Winter Sisters: A Novel

Winter Sisters by Robin Oliveira is the second book in the Mary Sutter series. In Albany, New York in March of 1879 the O’Donnell family heads out. David to the lumber district, Bonnie to her millinery shop and the girls (Claire and Emma) to the grammar school. That afternoon a horrible blizzard strikes the area. After the storm, David and Bonnie are both found dead. Claire and Emma were released from school after the storm, but they never made it home. Dr. Mary Sutter and her husband, William search for the girls, but they are unable to locate them. Mary routinely visits the police station, but Captain Arthur Mantel urges her to give up her quest. If the girls have not been found by now, they are presumed dead. Mary is not about to give up that easily. What happened to the O’Donnell girls? While the Winter Sisters is the second book in the series, it can be read alone. My Name is Mary Sutter is summarized early in the Winter Sisters along with the history (backstory) of each main character. I like that the main character is a female doctor (such a rarity in that time period). I found the pace to be lethargic which can be attributed to the abundant details and the authors formal (and descriptive) writing style. The author’s descriptions help readers visualize the scenes. However, she needs to find a balance between not enough and too much. I was amazed to find that the age of consent (for relations) for “women” was ten in New York (how sad and disturbing) in 1879. The author included some fascinating historical information into the story which helped capture the era. The attitude towards women by many men (but not all) was accurately portrayed. The mystery was simple and easily solved before the answers are revealed. Winter Sisters contains foul language as well as vivid descriptions of violence and child rape (described in graphic detail from a medical viewpoint by Dr. Sutter). I read Winter Sisters, but I could not get into the story (it failed to hold my attention). The ending wraps up all the storylines neatly and happily.

The story brings together 3 families, tied by blood and friendship and their long journey on the path to healing after the blizzard in April 1879, and the disappearance of two young sisters, Emma and Claire O’Donnell, ages 10 and 7. Mary Sutter-Stipps is a physician, having met her husband, an orthopedist, during the war. Her mother, and niece Elizabeth are in Paris, as Elizabeth is studying violin at the Conservatory there. Circumstances brought Mary and Bonnie O’Donnell together – the friendship has become a familial one, she delivered the girls Emma and Claire, and invested in Bonnie’s business. But that morning was different –if starting similarly. A light and unexpected snowfall turned brutal: whiteout conditions, people stranded at work and schools, and the expected deaths. While not being discovered amongst the dead, unlike their parents, Emma and Claire were still, missing. “Emma, take good care of your sister.” And she had. What follows is a tremendous journey of hopelessness and hope: the girls were held against their will, Emma never forgetting her desire to leave, taking on the abuse with little to no complaint – she feared Claire would be abused and hurt if she didn’t. When the snow melt started to threaten the city, the one holding and caring for the girls came back to secure them, Emma took a chance and the two ran off. Discovered by a policeman and returned to the Sutter-Stips home, the real story begins to take form as we understand the depth of Emma’s injuries, the measured attempts of Mary and the others to understand the events of their disappearance and capture, and most of all, to discover just who had taken and used them so poorly. Oliveira takes multiple story threads: the refusal of Elizabeth on her return from Paris to play her violin again, the overbearing mill owner, the incompetent and corrupt police, the mill owner’s son with a newly minted law degree from Harvard and a desire to practice criminal defense, the unwillingness of Mary Sutter to leave prostitutes, without access to basic medical care, without treatment and the increasingly scatological news stories that pack innuendo and shocking allegations in single sentences. Above it all – there is both the concern for Emma and Claire and their recovery after being held for 6 weeks, and the upcoming spectre of a trial – one that will put the foreman of the lumberyard on trial for kidnapping and rape. Rape being a particularly difficult charge to prove at the best of times, but with Emma, at 10, being over the age of consent, makes the questions, the prosecution and defense approach and strategies particularly horrific. Throughout it all, Oliveira never loses the sense of the girls as people desperately in need of time to heal and recover their trust. From facing impossible odds, to taking responsibility for her sister’s welfare, to using her limited life-experience to explain what happened, Emma is as solid as a sandcastle at the beach: appearing solid yet crumbling with small shocks and starts. It is only time, patience and the quiet solidity of Mary and William that give her the ability to start to feel safe and secure. One day, I’m going to write a violin concerto and call it Number One Hundred Thirteen, and Elizabeth will play it” One hundred twelve days since they were taken, that day (113) marked the first day she wasn’t scared when she awoke. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via Edelweis for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.