Lucinda Riley was a very prolific writer, and her books, featuring women in search of their roots (and, at the same time, of their own destiny), enjoyed great success, especially in Europe (Italy included), but not only.
The Riley’s passion for creativity did not begin with books: a daughter of the arts, in her youth she embarked on an acting career, appearing in some programs broadcast by British television in the 1980s. After a period of illness that left her bedridden, Riley decided to abandon acting, turning immediately to writing and publishing her first book at the age of 25.
Riley (born Edmonds, the surname with which she published her early books) continued to write even after she was diagnosed with a cancer of the esophagus, the cause of her premature death in 2021. Today her manuscripts and ideas are carried forward by her son Harry Whittaker, thanks to whom new publications continue to reach bookstores posthumously, accompanied also by the writer’s name.
There are many Lucinda Riley books, in which the themes dear to her recur, such as the relationship between the past and the present, memories and family history, and the love stories that unfold against the backdrop of grand and ancient estates. And it is precisely these characteristics that make her books so beloved by readers, fascinated by the and the historical reconstructions in which dramatic family sagas unfold.
The Seven Sisters saga by Lucinda Riley has enjoyed great success, in which six girls, after the death of their adoptive father, are forced to confront their past as they set out on journeys to discover their roots. The volumes of the saga have often reached the pinnacle of sales charts, and there is also a TV series in development inspired by their stories.
On the occasion of the Italian arrival of The Last Love Song, here is an overview of the Lucinda Riley books published in Italy (by Giunti) in order of publication:
Lucinda Riley Books
The Garden of Secret Encounters
Among Julia’s fondest childhood memories, now a successful pianist, are those spent with her grandfather at the Wharton Park estate, where he cultivated several species of orchids with passion. Now, however, the property is in the hands of the charming Kit Crawford who, during renovation work, uncovers a mysterious diary that seems to have belonged to Julia’s grandfather. Julia, returning to these places after a tragedy that struck her family, will use the diary to reconstruct the past.
(Giunti, translation by Lisa Maldera)
The Secret of the Girl on the Cliff
Grania is a sculptor living in New York, returning to Northern Ireland to visit her family. Strolling along the cliffs she meets Aurora, a girl scarred by a family tragedy. The two form a bond, and Grania, probing her mother’s distrust of the girl, discovers that their families are tied to past secrets, which, once revealed, can help the protagonist shape a new path for her future.
(Giunti, translated by Lisa Maldera)
The Light at the Window
Émilie has always been bound to the importance of her mother in Parisian society, but the sudden death of this figure so important to her overwhelms her in unforeseen ways. Émilie discovers she has inherited a castle in the south of France, where she reconnects with a notebook belonging to her Aunt Sophia. The protagonist will thus be swept up by the tale of a love story in times of war, just as love taps at her own door.
(Giunti, translation by Lisa Maldera)
The Scent of the Midnight Rose
Tangled yet again in the interweaving of family dramas that unfold across time and history, this Lucinda Riley book brings back the intertwining fates. Rebecca, an American actress, finds herself working on a set recreated inside the Astbury Hall estate, where the owner insists on asserting the remarkable resemblance of the actress to her own grandmother. Rebecca also meets Ari, who has just received a diary and a task from the centenarian Anahita: to find the missing son…
(Giunti, translation by Lisa Maldera)
The Angel of Marchmont Hall
Greta, due to a car accident, has difficulties piecing together the threads of the past. For this reason David, her dear friend and the nephew of her late husband, invites her to spend Christmas at the Marchmont Hall estate to help bring back memories. But beyond memories full of joy and also pain, there emerge incongruities, and the suspicion that there are secrets of which Greta may not have been informed while reconstructing her past.
(Giunti, translation by Sara Reggiani and Leonardo Taiuti)
The Italian Girl
We are in Naples in the 1960s: here the very young Rosanna is discovered by Roberto, a student at La Scala in Milan. Thanks to his encouragement, Rosanna’s life changes forever, and with time and great sacrifices she will realize her dream of being admitted to the same school. But just at the dawn of a promising career, the encounter with Roberto is renewed, now a great artist of international stature, charismatic and elusive.
(Giunti, translation by Leonardo Taiuti)
The Secret of Helena
In this Lucinda Riley novel we also move to new horizons. We are on the island of Cyprus, where the heroine Helena, a fifteen-year-old, experiences her first great love. Years pass, and Helena, now a mother and a successful dancer, discovers that she has inherited a villa on this wonderful Mediterranean island. The journey toward this destination, however, could bring long-hidden secrets to the surface…
(Giunti, translation by Leonardo Taiuti)
The Love Letter
Joanna is a young reporter, and her life is overturned by a chance encounter with Rose, an elderly woman who, just before her death, decides to leave her a bundle of letters that bear witness to a past love story. When Rose’s apartment is mysteriously emptied, and Joanna’s apartment is burgled as well, it becomes clear that those letters conceal far more than simple affection between two lovers.
