Book 5 of the Seven Sisters Series
Taygete (Tiggy) D’Aplièse has just been hired at the Kinnaird estate to look after the Scottish wildcats that the laird (Charlie Kinnaird) wants to breed. On the estate, Tiggy meets the old Spanish Roma Chilly who tells her he’s been waiting for her to send her home. Tiggy is a very intuitive person and she feels a connection with the old gitano. Charlie’s 16 year old daughter Zara takes a shine to Tiggy, much to Zara’s mum, the elegant Ulrika’s dismay. Ulrika also sees Tiggy as a threat to her marriage and she tells her to leave. Tiggy decides to leave the Kinnaird estate and fly to Spain. She goes to Granada where her ancestors are from.
Lucia Amaya-Albaycín is an incredible flamenco dancer known as La Candela, she started dancing professionally as a child – her father, a flamenco guitarist, took her away from the rest of the family in Sacromonte near Granada to Barcelona. When war breaks out, Lucia and her entourage flee to Portugal and Lucia makes sure her mum and brother are moved there as well – her other brothers have perished. After some time, Lucia takes everyone to South America, and eventually to New York. After she breaks up with her long term lover Meñique, she learns she is pregnant. She takes her mum back to Spain and has the baby there. Eventually Lucia returns to New York, and leaves her daughter Isadora, with her mother in Spain.
The first time I read this book I found Tiggy a bit preachy about her veganism, but this time around, not so much. Tiggy loves animals and to her veganism is important but she doesn’t try to convince others.
The search into her ancestry is interesting; I’ve lived in the North of Spain (Costa Brava) and on Tenerife and so I know some of the customs – unfortunately I lived in very touristy areas (since I worked as a holiday rep). I love Spain!
I also loved that Lucinda Riley based Lucia on a real flamenco dancer called Carmen Amaya. All in all, an excellent book about the fifth sister.
Read for the Read Between the Lines Reading Challenge 2026
Prompt 20: A Book Set in Europe
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️