The Missing Sister
In the much-anticipated final installment of her Seven Sisters Series, Irish author Lucinda Riley takes readers on an epic journey to uncover the truth behind Pa Salt’s seventh adopted daughter. Like many of the books in the series, The Missing Sister (Blue Box Press) is a story of love, sacrifice, redemption, loyalty and family. It also draws the series to an emotionally satisfying close with one last secret to reveal.
For those of you not familiar with Riley’s opus, the Seven Sisters series follows the lives, loves and quests of six adoptive sisters to learn about their true origins after the death of their adoptive father. Loosely based on the legends of the Seven Sisters star constellation, each book focuses on a different sibling — Maia, Ally, CeCe, Electra, Star and Tiggy — each taking us to another corner of the world on an adventure of discovery — Brazil, Norway, Great Britain, Australia, Spain and Kenya, among other locations along the way.
The sisters’ beloved “Pa Salt” may be buried at sea, but some of the secrets he kept still remain. One year after his death, Pa’s daughters vow to visit his burial site and lay a wreath in their father’s honor — with their seventh sister by their side. But first, they have to find her. Armed with a name, location and a drawing of a diamond and emerald ring in the shape of a star, given to the seventh sister by Pa Salt, the sisters are determined to confirm their sister’s identity and finally put their curiosity to rest.
Mary Kate McDougal doesn’t know what to make of the two women who show up at her family’s winery in New Zealand, especially when one of them claims to be her long-lost sister. Still reeling from her father’s death, Mary Kate isn’t ready to believe the women, even though she knows she’s adopted, and the image of the ring they show her matches the one gifted to her by her mother. And it’s her mother, Merry, who has the ring now.
When the sisters learn that Merry has recently departed on a world trip, they follow, each determined to meet her and confirm who they think she is. And it seems that Merry is in search of the very same thing. Unbeknownst to her children, Merry’s impromptu world tour isn’t just a vacation. She’s in search of answers, and knows the only way to get them is to return home to Ireland, a place she fled 37 years ago, to uncover the truth of her birth from those that protected her.
Is she ready? Will Merry be able to face her fears, accept her past and move forward? And is she truly the seventh sister? Riley certainly keeps readers in suspense until the very end, but she also keeps them entertained with alternating points of view from many varied characters in both the present and past action.
You need not read the first six books to understand the sisters, as Riley makes each of them come alive as they pursue the missing member of their family. They have their own struggles, hopes and fears, and Riley takes care to keep them true to form. The chapters that take place in the past are particularly interesting, the historical references to the political unrest in 1920s Ireland providing background to support Merry’s story.
As with the other books in the series, the past and present weave together, merging with myth and lore to create a dazzling, rich saga that lingers long in the reader’s mind even after the final page.
