About Jane

A terrifying diagnosis, a genetic defect, and a lifelong fascination with the history of medicine led Jane Rubin to put pen to paper. After an ovarian cancer diagnosis in 2009, Jane, then a healthcare executive, poured her energy into raising research dollars through the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA) while learning more about her familial roots. Her research led her to her great-grandmother, Mathilda (Tillie), who arrived in New York City in 1866, at the age of sixteen, married a man twelve years her senior, and later died of ‘a woman’s disease.’ Then the trail ran cold. With limited facts, Jane was determined to give Mathilda a fictional life of her own, imagining her rags to riches life, fight with terminal disease, and the circumstances surrounding her death. Threadbare is a tribute to her.

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Ms. Rubin’s research of the history of New York City, its ultra-conservative reproductive laws, and the state of medicine during that era has culminated in a suspenseful, fast-paced, historical fiction series. Her engaging characters confront the shifting role of midwives, the dangers of pregnancy, the infamous Blackwell’s Workhouse, and the perilous road to financial success. In the Hands of Women (Level Best Books) is Ms. Rubin’s debut novel. Her previous publications include her essay memoir, Almost a Princess, My Life as a Two Time Cancer Survivor (Next Generation Indie Book - Finalist), and numerous essays in trade journals.

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Ms. Rubin, a graduate of University of Michigan (BS,MS) and Washington University (MBA), retired from a 30-year career as a health care executive to begin writing full-time. She lives with her husband, David, an attorney, in Northern New Jersey. Between them, they have five adult children and seven grandchildren.