Originally from New York City, Hillary was a voracious reader as a child and dreamed of becoming a writer. Raising a family took time away from writing. Now, her two grown daughters now live in Brooklyn. And, after 12 years of widowhood, Hillary recently became engaged which, she says, proves that happy endings don’t only happen in books. The Garment Maker’s Daughter was inspired by stories she heard while growing up about life on the Lower East Side of New York City during the first half of the twentieth century.