fantasy Festive Reads Florence Folklore Harper 360 Harper Collins Harper Voyager Historical Fiction History Independently Published Italy Karen Swan Literary Fiction Magic Mantle Books Melville House Murder Mystery Myth Orenda Books Pan Macmillan Penguin Random House Psychological thriller Romance Secrets Simon and Schuster Supernatural Suspense thriller Women's Fiction Zaffre Books Book title Search for: Search Search Recent CommentsSo I’d waited in reception while she went in to see him. When she’d emerged, I could see that she was tense and excited. So this 3rd entry, we meet Star. Star, in the past, we haven't heard much from considering that her sister CeeCee is always speaking for her. So I, personally, was very interested in what she would end up being like. Yes, she was a very quiet person. She's okay with being surrounded by books, or just being in the kitchen/garden. She doesn't feel the need to fill the silence. She, however, does feel the need to break away from CeeCee and forge her own path. Which is how she finds herself outside a London bookstore and meets the eccentric, Orlando. Through him and his family, Star will find much more than her history...she will also find her future.

Deaf characters, and mentions of sign language as a skill and valid communication form within a family.Come and help me choose some sofas,” she called from the sitting room as I filled our yellowing tub with lukewarm water. A hundred years earlier, headstrong and independent Flora MacNichol vows she will never marry. She is happy and secure in her home in the Lake District, living close to her idol, Beatrix Potter, when machinations outside her control lead her to London, and the home of one of Edwardian society’s most notorious players, Alice Keppel. Flora is pulled between passionate love and duty to her family, but finds herself a pawn in a game – the rules of which are only known to others, until a meeting with a mysterious gentleman unveils the answers that Flora has been searching for her whole life . . . I'm almost done with the book and I got to say I don't get or like Star at all! I loved the story of Flora and I got the secret right from the start, her heritage, family history and so forth. My problem with Star is that I don't get her, she doesn't make sense to me, and I HATED that family! I didn't find them charming at all. In the beginning, I felt that they were all so old, but every once in awhile something will happen and I'll question myself because Star is messed up! Her emotions, thoughts and actions are weird, especially with this family and her sister. I think she is the least charming of the sisters so far. I have previously reviewed The Seven Sisters and The Storm Sister so please take a look in my archives, you can search on my blog. It goes without saying that I loved everything about this novel: the characters--ALL of them!!, the setting, the story, the feeling it gave me--happiness doesn't even cut it. I can honestly say that this is my favorite novel I've read, so far, this year.

As Star learns more of Flora’s incredible journey, she too goes on a voyage of discovery, finally stepping out of the shadow of her sister and opening herself up to the possibility of love. Star is one of many characters who was adopted as a child. What kind of complex emotions does she feel when she finally meets her mother? What are the underlying messages that Lucinda conveys regarding adoption – from the points of view of the adopted children, and the parents who adopt them? A hundred years earlier, headstrong and independent Flora MacNichol vows she will never marry. She is happy and secure in her home in the Lake District, living close to her idol, Beatrix Potter, when machinations outside her control lead her to London, and the home of one of Edwardian society's most notorious players, Alice Keppel. Flora is pulled between passionate love and duty to her family, but finds herself a pawn in a game - the rules of which are only known to others, until a meeting with a mysterious gentleman unveils the answers that Flora has been searching for her whole life . . .Through the Forbes family Star finds the Edwardian romance of Flora MacNichol, a woman taken from her happy, innocent life in the remote English Lake District and thrust into the whirlwind of Edwardian London under the guardianship of the king’s mistress. For reasons she does not understand, she is introduced to the king, spends time with him and receives an expensive gift from him. She is also welcomed at society events and becomes engaged to a rich young man of the nobility—no matter that he is louche and usually drunk. As CeCe and the agent talked about the blond-wood floors that were going to be laid, I shook my head at my negative thoughts. I knew that I was being desperately spoiled. After all, compared to the streets of Delhi, or the shantytowns I’d seen on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, a brand-new apartment in the city of London was not exactly a hardship. Shortly before the publication of The Missing Sister , Lucinda announced an eighth and final book in The Seven Sisters series, promising to answer the question at the heart of the story: Who is Pa Salt? Before her death, Lucinda was able to write several important passages and detailed notes on the story. She expressed a clear wish that her eldest son, Harry, should complete the series if the worst were to happen.