The Pearl Sister

CeCe D'Aplièse has always felt like an outsider, unsure of her place in the world. After the death of her adoptive father, the enigmatic billionaire known as Pa Salt, CeCe is at her breaking point. He had adopted her and her five sisters from different corners of the globe, naming them after the seven sisters of the Pleiades star cluster, but his passing leaves CeCe feeling more adrift than ever. Dropping out of art school and feeling abandoned as her close sister Star follows her heart and moves away, CeCe decides to confront the unknown facets of her past.

Armed only with a sepia-toned photograph and the name of a pioneering woman who lived in Australia a century before, CeCe embarks on a journey of a lifetime. En route to uncover her history, she makes a stop at the idyllic beaches of Krabi, Thailand. There, amidst the picturesque sands and turquoise waters, she encounters Ace, a fellow drifter shrouded in mystery. Bonded by shared solitude, they forge a tentative connection, with CeCe soon learning that Ace is hiding his own secrets.

A century earlier, in 1906 Edinburgh, Kitty McBride, the spirited daughter of a clergyman, is given a chance to escape her predictable future. Chosen to accompany the wealthy and formidable Mrs McCrombie to Australia, Kitty’s life changes irrevocably upon arriving in Adelaide. She becomes entwined with the McCrombie family and the Pearling industry, caught between charming Drummond and ambitious Andrew, twin brothers whose fates are critically linked to her own.

As CeCe reaches the sun-soaked yet barren expanse of the Australian outback, the land's raw beauty and the ancient traditions of the Aboriginal people begin to stir something deep within her. Her dormant creativity surges back to life, driven by the powerful energies of the Red Centre, drawing her towards a deeper understanding of herself and her heritage. Through new friendships and the breath-taking Australian landscape, CeCe starts to imagine that maybe, in this wild and vast continent, she might find where she truly belongs.

The Pearl Sister is a breathtaking tale of love, family, and the search for identity, entwining historical and contemporary narratives with the rich cultural tapestry of Australia. Lucinda Riley's evocative storytelling brings to life the vibrancy of the locations and the depth of emotions in this unmissable instalment of the Seven Sisters series.