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Mary Sutter #1
My Name Is Mary Sutter
My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira is an epic historical novel about a brilliant young woman's struggle to become a doctor during the American Civil War.Mary Sutter, a brilliant young midwife, dreams of proving herself as capable as any man. But medical schools refuse to teach women. So when her heart is broken, she heads to Washington DC to tend the Civil War wounded. Assisted and encouraged by two surgeons, who both fall for her, and ignoring requests to return home to help her twin sister give birth, Mary pursues her dream of becoming a surgeon and saving lives - no matter the cost to herself or those she loves and no matter the harrowing conditions she has yet to face.A brilliant portrait of an unforgettable heroine and a powerful evocation of trauma in the aftermath of battle, My Name is Mary Sutter is an utterly original story of one woman proving she is a match for any man.'[Mary Sutter's] pluck will win you over within pages. A debut as confident as its heroine, it's a sweeping love story' Daily Mail'This heroine is truly heroic' The Times'Mary Sutter is a satisfyingly complex character; a tempestuous mixture of touching vulnerability and courageous single-mindedness' Marie ClaireRobin Oliveira received an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and was awarded the James Jones First Novel Fellowship for a work-in-progress for My Name is Mary Sutter . She lives in Seattle, Washington.
364 pages, Paperback
First published May 13, 2010
1354 people are currently reading
24889 people want to read
About the author
Robin Oliveira
5 books451 followersRobin Oliveira grew up just outside Albany, New York in Loudonville. She holds a B.A. in Russian, and studied at the Pushkin Language Institute in Moscow, Russia. She is also a Registered Nurse, specializing in Critical Care and Bone Marrow Transplant. She received an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and is the fiction editor for the literary magazine upstreet and a former assistant editor at Narrative Magazine. She was awarded the James Jones First Novel Fellowship in 2007 for her then novel-in-progress, THE LAST BEAUTIFUL DAY, an excerpt of which appeared in the 2008 issue of Provincetown Arts. She lives in Seattle, Washington with her family."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 3,173 reviews
April 25, 2018
Review soon --short one I hope lol LOVED IT! Update:
Mary Sutter is determined and tenacious to become more than just a midwife. She wants to learn- she’s sincerely fascinated with medicine...details among details.
The obstacles for a woman to be accepted into medical school - to become a doctor - let alone a surgeon- were tenfolds more than today.
WE ALREADY KNEW THAT....
‘But’.....
What I didn’t know .....is that debut author: Robin Oliveira, would transport me back
to a period of history and give me deep experience of The Civil War and the ‘many’ women who served.
I also visited Google to read more about the Crimean War. I wanted to understand more “why it was so important.”
The storytelling was wonderful....getting a tangible experience of the times of war in the 1860’s...
the courageous women....the many nurses tending to the massive amounts of wounded soldiers.
The lack of medical knowledge was scary. And the sanitation was just as frightening. The medical supplies were not even close to being enough.
War is tragic ...but this was a beautifully written historical novel
with a remarkable inspiring heroine.....
including real historical characters: Lincoln, Dorathea Dix, Hays, and McClellan.....
There are battles & blood, childbirth, love, and loss.....
family conflicts ...and tragedies from pain and suffering.
Society didn’t valued the women who wanted to help, and had more knowledge than some of the doctors, who could’ve helped in surgery. Instead they were turned away.... and patients died.
Engaging gut wrenching novel with one heck of a memorable Mary Sutter.
Mary Sutter is determined and tenacious to become more than just a midwife. She wants to learn- she’s sincerely fascinated with medicine...details among details.
The obstacles for a woman to be accepted into medical school - to become a doctor - let alone a surgeon- were tenfolds more than today.
WE ALREADY KNEW THAT....
‘But’.....
What I didn’t know .....is that debut author: Robin Oliveira, would transport me back
to a period of history and give me deep experience of The Civil War and the ‘many’ women who served.
I also visited Google to read more about the Crimean War. I wanted to understand more “why it was so important.”
The storytelling was wonderful....getting a tangible experience of the times of war in the 1860’s...
the courageous women....the many nurses tending to the massive amounts of wounded soldiers.
The lack of medical knowledge was scary. And the sanitation was just as frightening. The medical supplies were not even close to being enough.
War is tragic ...but this was a beautifully written historical novel
with a remarkable inspiring heroine.....
including real historical characters: Lincoln, Dorathea Dix, Hays, and McClellan.....
