Some journeys take you halfway around the world before you finally begin to understand where you belong.

There is something quite lovely about reaching the fourth book in a series and realising that you are properly invested now.

You know the family. You know the story behind Pa Salt. You know there are seven sisters, seven mysterious clues and seven stories waiting to be uncovered. And, after reading The Seven Sisters, The Storm Sister and The Shadow Sister, I was more than ready to find out what was waiting for us in The Pearl Sister.

This time, the story belongs to CeCe D’Aplièse.

And, after getting to know CeCe through the eyes of the other sisters, I was particularly interested to see what would happen when we finally got to hear her story.

Because, let’s be honest, CeCe isn’t necessarily the easiest of the sisters to understand.

She’s strong-willed, she’s fiercely protective of Star, and she can sometimes come across as rather difficult. But I think that’s exactly what made me want to read her story. There had to be more going on beneath the surface.

And there was.

A Sister We Thought We Knew

When you first meet CeCe in the earlier books, it’s very easy to form an opinion of her.

She’s confident in some ways, insecure in others, and her relationship with Star is particularly complicated. The two sisters have always been incredibly close, and CeCe has often seemed to be the louder, more dominant one.

But one of the things I really enjoyed about The Pearl Sister is that Lucinda Riley gives us the opportunity to look at CeCe differently.

We get to understand why she behaves the way she does, what she’s struggling with and, perhaps most importantly, just how lost she feels.

After Pa Salt’s death, CeCe finds herself at a bit of a crossroads. Her relationship with Star has changed, and suddenly the person who has been her constant companion isn’t quite as close as she once was.

For CeCe, that means being forced to look at herself.

And that isn’t necessarily something she’s particularly comfortable doing.

Following CeCe’s Journey

As with the other books in The Seven Sisters series, CeCe is given clues about her past following Pa Salt’s death.

And so begins another journey of discovery.

This time, we’re travelling much further afield, with CeCe’s search taking her from Thailand to Australia as she tries to uncover where she came from and who her biological family might have been.

I really enjoy the way these books turn a family mystery into a journey around the world.

You’re not simply following someone as they search through old records or speak to distant relatives. You’re travelling with them, discovering new places and meeting new people along the way.

And with CeCe, that journey feels particularly important because she’s not just searching for information.

She’s searching for herself.

A Journey Around the World

One of my favourite things about The Seven Sisters books is the sense of escapism they give you.

You can be sitting at home reading your book, and suddenly you’re in another country, surrounded by completely different scenery and immersed in another time and culture.

The Pearl Sister is no exception.

Thailand provides the beginning of CeCe’s journey, before the story moves towards Australia, which becomes an incredibly important part of both the modern-day and historical stories.

And Australia really does feel like a character in this book.

There are vast landscapes, beautiful scenery and a real sense of the sheer size of the country. It makes CeCe’s journey feel enormous, which somehow works perfectly for a character who is trying to figure out where she belongs in the world.

Welcome to Australia

Australia is where this story really comes alive for me.

There is something fascinating about the history that Lucinda Riley explores here, particularly the world of the Australian pearling industry.

And, of course, that’s where the title The Pearl Sister comes from.

The historical story takes us into a very different Australia from the one CeCe experiences in the present day, and I loved seeing how the two timelines gradually reveal different aspects of the same world.

There is also a darker side to the history explored in the book, including the treatment of Aboriginal people and the inequalities that existed within Australian society.

It gives the historical storyline much more depth than simply being a glamorous story about pearls and adventure.

There is a real sense that Riley wanted us to understand the people and the history behind the setting.

Meet Kitty McBride

Alongside CeCe’s modern-day story, we meet Kitty McBride, whose story begins in Scotland before taking her across the world to Australia.

And I have to say, I really enjoyed Kitty’s story.

As with the other Seven Sisters books, we’re moving between two different time periods, and at first you’re left wondering exactly what the connection is going to be.

Kitty’s life is very different from CeCe’s, but there are little threads running through the story that make you want to keep reading.

I love that feeling.

You know there is a connection.

You just don’t know exactly what it is yet.

And Lucinda Riley is very good at giving you just enough information to make you think you’ve worked something out, only to leave you with another question.

Pearls, Family Secrets and Finding Where You Belong

At the heart of The Pearl Sister is the idea of belonging.

CeCe has spent much of her life feeling as though she doesn’t quite fit.

She’s different from her sisters, and although she has always had Star by her side, there is still a part of her that feels disconnected.

Her search for her biological family therefore becomes about much more than finding out a name or discovering where her ancestors came from.

She’s trying to answer a much bigger question:

Who am I?

And I think that’s something most of us can understand in one way or another.

We might not all go travelling around the world looking for clues about our family history, but that desire to understand ourselves and where we fit is something incredibly human.

When the Past Meets the Present

One of the things I always look forward to in a Lucinda Riley book is seeing how the two timelines eventually come together.

You have CeCe in the present day, following the clues left behind for her, and Kitty in the past, living a life that initially seems completely separate.

But gradually, the pieces begin to move into place.

It’s not something I’m going to say too much about because I absolutely do not want to spoil it for anyone who hasn’t read the book.

And honestly, you don’t want to know.

Half the fun is sitting there thinking, “Okay, I think I know where this is going…”

And then carrying on reading to find out whether you’re actually right.

Getting to Know CeCe

I think The Pearl Sister changed the way I saw CeCe.

