CeCe D’Aplièse has never felt she fitted in anywhere. Following the death of her father, the elusive billionaire Pa Salt – so-called by the six daughters he adopted from around the globe and named after the Seven Sisters star cluster – she finds herself at breaking point. Dropping out of art college, CeCe watches as Star, her beloved sister, distances herself to follow her new love, leaving her completely alone.
In desperation, she decides to flee England and discover her past; the only clues she has are a black-and-white photograph and the name of a woman pioneer who lived in Australia over one hundred years ago. En-route to Sydney, CeCe heads to the one place she has ever felt close to being herself: the stunning beaches of Krabi, Thailand. There amongst the backpackers, she meets the mysterious Ace, a man as lonely as she is and whom she subsequently realizes has a secret to hide . . .
A hundred years earlier, Kitty McBride, daughter of an Edinburgh clergyman, is given the opportunity to travel to Australia as the companion of the wealthy Mrs McCrombie. In Adelaide, her fate becomes entwined with Mrs McCrombie’s family, including the identical, yet very different, twin brothers: impetuous Drummond, and ambitious Andrew, the heir to a pearling fortune.
When CeCe finally reaches the searing heat and dusty plains of the Red Centre of Australia, she begins the search for her past. As something deep within her responds to the energy of the area and the ancient culture of the Aboriginal people, her creativity reawakens once more. With help from those she meets on her journey, CeCe begins to believe that this wild, vast continent could offer her something she never thought possible: a sense of belonging, and a home . . .
Many thanks to Katie James from Pan MacMillan for my copy of The Pearl Sister to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
The excitement and anticipation of a new novel from Lucinda Riley for me must be comparable to how the fans of J.K Rowling felt each time a new Harry Potter book was released. You finish one of her books, the most recent of which being book three, The Shadow Sister, in The Seven Sisters series and sit there and think how on earth can I wait another year to see what happens next? Thankfully that year has now passed and the fourth story in a planned series of seven has arrived, The Pearl Sister. Yes of course, it's written in a way that you can enjoy this read as a stand alone but really with a story and writing of this calibre you need to do yourself a favour and read about these remarkable women from the very start. Only then do I think you will get a real sense of the magnitude of the task Lucinda has taken on. Committing herself for seven years or more to one set of characters, each woman with their own story to tell is quite a task. She must have wondered will I keep readers attention for so long? Have I taken on too much? Daunting would not be the word but this series is without doubt the best thing Lucinda has written. Back when I finished Maia's story, The Seven Sisters, I thought god seven books seems very long but on the other hand wanting to know exactly what was going on was killing me and I wanted all seven books at once. So it's hard to believe we have reached book four and CeCe's, Celaneo, story.
CeCe out of all the sisters is most connected to Star, they are like twins and in tune with each other but as Pa Salt brought each girl back to his retreat Atlantis at different times there is no blood connection. CeCe for me was the most complex out of the four sisters we have read about so far, she seemed very messed up, lost and without an anchor. Undoubtedly this would be the case having recently lost your father but there was more to this and I think for CeCe following Pa Salt's directions and discovering her true heritage would be the making of her. It would help her to answer lots of questions and to alleviate the sense that she was all alone and had no family. She feels left out, not part of the crowd and came across as very vulnerable and on the edge. That anything could tip her over. Negative comments have destroyed her confidence and left her feeling as if she doesn't know who she is anymore. Her one true love of art is diminishing and she needs something to bring her back to the person she once was or else to become a different person altogether. Someone who is happy and content with her life. When we meet her she is very fragile and has left London with the goal of reaching Australia to discover where her real family came from and how she may have come to be welcomed into Pa Salt's unusual family.
A good chunk of the book was set in Thailand on the islands where CeCe goes back to the place she feels she was at her happiest. The descriptions of the island resorts were amazing and really vivid. I thought this was a time for CeCe to sit back and take stock before she embarked on the next step of her life changing experience. An encounter with a man called Ace was not what she was looking for but similarly he is looking for time out and CeCe feels drawn to him. Ace was strange and mysterious. Clearly there was something going on in his background that he very much wanted hidden and when things come to light CeCe escapes to Australia to hide but also in doing so she sets out to reveal the meaning behind the clues she has been left by Pa Salt. The sections set in modern day Australia were excellent and there was a real sense of CeCe going back to her roots and shedding the layers which had shackled her. The scenes set in the outback seemed otherworldly and I'm sure that's how CeCe must have felt uncovering just how her life story connected to the title of the pearl sister. CeCe's story was deeply satisfying and it was gratifying to read of how she attempted to transform and heal.
Of course with any Lucinda Riley book there has to be an element of history to the story, this is another feature of her work which I adore and always seek out. In this case we follow Kitty McBride as she leaves Edinburgh to accompany Mrs. McCrombie to Australia in 1906. She is leaving behind her family but glad to see the back of her father. What follows is a remarkable story of a woman who became a pioneer for her generation, she arrived in Australia at a time of great change and opportunity and over time she had to grab it with both hands. On arrival she was meek and sub-servant to Mrs. McCrombie as she knew only for her she would still be at home to her family. Love plays a major role in her life and soon she has married Mrs.McCrombie's nephew Andrew who lives in the isolated town of Broome running his father's pearling business. His twin brother Drummond operates a cattle station in the outback deep in the Northern Territory.
Kitty's story was fascinating and rich in historical detail. It brought to life the plight of the aborigines at the time and showed the caring, considerate side of Kitty who could see the changes that need to be made which many others could not. Life was challenging at the time and Lucinda Riley balanced CeCe's story with that of Kitty's to perfection. Normally in a dual time line story I want to get back to one aspect over another but here both stories were gripping. There were so many twists, turns and layers to Kitty's story that I could never guess all the connections and of course the eventual connection to CeCe for there must have been one. The only thing I will say is that a certain aspect of Kitty's story, pivotal though it was, it did become slightly confusing but maybe it was meant to be that way until a big reveal leaving the both the reader and Kitty in shock.
There is that comforting reassurance that when you pick up any book written by Lucinda Riley that an excellent read is in store. You know you need to set a significant chunk of time aside so that you can sit and read uninterrupted and soak up the brilliance of the story unfolding before your very eyes. Despite being over 600 pages long, the reader will find themselves rapidly turning the pages, wishing there were 600 more as you become so caught up in the story you never want it to end. Lucinda Riley with The Pearl Sister has once again written another masterpiece of a book that will not in any way disappoint. The weight of expectation grows with each book in this series but not once has she let her loyal readers down.
Blending the story of The Seven Sisters with different stories from the past works extremely well. Lucinda has a natural gift at storytelling that never fails to truly impress and awe me and that's why she is my favourite author. I relished every minute of this exhilarating, captivating, engrossing story and was gutted when I had to leave CeCe behind. The sneak peek at Tiggy's story was tantalising and frustrating in equal measure but I'll have to hold in my eagerness for another year to see what will unfold for Tiggy as she follows the directions given to her by Pa Salt. Along with anything else Lucinda has written The Pearl Sister is undoubtedly one for the keeper shelf. By the conclusion of book seven I am looking forward to planing a reading marathon of the series where I can sit and indulge myself by reading one book after the other. I think it will be a whole new reading experience as all the little clues and connections that are surely there for the reader to see now will only make even more sense. Thank you Lucinda for another spectacularly special book and here's to many many more.
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