There are battles & blood, childbirth, love, and loss.....
family conflicts ...and tragedies from pain and suffering.
Society didn’t valued the women who wanted to help, and had more knowledge than some of the doctors, who could’ve helped in surgery. Instead they were turned away.... and patients died.
Engaging gut wrenching novel with one heck of a memorable Mary Sutter.
November 25, 2020
***Review written in 2013, one of my all time favorites***
This remarkable book is the story of one young woman's desire to be a doctor in the late 1800's and early 1900. She and her mother are midwives, well renowned in the Albany NY area. Her father was a great railroad entrepreneur and so they were very well off. They were a close family, a twin sister Jenny and a brother Christian rounded out the family. At the outset of the novel Mary has been trying and trying to no avail to enter medical school or be interned with a doctor, everyone has refused her.
When the civil war begins and there is madness when there has been no real plan as to what to do with the injured, with the exception of a few hospitals in the city. Mary sees her chance. She forces herself entrance into the worse hospital, the Union Hotel, the surgeon residing there is William Stipp. She knows of him. At first he will not allow her to help but when he is deluged with soldiers needing amputations (he himself has never performed one), Mary helps, holding the boy's leg while reading from the guide to surgery. More and more he comes to depend on her. She endures horrible conditions, death, filth and disease.
At any rate as the story continues there is also great character development and love interests, human interest, all in the background of the ever increasing trials of the Federal Army. We meet Lincoln, Hayes, officers, etc with our glimpse into history. The description of Washington city is especially insightful.
I loved this book as much for the determination of main character as for all of the other elements of the book.
**I would highly recommend this to lovers of historical fiction.
This remarkable book is the story of one young woman's desire to be a doctor in the late 1800's and early 1900. She and her mother are midwives, well renowned in the Albany NY area. Her father was a great railroad entrepreneur and so they were very well off. They were a close family, a twin sister Jenny and a brother Christian rounded out the family. At the outset of the novel Mary has been trying and trying to no avail to enter medical school or be interned with a doctor, everyone has refused her.
When the civil war begins and there is madness when there has been no real plan as to what to do with the injured, with the exception of a few hospitals in the city. Mary sees her chance. She forces herself entrance into the worse hospital, the Union Hotel, the surgeon residing there is William Stipp. She knows of him. At first he will not allow her to help but when he is deluged with soldiers needing amputations (he himself has never performed one), Mary helps, holding the boy's leg while reading from the guide to surgery. More and more he comes to depend on her. She endures horrible conditions, death, filth and disease.
At any rate as the story continues there is also great character development and love interests, human interest, all in the background of the ever increasing trials of the Federal Army. We meet Lincoln, Hayes, officers, etc with our glimpse into history. The description of Washington city is especially insightful.
I loved this book as much for the determination of main character as for all of the other elements of the book.
**I would highly recommend this to lovers of historical fiction.
July 13, 2023
The book is told from a Northern, mostly female perspective. According to Robin, the book centers about three points:
1. Medicine – particularly the start of nursing in America
2. Unpreparedness – how the North was caught off guard by the realities of war
3. Drama – a family saga with at least three love triangles
It is worth reading if you like books set in this era. Robin did her research. And you will learn a fair amount about medicine, surgery, and the pioneering nurses of that time. There are some beautiful passages that compare childbirth with war. The writing is atmospheric. It may even be overburdened with descriptions. Emotions are high and push the book to the edge of sentimentality. Then again, that’s justified because you’d expect heightened feelings during wartime. And let the squeamish be warned: there is a gruesome childbirth, as well as several leg amputations depicted in detail.
I like how Robin treated the medicine of the era. It was dismal and she portrays it as such. She resists the temptation to have a precocious character discover germs before their time. Her surgeons are undertrained. They never figure out why some patients die and others make it. Her one ray of hope is a surgeon bent on taking samples to research under a microscope.
My main gripe is that I never fully connected to any of the characters. I can see how Robin wants me to react to them. Yet their actions seem forced at times.
In person, Robin is soft-spoken and almost ethereal. She was dusting her dining room one day when she had a vision of a woman in period dress, who is hunched over a microscope and surrounded by books. Hello, Mary! She spoke in great length about the research trip she took to Washington D.C. She had an entertaining anecdote about an amputated leg preserved in brine at one museum; the leg belonged to a governor, who used to visit the leg because he missed it so dearly. Hearing her speak with such care about the first-hand documents she held and the places she visited gives the book enormous credibility. And Robin herself is a certified nurse, which lends more authority.