(Giunti, translation by Leonardo Taiuti)
The Butterfly Room
In this Lucinda Riley novel the elements that make her stories so beloved by readers are back: stories moving between past and present, fiery loves, and secrets that interrupt the lives of the characters. The protagonist here is Posy, who finds herself in the difficult situation of having to save the country villa that holds all the memories of her childhood. When the sale seems inevitable, important figures from her past will reappear in her life…
(Giunti, translation by Leonardo Taiuti)
Delicts at Fleat House
Delicts at Fleat House stands as a unique entry in Lucinda Riley’s bibliography, because it is the author’s sole thriller. In the Fleat House dormitory, a student’s death is quickly ruled an accident, but Jazmine Hunter, the inspector called to investigate, soon finds herself facing a much more complex and delicate case than anyone anticipated.
(Giunti, translation by Leonardo Taiuti)
The Hidden Girl
Thanks to the work of Harry Whittaker, Riley’s son, one of the author’s early works comes to bookstores, first time published in Italy. The heroine is Leah Thompson, who, raised in a small village, unexpectedly becomes a famous model, one of the leading figures on the world’s catwalks. Yet Leah cannot leave behind her past, which will be revealed to be linked to that of two children who lived in Poland during the Second World War and to a long-forgotten prophecy…
(Giunti, translation by Rachele Salerno)
The Last Love Song
With Giunti, yet another posthumous novel by Lucinda Riley, a author with 60 million copies sold worldwide and published in 39 countries; this, too, is a youth novel, edited by Harry Whittaker: The Last Love Song (original title The Last Love Song), translated by Rachele Salerno. The book is one of eight that Lucinda Riley published under her first name, Lucinda Edmonds, and it was released in the United Kingdom in 1997. The plot takes us to London in 1964: Con and Orla are two young people who arrived in the capital in search of success. Fleeing the wild Irish countryside, they feed on love, dreams and the few coins Con earns by playing on Carnaby Street. It is only a matter of time before someone notices him, and Orla would do anything to make him happy. In 1986. Seventeen years after their breakup, the rock group The Fishermen has agreed to reunite for a big charity concert at Wembley Stadium. But Con Daly, the fourth member of the band, has disappeared after an act of extreme and apparently inexplicable violence, and there is no news of him. Only one person has the chance to uncover the mystery of that night, because if Con should reappear before the truth comes out, the story could repeat itself with even more tragic consequences. “From Ireland to Camden Town, in the heart of Swinging London, the stories of love and passion, jealousy and revenge unfold among unforgettable protagonists, whose unapologetic ambition, beauty and youth will not leave you indifferent…”.
Orlando – From the World of The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley
Regarding works published after the author’s death, in autumn 2026 Giunti has proposed Orlando – From the World of The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley, by Harry Whittaker, presented as a “new journey into the inheritance created by Lucinda Riley”: on Christmas night, in the quiet of a shop specializing in antiques and rare books, a man enters in search of the impossible: the very first edition of A Christmas Carol, the one with the legendary green boards. Orlando Forbes, a refined bookseller and trusted friend of the Adeâpite sisters, accepts the challenge. But that elderly stranger, who calls himself Fred Jorkin, seems to have stepped out of a Dickens tale: he has no phone, no address, or verifiable identity. Only one certainty, that book will change everything. As Orlando delves into the search, the secrets of the past resurface, connecting his story to invisible threads that run through the entire universe of The Seven Sisters…
The Seven Sisters Saga
Among Lucinda Riley’s most famous works are certainly the volumes belonging to the The Seven Sisters saga, in which we discover how the lives of six girls adopted as children by the same father change after his sudden death. This event indeed compels them to confront a question they had set aside: to investigate their past and discover their origins. Here are the books of the saga presented in chronological order (and reading order):
Maia’s Story. The Seven Sisters
The story that starts the Seven Sisters saga is Maia’s, the only one of the seven who still lives with her father Pa Salt at Atlantis, his estate in Geneva. We learn how this unusual family came to be, i.e., Pa Salt’s decision to adopt girls from various corners of the world, giving each one a star’s name. When Maia receives the news, she is in London, from which she hastens to return. The will she receives contains a peculiar object, an armillary sphere, which bears geographical coordinates that will lead Maia to trace her past and to the fascinating Rio de Janeiro.
