Launch: Jane Loeb Rubin’s Threadbare

INTERVIEW BY ELLEN IRWIN

Jane Loeb Rubin has had a longstanding fascination with the history of medicine and her ancestral roots. After surviving both breast and ovarian cancers and working as a healthcare professional for thirty-three years, Jane began putting pen to paper, giving voice to the historical realities faced by women of the past and showcasing the indomitable spirit of women who fought for modern equity. Woven into Threadbare, a prequel to her debut novel In the Hands of Women, is the story of her great-grandmother Mathilda, who arrived in New York City in 1866 and died of a “women’s disease.” The opening of her latest, as yet unpublished novel Over There has been shortlisted in the HNS UK 2024 First Chapters Competition. Jane lives with her husband, David, an attorney, in Northern New Jersey. Between them, they have five adult children and seven grandchildren.

How would you describe your novel and its themes in a few sentences?

Threadbare is a historical novel that embodies the immigrant experience of one bright, young woman who became, like thousands of others, the front line of the Suffragette Movement. Through their drive for education, enterprise, and a voice in family planning, these women became the unbending force behind achieving women’s rights and laid the foundation for the freedoms we enjoy today.

Threadbare is a prequel to your debut novel, In the Hands of Women. What made you decide to write a prequel?

I wrote the first draft of Threadbare two years before writing In the Hands of Women. I had retired from a lengthy career in hospital administration and was drafting an annual appeal for the Mathilda Fund, a fund in Tillie’s name, to support ovarian cancer research at the OCRF. I developed a curiosity about her life, a life that was faceless and forgotten. But the manuscript was not ‘ready,’ and I put it aside. Immediately, In the Hands of Women poured out of my head onto the page in less than a year. When it was picked up as a two-book deal, I returned to Threadbare armed with more writing experience and revised it as a prequel.

The “innocent but tenacious” protagonist of Threadbare, Tillie, was inspired by your own great-grandmother, Mathilda. What was it about Mathilda that moved you to write a story honoring her? 

Between historical archives and family, I discovered very few facts about Tillie’s life. In 1866, at age one, she emigrated with her parents from Hamburg, Germany, through Castle Island in New York City. At sixteen, she married Abraham, who was twelve years her senior, and, according to the 1900 census report, sold ‘woolens.’ Over the years, family folklore added that Tillie and her parents originally lived on a farm in Harlem, and her first offspring were twins. The female twin died during infancy. The surviving twin was my grandfather, Julian. Finally, it was widely known that Tillie died of a “women’s disease” before my father was born in 1923. My BRCA1 genetic defect led to Tillie, and I was left imagining her life and fight with cancer. For the longest time, I had an overwhelming need to honor Tillie and the women she represents who died of cancer at a young age and were lost in history.

How have your experiences as a healthcare executive, a two-time cancer survivor, and a single mother influenced your telling of this story?

I have been the most comfortable drawing writing material from my life. My college career began in the 1970s, just as the Women’s Rights Movement was crystallizing. Every step of my career in health care was colored by the issues of equal opportunity and equal pay. I could fill a book with examples of the struggles, condescending attitudes, and sacrifices I encountered working to achieve an equal voice. As a single parent, I was forced to face those challenges alone, knowing a careless step could jeopardize not only me but my three children. But all of that paled in comparison to surviving and living day to day with a deadly disease. Even as a healthcare administrator, my knowledge of the fear and bravery of patients was superficial until I became ill and wore a patient’s gown. Not only did it jar me into treasuring the gift of life, but now, I have a more awe-filled appreciation of human biology and our instinct to ‘live.’

Were there any interesting bits of information gleaned from your research on medical history that made a cameo in Threadbare?

Ironically, the first drafts of both Threadbare and In the Hands of Women were completed before COVID-19 and the overturning of Roe v Wade, two seminal events that made both novels historically relevant. In Threadbare, the diseases in the tenements of the Lower East Side were rampant and deadly, particularly tuberculosis. Before the discovery of antibiotics in the 1920s, the average life span was shy of 50. To make matters worse for women, the reproductive laws were so restrictive that women faced uncontrolled family size coupled with high infant and maternal mortality. Infant deaths, such as Sarah’s, were both horrific and commonplace.

What first drew you towards writing historical fiction?

History informs us and helps navigate the present. If we choose to learn through reading, we evolve and can choose to avoid repetition of mistakes. Historical fiction is my favorite genre.

What was the most significant challenge you had to overcome in your journey toward publication of this novel, and how did you overcome it?

Confidence. Beginning the process later in life set me behind most writers. I had to remind myself that we only live once and should follow our passions.

What writing advice do you have to share with other aspiring historical writers?

Write, Research, Revise, Repeat! Don’t worry about publishing until you have your story completed. There’s no room for procrastination!

What is the last great book you read?

Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. It is the best example of a superb first-person point of view I’ve read in ages. Brava to Ms. Kingsolver!