Lucinda Kate Riley (; 16 February 1965 – 11 June 2021)
was a Northern Irish author of popular
historical fiction
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...
, formerly an actress and ballet dancer.
Biography
Lucinda Edmonds was born in
Lisburn
Lisburn ( ; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with t ...
and spent the first few years of her life in the village of
Drumbeg, near Belfast, before moving to England.
[About Lucinda]
lucindariley.co.uk At age 14, she enrolled in the
Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts
The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, also known simply as Italia Conti, is a drama school based in Woking, Woking, England. It was founded by the English actress Italia Conti in 1911. Italia Conti offers courses in acting, musical theatre, ...
in London to study theatre and ballet. At 16, she got her first major television role in the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
adaptation of ''
The Story of the Treasure Seekers'', followed shortly afterwards by a guest role in ''
Auf Wiedersehen Pet''. She remained a working actress for the next seven years.
Her acting career was interrupted by a long bout of
mononucleosis. This caused her to turn to writing, and her first novel ''Lovers and Players'' was published in 1992.
From 1988 to 1998, she was married to actor Owen Whittaker, with whom she had two children. From 2000 until her death, she was married to Stephen Riley, with whom she also had two children, as well as three stepchildren.
She took a break from writing, returning to it in 2010; her subsequent novels were published under her married name.
In 2014, Riley published the ''Seven Sisters'', the first novel of a series of the same name. This novel series made her a bestselling author, especially in Europe. The novels have been translated into several languages and have sold a combined total of more than 30 million books. In 2016, producer
Raffaella De Laurentiis purchased the television rights to this series.
Verdens Gang
(), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norway, Norwegian Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, declining from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. Nevertheless, ''VG'' is ...
'' that she had oesophageal cancer. She continued to work, producing five novels during the four years of her illness, but was unable to complete the planned final eighth novel in her ''Seven Sisters'' series before her death on 11 June 2021.
Pan Macmillan, 11 May 2023.
In May 2022, her stepdaughter, Olivia Riley, who was a personal assistant and publishing executive for Lucinda Riley Ltd, died after being hit by a car while walking her dogs in London.
Filmography
* ''
The Story of the Treasure Seekers'' (1982)
* ''
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' () is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site ...
'' (1983)
* ''
Jumping the Queue'' (1989)
Bibliography
;As Lucinda Edmonds
*''Lovers and Players'' (1992)
*''Hidden Beauty'' (1993)
*''Enchanted'' (1994)
*''Not Quite an Angel'' (1995)
*''Aria'' (1996)
*''Losing You'' (1997)
*''Playing With Fire'' (1998)
*''Seeing Double'' (2000)
;As Lucinda Riley
*''The Orchid House'' (also known as ''Hothouse Flower'') (2010)
*''The Girl on the Cliff'' (2011)
*''The Light Behind the Window'' (also known as ''The Lavender Garden'') (2012)
*''The Midnight Rose'' (2013)
*''The Angel Tree'' (2014)
*''The Italian Girl'' (a rewrite of ''Aria'') (2014)
*''The Olive Tree'' (also published as ''Helena's Secret'') (2016)
*''The Love Letter'' (a rewrite of ''Seeing Double'') (2018)
*''The Butterfly Room'' (2019)
*''The Murders at Fleat House'' (2022)
*''The Hidden Girl'' (2024)
The Seven Sisters series
*''The Seven Sisters'' (2014)
*''The Storm Sister'' (2015)
*''The Shadow Sister'' (2016)
*''The Pearl Sister'' (2017)
*''The Moon Sister'' (2018)
*''The Sun Sister'' (2019)
*''The Missing Sister'' (2021)
*''Atlas: The Story of Pa Salt'' (2023) (co-authored by Harry Whittaker)
References
External links
Official site*
Notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riley, Lucinda
1965 births
2021 deaths
20th-century actresses from Northern Ireland
20th-century Irish novelists
20th-century Irish women writers
21st-century Irish novelists
21st-century Irish women writers
Actors from Lisburn
Deaths from cancer in Northern Ireland
Deaths from esophageal cancer in the United Kingdom
Irish novelists
Television actresses from Northern Ireland
Historical novelists from Northern Ireland
Women writers from Northern Ireland