The Shadow Sister

February 15, 2017
Third in Riley's Seven Sisters series (The Storm Sister, 2016, etc.) about adopted daughters in search of their ancestry.Star, real name Asterope after one of the "seven sisters" of the Pleiades star cluster, has, upon the recent death of her adoptive father, a wealthy Swiss seafarer, returned to her childhood chateau on Lake Geneva to retrieve his legacy to her: a figurine of a black panther, the address of a bookshop in London, and a name, Flora MacNichol. Star has given up dreams of academe to stay close to sister CeCe in London--so symbiotic is their relationship that Star has always been known as CeCe's shadow. Star visits the bookshop, whose eccentric proprietor, Orlando Forbes, comes from impoverished nobility. When she learns that Flora, her presumed ancestor, may be related to Orlando, she accompanies him to the family seat, High Weald, in Kent, where she meets Orlando's truculent brother Mouse, their cousin Marguerite Vaughan, and her young son Rory, heir to the estate. Star is immediately drawn to the crumbling hall and the surrounding flora and fauna. She consults journals she finds in the mansion and learns that in 1909, Flora gave up her true love, Archie, Lord Vaughan, to her younger sister Aurelia. For reasons not immediately revealed, Aurelia is the repository of her landed but cash-poor family's hopes and limited resources, while Flora is treated like a stepchild despite her beauty and talent. (Flora is an animal lover and budding naturalist who will later become a protege of Beatrix Potter.) After her parents sell their beloved country home to fund Aurelia's dowry, Flora is sent to live with Mrs. Keppel, a society grand dame rumored to be King Edward's mistress. With Mrs. Keppel's help, Flora seems slated for an advantageous but loveless match to a drunken earl. The frame story structure serves this installment well--the past and present narratives are equally engaging. The storytelling is leisurely, almost to excess, then suddenly the stakes heighten as the Forbes-Vaughan connection is illuminated and Star discovers her true heritage and destiny. Another pleasant jaunt down a genealogical rabbit hole.

COPYRIGHT(2017) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

January 1, 2017

The third book in Riley's "Seven Sisters" series (after The Storm Sister) is the story of Star, the shyest and more dependable of the sisters. All seven had been adopted from the four corners of the world by a millionaire, who left them clues to the identity of their real families upon his death. As Star slowly breaks out of her shell and decides to find her family, she discovers a possible link to a strong and willful woman named Flora MacNichol who lived in Edwardian England a century before. Inspired by Flora's example, Star finally steps out of the shadows to find herself and her own destiny. Riley's engaging and mesmerizing story of self-discovery and love, while making the complex tale of the Seven Sisters sufficiently clear, can be perfectly read as a stand-alone. VERDICT This book will appeal to readers of Edwardian novels and Jane Austen-style fiction. Fans of this series will undoubtedly be pleased with this latest installment in the "Seven Sisters" saga. [See Prepub Alert, 10/31/16.]--Adriana Delgado, Palm Beach Cty. Lib., Loxahatchee, FL

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2016

In the New York Times best-selling "Seven Sisters" series, each of the adopted D'Apliese sisters follow up clues to her special origins. Here, Star D'Apliese learns the story of Flora MacNichol, a young woman from the Lake District who ends up at the London home of a flamboyant Edwardian hostess.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.