During her writing career, Lucinda Riley wrote a wealth of novels in the historical fiction genre, with her “Seven Sisters” series really making her a household name.
Her books are not only popular in the Western world, but across the globe with 90% of her book sales being in a foreign language.
In her twenties, Lucinda Riley actively pursued a career as an actress, but an illness saw her bed bound and unable to write, so she turned her efforts to writing instead, completing her first book at 24.
Across her 30-year writing career, Riley wrote a huge amount of novels, and even branched into the murder mystery genre, as well as writing a series of children’s books with her son, Harry Whittaker.
On June 11th, 2021, Lucinda Riley passed away after a 4-year battle with cancer, surrounded by her family.
Three weeks before her death, the seventh book in her “Seven Sisters” series, The Missing Sister, became her first hardback Sunday Times’ number 1 in both the UK and Ireland, which was the proudest moment of her career.
The eighth book in the series is set to be released posthumously in 2023.
If you love novels like the Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley, then you will absolutely adore the works of Kate Morton and Rachel Hore.
Throughout her writing career, Lucinda Riley wrote multiple standalone novels as well as a series of children’s books (If you’re into children’s novels, check out Books Like Wonder), and her famous “Seven Sisters” series.
There were a number of common themes throughout her novels, even though she wrote for multiple genres.
Standalone Novels
Lucinda Riley completed and published 10 standalone novels throughout her career, and many of her early publications were standalone novels.
Her standalone novels branch across a variety of genres, with her murder mystery novels focusing on gruesome crimes and suspense, and her historic fiction novels often focusing on romance.
With novels set across different centuries, there is a Lucinda Riley novel for everyone.
The Seven Sisters series by Lucinda Riley is, without a doubt, some of the most famous works of her entire career.
The first novel in the series, “The Seven Sisters”, was published in 2014, and this novel has been followed by six additional novels in the series, with the seventh book due to be published in 2023.
The Seven Sisters series is based on the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades and has a huge emphasis on strong female characters.
The novels were written to celebrate women and have a massive focus on female empowerment.
However, the novels do not ignore the endless search for love, a common theme in her work, as is the heartbreak when said love is lost.
In Lucinda Riley’s own words, the Seven Sisters series is a series about “humanity: love, family, joy, loss, fear, and pain”, with the main focus on hope.
The Seven Sisters series includes the following novels:
While Lucinda Riley published a lot of novels in her career, once you work your way through her back catalog, you might find yourself at a loss about what to read next.
Thankfully, there are quite a few authors that you can branch out to that allows you to continue enjoying historic fiction.
Let’s take a look at who these authors are, and some of the best novels by these authors to sink your teeth into.
Kate Morton
Kate Morton is an Australian author who has seen extreme success in her career, selling more than 16 million copies of her books across 42 countries.
This success has made her one of Australia’s most successful authors in terms of exports – similar to how Lucinda Riley is one of the UK’s most successful authors in terms of foreign language sales.
Just like Lucinda Riley, Kate Morton specializes in the historical fiction genre with 7 different novels written for this category.
Told through multiple narrators, Morton can achieve that same accuracy of historical fiction that Lucinda Riley achieved, and that is why you can easily slide into Kate Morton’s novels after reading Lucinda Riley’s.
The main themes in Kate Morton’s novels are very similar to the works of Lucinda Riley, with some of the primary themes being romance, love, family, drama, and a large focus on secrets being revealed, and the fallout associated with this.
Available across the globe – Kate Morton’s novels are available in 42 countries worldwide.
Long Books – Kate Morton’s novels tend to be very long, with plenty of writing to sink your teeth into.
Cons
Morton currently only has 7 novels available to read.
Themes: Romance, Love, Family, Drama, Mystery
Rachel Hore
Rachel Hore is a British novelist who specializes in historical fiction, just like Lucinda Riley.
As a child, Rachel Hore was an avid reader, and this only became more true when she and her family moved to Hong Kong when she was aged just 5.
Her love for reading led her to pursue a career in book editing with HarperCollins Publishers, and this is where she met her future husband and future fellow author, D.J. Taylor.
After the birth of their 3 sons, the family moved to the countryside, and Rachel Hore left her London-based job.
This was when she took the opportunity to transform her love of reading into a love of writing.
This love of writing has led her to publish more than 10 novels in the historical fiction genre, and they are all perfect for diving right into once you’ve completed Lucinda Riley’s back catalog.
Her first published novel, titled “The Dream House” was published in 2006, and it has been followed by further publications.
Just like Kate Morton, the novels that Rachel Hore has written follow very similar themes to Lucinda Riley’s works.
Some of the main themes in these novels include history, romance, love, British literature, female empowerment, mystery, and gothic fiction.
Pros
Plenty of books to sink your teeth into, with more due to be published in the future.
Lengthy novels are available in paperback, hardback, e-book and audio formats.
Same genre as Lucinda Riley with similar themes.
Cons
Heavier focus on gothic themes than in Lucinda Riley’s novels.
Themes: Romance, Love, Strength, Power, Mystery
Final Thoughts
There really is no denying that when it comes to historical fiction, Lucinda Riley really is one of the best authors out there.
The huge amount of research and effort that goes into creating the historical fiction that she writes is simply unbeatable, and there is no doubt that this is why her novels are so popular across the globe.
But sadly, due to Lucinda Riley’s passing, there will come a time when there are no new novels of hers to be published, and unfortunately, this time is likely to come sooner rather than later.
So, if you are searching for a new author for all your historical fiction needs, then the works of Kate Morton and Rachel Hore are perfect for sinking your teeth into.
In this guide, we have looked at some of the pros and cons of these authors’ works and supplied you with a list of their novels to dive straight into.
We hope this information has been helpful!
Frequently Asked Questions
Will The 8th Seven Sisters Series Be Published?
Yes, the final book in the Seven Sisters series – Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt – is set to be published in 2023.
It was completed after Lucinda Riley’s death, and as a result is a collaborative work with her son, Harry Whittaker.
Do The Seven Sisters Books Need To Be Read In Order?
Yes, the Seven Sisters is a chronological series, with each book introducing a new sister.
As a result, they must be read in order of publication if you want the series to make sense.
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