(Giunti, translation by Lisa Maldera)
Ally in the Storm
The second volume of the saga focuses on Ally who, unlike Maia, does not intend to embark on a journey to search for her roots, as suggested by their late adoptive father. Her life seems to have finally found the right balance: her career and her love life are at their peak, thanks to meeting a famous skipper with whom she can pursue her sailing career and with whom a love story has developed. Yet, as often happens, fate will knock on the door of the very life she had decided to close…
( Giunti, translation by Sara Reggiani and Leonardo Taiuti)
The Hidden Girl
Star is the third of six adopted daughters of Pa Salt, but since childhood she has always been deeply entwined with her sister Cece, whose daring nature constantly overrides her own desires. Yet this tragic event becomes the turning point Star had been seeking to carve out a space of independence in which she could chart her own path. Once again Pa Salt leaves a clue, and this becomes the starting point for a journey that moves between present and past.
(Giunti, translation by Leonardo Taiuti)
The Pearl Girl
But, how will Cece react to what seems to be a sudden abandonment by her favorite sister? The inspiration for her art is stifled by a strong sense of loneliness: it is at this point that Pa Salt’s clue, a black-and-white photograph of an Australian pioneer, will take shape before her eyes. Cece too sets off on a journey to discover herself and her origins, which will, however, bring many more changes to her life…
(Giunti, translation by Leonardo Taiuti)
The Moonlight Girl
Here we come to the story of Tiggy, the fifth of the six sisters. To overcome a difficult moment, Tiggy decides to take a job in the Scottish Highlands, where she will look after an endangered feline species inside a fully isolated nature reserve. Here she will meet many people, from whom loves, friendships and loyalties will arise, but also some mysteries. And thus from the calm of these Nordic panoramas, Tiggy will be hurled into the warmth of Spain…
(Giunti, translation by Roberta Zuppet)
The Sun Girl
And here we reach the tale of Electra, the youngest of the sisters. A top model, she cannot find fulfillment in the life of celebrity. Her fragility clashes with the pressure of appearances, and while her sisters seem to have found their balance after Pa Salt’s death, Electra becomes entangled in addictions. Suddenly, however, a mysterious phone call from a woman claiming to be her grandmother sets her life on a new course.
( Giunti, translation by Elena Contini)
The Lost Sister
Now that the six sisters have each pursued their own way to uncover their past, a final mystery remains to be solved. The star constellation that gave them their names is made up of seven stars: the seventh sister, Merope, seems impossible to locate. In this saga installment, the six sisters, in view of Pa Salt’s commemoration, are determined to find her, in order to finally complete their family with the missing piece.
(Giunti, translation by Federico Zaniboni and Giulia Taddeo)
Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt
In the volume Atlas, written by Lucinda Riley with her son Harry Whittaker, fans of the Seven Sisters saga can finally discover the story of the enigmatic Pa Salt. On the occasion of commemorating this cryptic character, Merope, the last addition to the family, decides to bring with her the diary containing the history of her past. Reading it will therefore allow the seven sisters to uncover the final truths about a man they may have never truly known.
(Giunti, translation by Leonardo Taiuti)
My Angels Series
We conclude the overview of Lucinda Riley’s books with this series of children’s books co-authored with her son Harry Whittaker, featuring children facing the challenges of growing up, who are helped by guardian angels to confront their fears:
Bill and the Dream Angel
The recent move from a city apartment to a countryside house unsettles little Bill, who, though happy to claim these new spaces as his own, struggles to accept such a big change. To help Bill, the Dream Angel arrives, comforting his worries.
(Giunti, translation by Francesca Pellegrino and illustrations by Marie Voigt)
Rosie and the Angel of Friendship
The start of nursery school for Rosie is an important moment, but also loaded with worry: will she find someone to share the beauty of all these new experiences? In her aid comes the Angel of Friendship, who will help her feel less alone.
(Giunti, translation by Francesca Pellegrino and illustrations by Marie Voigt)
Christopher and the Angel of Lost Things
In this volume we meet Christopher, who, on the verge of leaving for a vacation in Greece with his parents, decides to bring along Bertie, his rabbit-shaped stuffed toy, never letting it go. Just before resuming his trip to return home, Christopher notices that Bertie has disappeared: Luna, the angel of lost things, will come to his aid.
(Giunti, translation by Francesca Pellegrino and illustrations by Marie Voigt)
Grace and the Christmas Angel
Grace’s long-awaited moment has arrived: Christmas, this year made even more special by her participation in the Nativity show her father promised not to miss. But when a storm prevents her father from arriving among the spectators, the Christmas Angel comes to Grace’s aid…
(Giunti, translation by Francesca Pellegrino and illustrations by Marie Voigt)