I’ll end with this little “routine” my husband and I do at these events. He tells the author that I want to be a writer. I glare at him for several seconds before I clarify that I am reader who doesn’t write. In her infinite optimism and sweetness, Robin wrote this in my book: “For Cassy, who will write a book one day. Warmly, Robin”
1. Medicine – particularly the start of nursing in America
2. Unpreparedness – how the North was caught off guard by the realities of war
3. Drama – a family saga with at least three love triangles
It is worth reading if you like books set in this era. Robin did her research. And you will learn a fair amount about medicine, surgery, and the pioneering nurses of that time. There are some beautiful passages that compare childbirth with war. The writing is atmospheric. It may even be overburdened with descriptions. Emotions are high and push the book to the edge of sentimentality. Then again, that’s justified because you’d expect heightened feelings during wartime. And let the squeamish be warned: there is a gruesome childbirth, as well as several leg amputations depicted in detail.
I like how Robin treated the medicine of the era. It was dismal and she portrays it as such. She resists the temptation to have a precocious character discover germs before their time. Her surgeons are undertrained. They never figure out why some patients die and others make it. Her one ray of hope is a surgeon bent on taking samples to research under a microscope.
My main gripe is that I never fully connected to any of the characters. I can see how Robin wants me to react to them. Yet their actions seem forced at times.
In person, Robin is soft-spoken and almost ethereal. She was dusting her dining room one day when she had a vision of a woman in period dress, who is hunched over a microscope and surrounded by books. Hello, Mary! She spoke in great length about the research trip she took to Washington D.C. She had an entertaining anecdote about an amputated leg preserved in brine at one museum; the leg belonged to a governor, who used to visit the leg because he missed it so dearly. Hearing her speak with such care about the first-hand documents she held and the places she visited gives the book enormous credibility. And Robin herself is a certified nurse, which lends more authority.
I’ll end with this little “routine” my husband and I do at these events. He tells the author that I want to be a writer. I glare at him for several seconds before I clarify that I am reader who doesn’t write. In her infinite optimism and sweetness, Robin wrote this in my book: “For Cassy, who will write a book one day. Warmly, Robin”
August 19, 2020
This story is set during the first two years of the Civil War (1861-1862). The historical details of the Civil War are enriched by the facts of how inadequate medicine was at the time.
Mary Sutter, 21, is a midwife in Albany, NY. She petitions to be admitted to the Albany Medical College, but is rejected, only because she is a woman. She asks a local surgeon, James Blevens, to train her as she dreams of being a surgeon, but response is the same. She can’t be a surgeon as a woman.
In Washington City, Dorothea Dix convinces President Lincoln to hire women as nurses for the Union Army.
Mary reads an ad in newspaper about the need for female nurses.
She makes her way to Washington City and gets a position doing whatever is needed at the Union Hotel converted into a hospital. She is prepared to do whatever it takes to be a surgeon. But what she is not prepared for is to witness how inadequate surgery is. How barbaric it is.
The same thoughts cloud over surgeon William Stipp. Back in school they were “given manuals and instruments and nothing else. If the army had been smart, they would have sent for surgeons from England, all those doctors from the Crimean War who had already treated these injuries and would have known what to do.”
As the war progresses, it brings even darker clouds over how unprepared medically they are. “…I have no faith in these new arrivals (surgeons). Most haven’t seen a scalpel since medical school, if they ever saw one there.”
The devastation and shortages of everything make the summer of 1862 to be remembered as the Great Scramble, “the summer when it was impossible to keep track of anything.”
Despite the hardship, Mary persists with her dream.
The story vividly brings the dilemma of inadequate medical training, surgeons not well-trained to perform amputations. And the author skillfully sets this dilemma against the backdrop of the Civil War. The story overall is interesting and gives a picture of how far medicine has gone since then.
Mary Sutter, 21, is a midwife in Albany, NY. She petitions to be admitted to the Albany Medical College, but is rejected, only because she is a woman. She asks a local surgeon, James Blevens, to train her as she dreams of being a surgeon, but response is the same. She can’t be a surgeon as a woman.
In Washington City, Dorothea Dix convinces President Lincoln to hire women as nurses for the Union Army.
