Winter Sisters by Robin Oliveira, a portrait of female courage in 1870s Albany, New York

Emma and Claire O’Donnell, ages ten and seven, mysteriously vanish after a blizzard in 1879 Albany, New York—the same storm that kills their parents. Dr. Mary Stipp, the passionate, determined heroine from Oliveira’s best-selling My Name Is Mary Sutter (2010), is close to the O’Donnell family, and she and her physician husband, William, continue searching for the girls after the police give up.

Newly returned from Paris, Mary’s musician niece, Elizabeth, distressed over the disappearance, and for private reasons, befriends Jakob Van der Veer, the local lumber king’s son. The discovery of the sisters’ fate then shocks the city, with newspapers stirring up interest and false rumors.

This historical thriller involves a sensitive subject, but Oliveira is as gently direct with her traumatized characters as Mary is with her patients. The story shines in depicting Albany’s diverse geography and society, and the era’s antifemale bias feels downright infuriating.

Some aspects of the mystery seem rather obvious, but the courtroom scenes are dramatically unpredictable. The individual stories build to create a multifaceted and affecting portrait of courage. 

This review was submitted for Booklist's January issue, and the novel will be published by Viking in the US on February 27th  It should work fine as a standalone novel for those who haven't read My Name Is Mary Sutter, which I'd reviewed seven years ago -- and unlike the first book, which follows the title character as she pursues her dreams of becoming a surgeon during the US Civil War, this one has definite thriller elements. Both are recommended. [Find Winter Sisters on Goodreads]