Lucinda Riley

Lucinda Riley was born in 1965 in Drumbeg in Northern Ireland before moving to the UK.

She married an actor she met on a TV commercial and was then struck down with what has now been diagnosed as Epstein Barr virus. Whilst stuck in bed, plagued by fatigue, she decided to begin writing down a story that had been in her head for some time. The fact that she could use her imagination to take her out of the difficult ‘real’ world was both a revelation, and therapy of the best kind.

A friend read the book and passed it to her author father, who passed it on to his literary agent. A few months later, at the age of 25, she found herself not only with a three-book deal, but also pregnant with her first child, Harry. Books, babies and a divorce with a subsequent move back to Ireland followed. 

She moved back to England in 1998, remarried, and after having four children under nine years old, she took a break from publishing for a few years. During that time, she wrote three novels when the children were in bed. Some years later, two of these books, The Butterfly Room and The Olive Tree, were rescued from the depths of a drawer in her office, re-edited and published with considerable success.

Then, in 2013, standing outside on a starry night in Norfolk, Lucinda came up with the idea of writing a seven-book series, based allegorically on the myths and legends of The Seven Sisters of the Pleiades star cluster. Her interest in Greek myths and philosophy could therefore be utilised throughout the stories, all gently peppered with anagrams and metaphor.

Unfortunately Lucinda passed away in 2021.