The Sun Sister (The Seven Sisters)
Lucinda Riley returns with the sixth installment of her Seven Sisters series. In The Sun Sister, the reader finally learns about the enigmatic sixth sister of the d’Apliese clan: Electra. One of the world’s most famous supermodels, Electra seems to live a charmed life. But beneath the surface, she struggles with her identity, addiction, and fitting in with her adopted family. Through the help of Pa Salt’s last letter to her, Electra connects with her grandmother Stella and learns about her family’s history, including Cecily, her great-grandmother. A New York City socialite in the late 1930s, Cecily escaped to colonial Kenya after a broken engagement. Staying with her godmother Kiki, Cecily is daunted at first by Kenya and Kiki’s circle of hedonistic expatriates. But a twist of fate results in Cecily staying in Kenya, which changes her life forever and will impact Electra’s future.
Fans of Riley’s Seven Sisters series will not be disappointed; The Sun Sister is the perfect book to read during quarantine. Riley writes an epic tale full of melodrama, family secrets, the power of chance, addiction, and forgiveness. While massive, the pages fly by in typical Lucinda Riley fashion. While Electra’s high-flying world is an addictive read, the story of her great-grandmother Cecily is even better. Riley transports the reader to colonial East Africa, making you feel like you are in a Kenyan landscape full of dusty red dirt, fever trees, and lions. The one critique, though, is the unrealistic dialogue throughout the book, which needs editing. Despite this, The Sun Sister is propulsive and full of family drama. Like her other books, you will be sad when you’re finished. This book is perfect for fans of Alyson Richman and Kimberley Freeman and while it is part of a series, it can also be read as a standalone.
