Robin Oliveira Books In Order

Publication Order of Mary Sutter Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Anthologies

Robin Oliveira is a reputed American writer and a former nurse and literary editor. She is popular for writing historical fiction, Civil War, adult fiction, and mystery novels. The most popular book penned by author Oliveira is the 2010 bestselling novel called My Name is Mary Sutter. She followed it up with two more novels, which are also widely successful. Now, she enjoys being one of the most successful and well-known authors of the present time. Author Oliveira was born as Robin Frazier Oliveira in 1954 in Albany, New York. She was brought up in Loudonville, New York, and completed her schooling from Shaker High School. Oliveira obtained her BA degree in the Russian language from Montana University in 1976. After this, Oliveira continued her studies in Russian Literature by joining the Pushkin House Institute in Moscow. Shortly after passing out from the institute, Oliveira realized that this course is not going to help her find a viable career and started pursuing a course in nursing. Oliveira found a job as a registered nurse in Seattle and started earning her living. She specialized in bone marrow transplant and critical care.

Oliveira continued with her job as a nurse until her children were born. She took a break from work and stayed at home to care for her children. She had hoped to return to nursing once her children grew old enough to go to school. However, as soon as her youngest child joined kindergarten, Oliveira decided to try her hand at writing a novel instead of continuing with her nursing job. With the hope of finding a new career path, she joined the Vermont College of Fine Arts and earned a master’s degree in Fine Arts in Writing in 2006. Later, Oliveira joined Narrative Magazine to work as an assistant editor. Between 2007 and 2011, she was employed at Upstreet, a yearly literary magazine, as a fiction editor. She started working on her debut novel in 2002 and was able to publish it in 2010. This book revolves around the life of a midwife in Albany, who tries to become a surgeon at the time of Civil War.

Oliveira has admitted to the fact that her writing was not good in the beginning. Even her writing mentor doubted that she could succeed as a writer. So, she decided to rewrite her first novel and make corrections wherever necessary, which took several years. During this period, Oliveira traveled to Washington DC and visited the Library of Congress and National Archives for carrying out extensive research. While the novel was still in the process of being edited, it became the winner of James Jones First Book Award in 2007. At that time, the novel had the working title of The Last Beautiful Day. Finally, the Viking Press released the book in 2010 in the US and the Penguin Books released it a year later in the U.K. The book received a wide-scale appreciation from critics all over the world. It was reviewed on a large scale and most of the reviewers commented on the excellent characterization of the determined heroine and the detailed research of the story.

The novel received an honorable mention for the Langum Prize in 2010 and emerged as the winner of the Michael Shaara Award in 2011. Currently, the novel is available in seven different languages. Oliveira’s second novel, I Always Loved You, is based on the lives of several Impressionist artists during the late 19th-century in Paris. It particularly describes the lives of Mary Cassatt and Edgar Degas. In writing this novel also, Oliveira carried out meticulous research. A highlight of her research work is being granted the permission to visit the basement of Paris’ Musee d-Orsay and view the rare artifacts from the studio of Edgar Degas. Currently, Oliveira resides on the outskirt of Seattle. Her loving and supportive family is comprised of her husband named Andrew and children Miles and Noelle.

The debut book penned by author Robin Oliveira is entitled ‘My Name is Mary Sutter’. It was released by the Viking publication in 2010. The book is set at the time of the American Civil War and revolves around the life of the central character named Mary Sutter. Initially, Mary Sutter is introduced as a young midwife from Albany. She wishes to become a surgeon and tries desperately to achieve this dream. After a recent heartbreak, Mary Sutter runs away to Washington, DC. There, she helps to tend the people injured in the Civil War. Mary works under the guidance of a couple of dedicated surgeons. They both help her in understanding the tricks of the trade and both of them fall unwittingly for her beauty. Mary Sutter’s mother pleads her repeatedly to come back home and assist in the difficulty in birth of the baby of her twin sister. But, she keeps fighting all the odds and continues to pursue her medical career. This novel is rich with details of historical events and also contains cameo appearances by Dorothea Dix, Abraham Lincoln, and several others as well. It went on to be recognized as a great Civil War novel.

The second book of Oliveira’s career is entitled ‘I Always Loved You’. It was published in 2014 by Viking. This novel showcases the great romance of Edgar Degas and Mary Cassatt. The book opens by mentioning that Mary Cassatt moves to Paris following the Civil War to become an artist. She knew that her path is not going to be an easy one and starts working with great determination to fulfill her dream. But, after working for over a decade, her submitted work gets rejected from Paris Salon. This wavers her fierce determination. When her father comes to know about her sad state in the foreign land, he begs her to return to her home in Philadelphia and get married to a suitable man before it’s too late. Mary Cassatt’s determination also begins to diminish when she learns about the serious illness of her sister named Lydia. And just when she begins to doubt her kills, Mary is introduced to Edgar Degas by one of her friends. This meeting goes on to change her life forever. Several years later, Mary comes to know that Edgar Degas had begged her friend for arranging the meeting and introducing him to her. The meeting not only turns out to be a miracle, but also starts the one of the most defining phases of Mary Cassatt’s life and a tempestuous relationship with the well-known artist Edgar Degas.