Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

The Seven Sisters is the story that began it all. An epic tale of love and loss, it tells the stories of the D’Aplièse sisters, all adopted as babies by the enigmatic billionaire they affectionately call Pa Salt.

This is Maia’s story. When Pa Salt dies suddenly, the bereaved sisters gather together at their childhood home, a spectacular secluded castle on the shores of Lake Geneva. Each of them is handed a tantalising clue to their heritage and Maia finds herself on a journey across the world to a crumbling mansion in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Eighty years earlier, Izabela Bonifacio’s father has aspirations for her to marry into the aristocracy. But Izabela longs for adventure, and convinces him to allow her to first travel to Paris. In the heady, vibrant streets of the city, Izabela meets an ambitious young sculptor, and knows at once that her life will never be the same again.

What links these two young women? In the beautiful city of Rio, will Maia find the answers she needs to understand who she truly is?

The Seven Sisters is the first book in the spellbinding Seven Sisters series, inspired by the mythology of the famous star constellation.

E7,Janet 8, R 8, June 8, Jane 8, Christine 8, Cai 7, T8

Rebecca H
Score: 7.8

2025-05-14

Long Island by Colm Toibin

The love story of the century

A man with an Irish accent knocks on Eilis Fiorello’s door on Long Island and in that moment everything changes. Eilis and Tony have built a secure, happy life here since leaving Brooklyn – perhaps a little stifled by the in-laws so close, but twenty years married and with two children looking towards a good future.

And yet this stranger will reveal something that will make Eilis question the life she has created. For the first time in years she suddenly feels very far from home and the revelation will see her turn towards Ireland once again. Back to her mother. Back to the town and the people she had chosen to leave behind. Did she make the wrong choice marrying Tony all those years ago? Is it too late now to take a different path?

E6, Jane 7, June 7, Janet 7, C7, S8

Sally M
Score: 7.0

2025-04-09

Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby van Pelt

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night cleaner shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium. Ever since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat over thirty years ago keeping busy has helped her cope. One night she meets Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium who sees everything, but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors – until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

Ever the detective, Marcellus deduces what happened the night Tova’s son disappeared. And now Marcellus must use every trick his old body can muster to unearth the truth for her before it’s too late…

Shelby Van Pelt’s debut novel is a reminder that sometimes taking a hard look at the past can help uncover a future that once felt impossible.

Scores – all 8s and one 7

Pauline C
Score: 7.9

2025-03-12