Helpful Score: 3
It takes me a while to come upon the central theme of Winter Sisters by Robin Oliveira because this book is the not the mystery you may assume from the fact that it begins with a disappearance. I have a definite "a-ha" moment. What draws the entire book together is the women - young and old â who are all made to suffer by a society in which women do not have the same position or rights as men. The plot centers around the disappearance of two young girls in a time and place when the age of consent by law was 10! (Note that the subject matter of the book is disturbing!) However, the focal point of the book is not a mystery; it is the bigger themes of rights and equality in a story that draws me in and keeps me reading until the very last page.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2018/06/winter-sisters.html
Reviewed for NetGalley.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2018/06/winter-sisters.html
Reviewed for NetGalley.
Helpful Score: 1
A terrible blizzard hits Albany, NY, in 1879. Emma and Claire, sisters, seven and ten years of age are stranded at school. Three days later children are sent home trudging through four feet of snow. Four hundred people died including their parents, Bonnie and David O'Donnell.
While there is no trace of the girls, Drs. Mary and William Still, friends of the family, search for them. What happens to the sisters emerges as the book progresses. It's a tragic story that unfolds as the search goes on.
The book follows My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira which gives an indepth view of who she is. I love this heroine and rated that book five stars. Some of my best reads feature strong women characters. vMary Sutter is one, my kind of woman! She struggles with society's beliefs about the place of women. She reaches beyond the accepted role of women as midwives to become a surgeon.
While there is no trace of the girls, Drs. Mary and William Still, friends of the family, search for them. What happens to the sisters emerges as the book progresses. It's a tragic story that unfolds as the search goes on.
The book follows My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira which gives an indepth view of who she is. I love this heroine and rated that book five stars. Some of my best reads feature strong women characters. vMary Sutter is one, my kind of woman! She struggles with society's beliefs about the place of women. She reaches beyond the accepted role of women as midwives to become a surgeon.
Helpful Score: 1
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 âwomenâ 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.
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 âwomenâ 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.
Story of Dr. Mary Sutter and her family during the time of a NY blizzard. The daughters of friends are lost during the snowstorm, and 'rescued' by predators. How this happened, and who is behind it, is resolved in a courtroom drama.
