Four great stones once stood on a remote Scottish headland – the Sisters of Skara.
Legend has it they were raised by a grieving father, to guide his abducted daughters home.
A curse was placed on anyone who laid the stones low:
their family, too, would be scattered to the winds, never to find their way home.1931. When Iris Blackmore’s father knocks down the Sisters of Skara standing stones, a dark shadow falls on the Blackmore family. With his fortune lost and wife dead, his four daughters are forced to leave their home, taking only the rings they inherited from their beloved mother.
Iris is the first to depart, travelling east in search of an uncle who might be able to help the family.
Present day. Roz Chatton moves to London from Australia, bringing very little with her other than her mother’s old ring. Grieving and adrift, she stumbles on a painting of four ancient standing stones which ignites an uncanny connection to the ring on her finger.
Determined to learn more about the origin of the painting, Roz unearths the full story of Iris Blackmore, unravelling a family history she could never have imagined.
Four lost sisters. A family scattered. An epic journey home. Will you follow?
The Sea Stone Sisters by Eleanor Buchanan is published by Headline Review, with its first formats releasing on 12 March 2026. Blending historical fiction with a contemporary storyline, it’s a quietly powerful novel that lingers rather than rushes, inviting the reader to settle into its emotional depth and sense of place. I was lucky enough to read an early digital copy via NetGalley, and it’s a book I’ve found myself thinking about long after finishing — one I wanted to share simply because it deserves to be discovered.
The novel will be available in hardcover and ebook (both 448 pages) from March, alongside an audiobook narrated by Susie Riddell (10 hours), whose voice feels perfectly suited to a story steeped in memory, loss, and longing. A paperback edition is scheduled to follow later in the year, in August 2026. If you’re drawn to stories about family, legacy, and the quiet pull of home — told across generations and timelines — this is one to watch for.
Eleanor Buchanan
After a haphazard early career that took her around the world, Eleanor Buchanan settled in York and began writing award-winning romance, historical, and time-slip novels under various pseudonyms.
She has now turned her hand to a brand-new series of enthralling stories that finally combines her passion for travel, her belief in the power of evocative love stories and her enduring fascination with the relationship between the past and the present.
The Sea Stone Sisters is the first in a sweeping and spellbinding new series; a richly layered, dual-time story of love, loss, family secrets and finding your way home. (Headline, March 2026). Translation rights have been sold in 19 countries.
You can find Eleanor Buchanan on Instagram
My Review
A Story of Loss, Legacy, and Home
I didn’t just read The Sea Stone Sisters — I spent time inside it. It’s a novel that asks for patience and attention, then rewards both with a quiet emotional depth that settles in and stays. Rather than pushing for drama, it unfolds at its own measured pace, allowing mood, memory, and feeling to take the lead.
What resonated most strongly with me was the sense of displacement that runs through the story — that feeling of being untethered, of lives shaped by loss and separation. There’s a softness to the way this is explored, but also a steady emotional weight that never quite lets go.
Eleanor Buchanan writes about family with real tenderness. The connections between her characters feel lived-in and believable, shaped as much by what’s missing as by what remains. I found myself especially drawn to Iris’s journey, not because it’s loud or dramatic, but because of its quiet resilience and emotional honesty. Her story carries a sense of endurance that felt deeply affecting.
Roz’s narrative offers a different emotional texture, rooted in grief and uncertainty. I appreciated how carefully her experience is handled — nothing rushed, nothing overstated. As her story begins to edge closer to the past, there’s a growing sense of inevitability that I found both moving and satisfying, even before the full picture comes into focus.
This is a beautifully written and emotionally rich opening to a series. Atmospheric, thoughtful, and full of heart, it’s a novel about belonging, legacy, and the idea of home — not as a place, but as something we carry with us, even when we don’t yet understand it. I finished the final page feeling quietly moved, completely satisfied, and very ready to continue the journey with the remaining sisters.
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See About My Reviews and Review FAQ for full star rating explanations and review guidelines. This review may also appear on my social media channels and selected book platforms. All links were correct at the time of publication. Disclosure: I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley, thanks to Headline Review. This review reflects my own reading experience. This review is original content. Please credit and link back if you wish to quote.
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