Mary Sutter is a midwife in Albany, New York, with a talent for medicine and no patience for being told she cannot use it. Robin Oliveira introduced her in My Name Is Mary Sutter (2010), set during the American Civil War, and brought her back in Winter Sisters (2018), set fifteen years later.
In the first novel, Mary leaves Albany for Washington, D.C., determined to work as a surgeon despite being refused by every doctor and hospital she approaches. She tends to wounded soldiers and fights her way into operating rooms that are closed to women. Oliveira, a former critical care nurse, wrote the medical scenes from experience.
By the time of Winter Sisters, Mary is Dr. Sutter, a practicing surgeon in 1879 Albany. A catastrophic blizzard hits the city, and two young girls, newly orphaned, vanish. Mary takes on the case and discovers that the people responsible are among the city’s most protected.
Reading Order
See the complete Mary Sutter reading order for all books in the series.