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Quick answer: If you loved The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley, try The Orchid House, The Midnight Rose, The Forgotten Garden and The Shell Seekers. These sweeping family sagas move between past and present and uncover long-buried secrets.
Lucinda Riley's novel introduces Maia D'Aplièse and the six adopted sisters of a mysterious father who dies, leaving clues to their origins. Readers love the travel, history and slow reveals. The books below offer the same mix of generational secrets, romance and settings that stretch across continents.
Table of Contents
Quick Picks at a Glance
| Book | Author | Ages | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Orchid House | Lucinda Riley | Adult | more Riley |
| The Midnight Rose | Lucinda Riley | Adult | romantic sagas |
| The Forgotten Garden | Kate Morton | Adult | mysteries across time |
| The Secret Keeper | Kate Morton | Adult | family secrets |
| The Shell Seekers | Rosamunde Pilcher | Adult | cozy family sagas |
| The Tea Planter's Wife | Dinah Jefferies | Adult | colonial settings |
| The Island | Victoria Hislop | Adult | Greek island history |
| The Nightingale | Kristin Hannah | Adult | WWII sagas |
| The Shadow of the Wind | Carlos Ruiz Zafon | Adult | book mysteries |
| The House of the Spirits | Isabel Allende | Adult | multigenerational epics |
| The Thorn Birds | Colleen McCullough | Adult | classic sagas |
| Lilac Girls | Martha Hall Kelly | Adult | historical fiction |
| The Light Between Oceans | M.L. Stedman | Adult | emotional choices |
| The Winter Sea | Susanna Kearsley | Adult | history and romance |
| The Lost Garden | Helen Humphreys | Adult | wartime gardens |
1. The Orchid House by Lucinda Riley
A woman returns to an old English estate and uncovers a story that spans wartime Thailand and England. A good place to start with Riley's earlier work.
Best for: more Riley.
2. The Midnight Rose by Lucinda Riley
A young actress finds out about an Indian princess and her love story in the 1920s. Lush and romantic.
Best for: romantic sagas.
3. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
A woman inherits a cottage and unravels the mystery of a child abandoned on a ship decades earlier. Atmospheric and layered.
Best for: mysteries across time.
4. The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
A woman sees her mother commit a crime and spends years trying to understand why. A strong mix of wartime and family secrets.
Best for: family secrets.
5. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher
An older woman reflects on her family and a beloved painting. Warm, gentle and full of English countryside.
Best for: cozy family sagas.
6. The Tea Planter's Wife by Dinah Jefferies
A young bride moves to Ceylon in the 1920s and learns how little she knows about her husband. Lush and tense.
Best for: colonial settings.
7. The Island by Victoria Hislop
A woman learns about her family's past on the island of Spinalonga, a leper colony. Moving and informative.
Best for: Greek island history.
8. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Two sisters in occupied France survive in different ways. A widely loved story about resilience and war.
Best for: WWII sagas.
9. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A boy discovers a mysterious book in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in Barcelona. Gothic, mysterious and full of literary love.
Best for: book mysteries.
10. The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
Three generations of a Chilean family live through love, magic and politics. Epic and richly told.
Best for: multigenerational epics.
11. The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough
An epic family saga set in the Australian outback. Long, romantic and dramatic.
Best for: classic sagas.
12. Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Three women from different countries are linked by the events of World War II. Based on real people.
Best for: historical fiction.
13. The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman
A lighthouse keeper and his wife find a baby in a boat and choose to raise her. Heartbreaking.
Best for: emotional choices.
14. The Winter Sea by Susanna Kearsley
A writer moves to a Scottish castle and starts to remember an ancestor's story. A blend of romance and history.
Best for: history and romance.
15. The Lost Garden by Helen Humphreys
A horticulturist leads a group of women to grow food in a Devon estate during World War II. Quiet and tender.
Best for: wartime gardens.
How to Choose
To stay with Riley, start with The Orchid House or The Midnight Rose. For puzzles that stretch across decades, pick Kate Morton's The Forgotten Garden or The Secret Keeper. For travel and a cultural setting, try The Tea Planter's Wife, The Island or The House of the Spirits. If you love historical drama, The Nightingale, Lilac Girls and The Light Between Oceans deliver strong emotion. If you are new to the genre, begin with one standalone such as The Shell Seekers or The Forgotten Garden before you commit to a long series. Long novels like The Thorn Birds are best for holidays.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Seven Sisters about?
Maia learns of her adoptive father's death and follows clues to discover her origins in Brazil, as the first of six linked stories about the sisters.
How many books are in the series?
The main series has seven novels, and the last was completed by Riley's son after her death.
Do I have to read them in order?
It helps, as the characters appear across the books.
Which Riley book is best to start with?
The Seven Sisters is the start of the series, and The Orchid House is a good standalone.
Are these books romance novels?
Romance plays a part, but the family secrets and history are the focus.
What is the best order to read the Seven Sisters series?
Read them in publication order, starting with The Seven Sisters.
Are there TV adaptations?
Several of Riley's novels have been optioned for television, but check current listings.