Meet author Jane Loeb Rubin, author of Mayhem in the Mountains on Sunday, July 26th at 6:30pm!
"I run like the wind to stay ahead of my disease - living, family, writing - my refuge.”
A cancer diagnosis unveiling a genetic defect, together with a lifelong fascination with the history of medicine, propelled Jane Rubin to put pen to paper. In 2009, then a healthcare executive, Jane poured her energy into raising research dollars for ovarian cancer, the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (OCRA), while learning more about her familial roots. Her research led her to Mathilda (Tillie), her great-grandmother, who arrived in New York City in 1866 as a baby, lived on a Harlem farm, at sixteen, married a man twelve years her senior, and later died of “a woman’s disease.” Then, the trail ran cold. With limited facts, she was determined to give Tillie an exciting fictional life of her own. Jane was left imagining Tillie’s life, her fight with terminal disease, and the circumstances surrounding her death.
Her research into New York City’s history, restrictive reproductive laws, and period medicine led to her award-winning historical trilogy. Across the series, engaging characters face shifting roles of midwives, pregnancy risks, the infamous Blackwell’s Workhouse, and the challenge of achieving financial security. The timeline opens with In the Hands of Women (5/23 Level Best Books) and its prequel, Threadbare (5/24 Level Best Books), both acclaimed by historical fiction fans. Over There (6/25 Level Best Books), the third installment, moves to 1917 as medically trained members of the Isaacson family travel to France during World War I. It was Shortlisted by the Historical Novel Society’s 2024 First Chapters Competition and is a Finalist for the Chanticleer Hemingway Award for Twentieth Century Wartime Fiction.
Mayhem in the Mountains (6/26 Level Best Books), the fourth book in the series, follows the survivors to the Catskills in the summer of 1924, when bootleggers, gangsters, and the KKK disrupt the peaceful ambiance of the region.
Jane’s other publications include an essay memoir, Almost a Princess, My Life as a Two-Time Cancer Survivor (2009 Next Generation - Finalist), and multiple magazine articles. She writes a monthly blog, Musings, reflecting on her post-healthcare career experiences and writing journey.
Ms. Rubin, a University of Michigan (BS, MS) and Washington University (MBA) graduate, retired after 30 years as a healthcare executive to write full-time. She lives in Northern New Jersey with her husband, David, an attorney. Together, they have five adult children and seven grandchildren.
Mayhem in the Mountains
1924 in the Catskills sizzled with chaos. The region’s turbulent history during that era could easily have erased any trace of the Borscht Belt’s grand hotels. Prohibition fueled bootleggers and whiskey stills—Dutch Schultz ran an underground distillery in nearby Ulster County. Meanwhile, the Ku Klux Klan stormed north after WWI, targeting new immigrants they viewed as threats to the American way of life. Amid the turmoil, the Isaacson family stood their ground, fiercely defending their land, livelihoods, and each other.