And that’s probably one of the biggest compliments I can give the book.

Before reading it, I wasn’t always sure what to make of her.

But once you understand more about her background and the things she’s been dealing with, she becomes a much more sympathetic character.

She’s still CeCe.

She’s still stubborn.

She’s still capable of being frustrating.

But you begin to see the vulnerability underneath all of that.

And I actually really liked that.

I don’t want every character I read about to be perfectly likeable. Sometimes the characters who make you question them are the ones who stay with you for longest.

CeCe certainly did that for me.

The Emotional Side of The Pearl Sister

Although The Pearl Sister has all the ingredients you’d expect from a big historical family saga — romance, mystery, travel, secrets and different generations — there’s a very emotional story underneath it all.

CeCe is dealing with loneliness, uncertainty and the feeling that she doesn’t quite know where she belongs.

There’s also the complicated relationship between the sisters, which continues to be an important part of the series.

And I think that’s what makes The Seven Sisters books work so well for me.

They’re not just about solving a mystery.

They’re about people.

People who have complicated families, complicated relationships and complicated feelings.

Nobody is completely perfect.

And that’s what makes them believable.

The Audiobook

I listened to The Pearl Sister as an audiobook, and I really enjoyed experiencing the story that way.

There is something particularly enjoyable about listening to a book like this because the story is so immersive.

You’re travelling between countries, moving between timelines and getting to know different characters, and having the story read to you somehow adds another layer to that experience.

It’s also one of those books where I found myself quite happy to disappear into the story for a while.

And sometimes that’s exactly what you want from an audiobook.

You don’t necessarily want something you have to concentrate intensely on every second.

Sometimes you just want a really good story to take you somewhere else.

The Pearl Sister certainly did that.

Another Piece of Pa Salt’s Puzzle

Of course, there is still the bigger mystery hanging over the entire series.

Pa Salt.

Every book gives us another little glimpse into the sisters’ past and another reason to wonder exactly what he knew and why he arranged everything the way he did.

By book four, I was definitely becoming more curious about the bigger picture.

Because every time you think you understand what is going on, another little detail appears that makes you question it all over again.

And that is precisely why I’m still reading.

I need answers.

Although, knowing this series, I’m probably going to have to wait a while longer for them. 😂

What I Thought of The Pearl Sister

For me, The Pearl Sister is another strong addition to the series.

I loved getting CeCe’s perspective and discovering that there was much more to her than I had initially thought.

I also really enjoyed the Australian setting and the historical storyline surrounding Kitty and the pearling industry.

The story is emotional without being completely overwhelming, mysterious without becoming impossible to follow, and detailed enough to make you feel as though you’ve actually travelled somewhere rather than simply read about it.

And I particularly liked the way CeCe’s personal journey mirrors the bigger journey she’s taking around the world.

She’s looking for her family.

She’s looking for answers.

But really, she’s looking for a place where she feels she belongs.

Who Would Enjoy The Pearl Sister?

If you’ve enjoyed the first three books in The Seven Sisters series, then I really don’t think I need to tell you to read this one.

You’re already invested.

You already want to know what happens to the sisters.

And now it’s CeCe’s turn.

But even if you’re new to Lucinda Riley, The Pearl Sister has plenty to offer if you enjoy historical fiction, family mysteries, dual timelines, romance, travel and stories about discovering your roots.

It is the sort of book you can settle into and really disappear inside.

And if you enjoy books that take you somewhere completely different while giving you a mystery to unravel at the same time, this is definitely one to add to your list.

A Completely Spoiler-Free Warning

I’m deliberately keeping this review completely spoiler-free because there are things in The Pearl Sister that are much more enjoyable when you discover them yourself.

So please don’t do what I sometimes want to do and go searching for answers halfway through the book. 😂

Don’t Google it.

Don’t look up the family tree.

Don’t read the ending.

Just keep going.

Trust me.

My Final Thoughts

I think The Pearl Sister was exactly the book CeCe needed.

After seeing her from the outside in the earlier books, it was fascinating to finally understand what was going on underneath that strong exterior.

And while I still wouldn’t say CeCe is the easiest of the sisters, I definitely understood her a lot more by the end of this book.

I loved the journey from Thailand to Australia, the historical storyline with Kitty, the mystery surrounding CeCe’s origins and, most of all, the theme of finding somewhere — and somehow — to belong.

There are moments of sadness, moments of frustration, moments of romance and plenty of moments where I simply wanted to keep listening because I needed to know what happened next.

And that’s probably the best thing I can say about a book.

I didn’t want to leave it.

Another sister’s story is now complete, another piece of Pa Salt’s mysterious puzzle has been uncovered, and I’m officially four books into The Seven Sisters series.

Which means, naturally…

I’m carrying on. 📚💗

⭐ My Rating: 5/5

📚 Book Details

Title: The Pearl Sister
Author: Lucinda Riley
Series: The Seven Sisters — Book 4
Main character: CeCe D’Aplièse
Historical character: Kitty McBride
Genre: Historical fiction, contemporary fiction, romance, family saga
Setting: Thailand, Australia and Scotland
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Pearl Sister is the fourth book in Lucinda Riley’s bestselling Seven Sisters series and follows CeCe D’Aplièse as she searches for answers about her origins, taking her from Thailand to Australia and into a family history stretching back generations.

This is a completely spoiler-free review.