The Glittering Court
young adult historical fantasy
Series · historical fantasy
Daughters of La Lune
The Daughters of La Lune series by M.J. Rose has 3 books and is best read in publication order, starting with The Witch of Painted Sorrows (2015).
- Books
- 3 books
- First published
- 2015
- Status
- deceased
- Last checked
Start here: The Witch of Painted Sorrows (2015) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
The Witch of Painted Sorrows
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Witch of Painted Sorrows - Book 2:
The Secret Language of Stones
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Secret Language of Stones - Book 3:
The Library of Light and Shadow
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Library of Light and Shadow
About the Daughters of La Lune series
The women of the La Lune bloodline each carry an inherited gift and an inherited curse: supernatural talent passed down from a legendary sixteenth-century courtesan and witch, alongside a pull toward destructive passion that has shadowed every generation since. M.J. Rose's Daughters of La Lune trilogy follows three of these women across Belle Époque and wartime Paris. The Witch of Painted Sorrows (2015) opens with Sandrine, who flees a failed marriage into 1890s Paris only to find herself possessed by La Lune's own spirit and an escalating, dangerous magic. The Secret Language of Stones (2016) jumps to Sandrine's daughter Opaline during the First World War, whose gift for lithomancy -- reading the energy held in gemstones -- draws her into the collapse of the Romanov dynasty. The Library of Light and Shadow (2017) follows a third La Lune descendant, Delphine, a portrait artist in 1920s Paris whose supernatural "shadow portraits" reveal secrets her sitters never meant to share.
Each novel can stand on its own as a self-contained historical romance with fantasy elements, but together they trace the La Lune inheritance across three generations of French history, blending real events -- the fall of the Romanovs, the Lost Generation's 1920s Paris -- with Rose's invented magic system of scent, stone and shadow that also runs through her Reincarnationist novels.
Frequently asked questions
How many books are in the Daughters of La Lune trilogy?
Three: The Witch of Painted Sorrows (2015), The Secret Language of Stones (2016) and The Library of Light and Shadow (2017).
Are the Daughters of La Lune books connected by the same main character?
No -- each follows a different woman from the same magical bloodline across three generations: Sandrine in the 1890s, her daughter Opaline during World War I, and a later descendant, Delphine, in the 1920s.
Do I need to read the Daughters of La Lune trilogy in order?
Each novel is self-contained, but reading in publication order follows the La Lune family chronologically across the generations and gives the fullest sense of the inherited magic connecting all three women.
Is the Daughters of La Lune trilogy historical fiction or fantasy?
Both -- it blends real historical settings and events (Belle Époque Paris, the fall of the Romanovs, 1920s Paris) with an invented supernatural inheritance passed through the women of the La Lune family.
Is Daughters of La Lune connected to M.J. Rose's Reincarnationist novels?
Not directly in plot, though both series share Rose's recurring interest in scent, memory and inherited supernatural gifts as engines of mystery.
If you like the Daughters of La Lune series
Reading order last verified .