Asterope - known as Star by her family, has always lived in the shadow of her more outgoing sister CeCe. I so admire Beatrix’s devotion to nature and to England, and the fact that she left an enduring legacy of landscape and of wildlife to be enjoyed by generations after her, in the form of the National Trust. She is outshone by the other stars in the Pleiades cluster, and, as Star discovers when she looks through Pa Salt’s telescope, Asterope is in fact made up of two weakly shining stars that sit closely together. Und genauso still und ruhig entwickelt sie sich weiter, wird noch stärker und selbstbewusster, kommt aus sich heraus und kapselt sich von CeCe ab.

I don't want to say this now before officially finishing the book, but I'm quite disappointed with how this book turned out. And both the character and her stories fit so well with the setting and themes of the overall arc here. In 2020 she received the Dutch Platinum award for sales over 300,000 copies for a single novel in one year – an award last won by J K Rowling for Harry Potter. She was a sociable, happy and illuminating person to be around, but of course, not without her flaws. The modern story deals in large part with Star finding her independence and tearing herself lose form this co-dependent relationship.In particular the characters of Flora MacNichol and Beatrix Potter, and the friendship between the two. I did read her books myself and to my children, and in fact, my character Tiggy’s nickname comes from Beatrix’s The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle.

She is a truly complex character who shaped British history behind the scenes and it was a challenge to depict her fall from grace on the eve of the King’s death. After the death of their mysterious adoptive father, Pa Salt, the 3rd and 4th sisters move to London so CeCe can embark on an art course. Of course it doesn’t pay very well but it is pretty much a dream job for Star who is as passionate about books and literature as Orlando is. Clearly both sisters needed each other for different reasons at some point, but that doesn’t really explain or justify their bizarre dynamic. I have vivid memories of my father taking me up there when I was seven or eight, and hanging on to the side of the mountain when we were caught in a squall, just as Flora and Archie are.Given everything I have read about Alice’s life and motivations, I am sure she would have been thrilled that her direct descendant is now married to the Prince of Wales.

It seemed more like she was deliberately mean to CeCe to somehow punish her for stunting her growth. Following on from the bestselling The Seven Sisters and The Storm Sister, The Shadow Sister is the third book in Lucinda Riley's spellbinding series of love and loss, inspired by the mythology of the Seven Sisters constellation.They were bohemian, creative, and – yes, also privileged: born into wealthy families and with the freedom to break societal norms. The events and Mrs Keppel’s reaction to them are taken directly from first-hand accounts of the night the King died and the following day. Niestety wszystko o czym byliśmy zapewniani od 1 tomu i dodatkowo na początku historii Star, zostało zmazane za jednym zamachem. Which I’m totally fine with – it’s all part of that “you have to accept the fantastical backdrop of the series” thing.