Robin Oliveira's new novel is Winter Sisters. From her Q&A with Deborah Kalb:Q: Why did you decide to write a second novel about your character Mary Sutter?Learn more about the book and author at Robin Oliveira's website.
A: Actually, I didn’t make a concrete decision to write a second novel about Mary; it came about somewhat organically.
I was at the beginning of writing an entirely different book about an American woman who marries a Russian in the early 20th century, when, in the process of researching that book, I discovered that in 1879, in New York State, the age of consent was 10 years old.
That changed everything. I abandoned the earlier story and returned to historic Albany, N.Y., as the setting for the book.
Early on, when I knew that a doctor’s services would be called for, I thought Mary might make a cameo appearance. But the issues explored in the novel turned out to be grave, and I knew that if Mary got wind of them, she...[read on]
The Page 69 Test: My Name Is Mary Sutter.
--Marshal Zeringue