Mary reads an ad in newspaper about the need for female nurses.
She makes her way to Washington City and gets a position doing whatever is needed at the Union Hotel converted into a hospital. She is prepared to do whatever it takes to be a surgeon. But what she is not prepared for is to witness how inadequate surgery is. How barbaric it is.
The same thoughts cloud over surgeon William Stipp. Back in school they were “given manuals and instruments and nothing else. If the army had been smart, they would have sent for surgeons from England, all those doctors from the Crimean War who had already treated these injuries and would have known what to do.”
As the war progresses, it brings even darker clouds over how unprepared medically they are. “…I have no faith in these new arrivals (surgeons). Most haven’t seen a scalpel since medical school, if they ever saw one there.”
The devastation and shortages of everything make the summer of 1862 to be remembered as the Great Scramble, “the summer when it was impossible to keep track of anything.”
Despite the hardship, Mary persists with her dream.
The story vividly brings the dilemma of inadequate medical training, surgeons not well-trained to perform amputations. And the author skillfully sets this dilemma against the backdrop of the Civil War. The story overall is interesting and gives a picture of how far medicine has gone since then.
February 14, 2019
... a moving Civil War novel about a young midwife who dreams of becoming a surgeon, says the blurb. I was hesitant to read this novel. What else could be expected than the gritty, dark tale of a young woman who forced her way into the civil war in her desire to become a surgeon?
I needed to get the TBR-list reduced. It was time to face this particular psychological war of words. It took more than just courage and determination to get me hooked and made me stay. Devastating, raw, and brutal. The American Civil War spared no one (and in this case not the reader either). The suffering, as portrayed in so many other similar sagas was enhanced in this story. The heartbreak was inescapable.
If you haven't read any Civil War novels before, you might want to consider reading this one. The author used meticulous research to bring this part of American history alive and commemorate the thousands of men and women who braved the dire circumstances of the war to assist the soldiers. Famine, diseases, despair, devastation, severely limited knowledge and resources, weather conditions and death...they had to battle it all and make a difference while nothing was guaranteed to no one. However, for Mary Sutter, and many other women, it finally brought the liberty to become doctors and surgeons. And the ultimate victory was the abolishing of slavery.
I was delighted to notice Louisa May Alcott's name in the acknowledgments. Particularly her involvement in the Union Hotel Hospital. If you haven't read this remarkable author's novels, you should consider doing so. She was way ahead of her time - generations ahead, to be exact.
To be honest, I would have loved a non-fictional book about the detailed history in the book. It would have been a riveting read anyway. However, this novel is so atmospheric and well executed, that I actually wanted to continue and learn more about the Sutter family (Mary, her twin sister Jenny, their brother Christian, their mother Amelia, Dr. William Stipp, and all the other peripheral characters gracing the plot. The novel centers around the women characters, but for me personally, it was perhaps unintentionally also a tribute to all the men who made a difference in the history of America. They were all brave. They all sacrificed. They should all be remembered.
A brilliant book. I won't read the follow up though.
I needed to get the TBR-list reduced. It was time to face this particular psychological war of words. It took more than just courage and determination to get me hooked and made me stay. Devastating, raw, and brutal. The American Civil War spared no one (and in this case not the reader either). The suffering, as portrayed in so many other similar sagas was enhanced in this story. The heartbreak was inescapable.
If you haven't read any Civil War novels before, you might want to consider reading this one. The author used meticulous research to bring this part of American history alive and commemorate the thousands of men and women who braved the dire circumstances of the war to assist the soldiers. Famine, diseases, despair, devastation, severely limited knowledge and resources, weather conditions and death...they had to battle it all and make a difference while nothing was guaranteed to no one. However, for Mary Sutter, and many other women, it finally brought the liberty to become doctors and surgeons. And the ultimate victory was the abolishing of slavery.
I was delighted to notice Louisa May Alcott's name in the acknowledgments. Particularly her involvement in the Union Hotel Hospital. If you haven't read this remarkable author's novels, you should consider doing so. She was way ahead of her time - generations ahead, to be exact.
To be honest, I would have loved a non-fictional book about the detailed history in the book. It would have been a riveting read anyway. However, this novel is so atmospheric and well executed, that I actually wanted to continue and learn more about the Sutter family (Mary, her twin sister Jenny, their brother Christian, their mother Amelia, Dr. William Stipp, and all the other peripheral characters gracing the plot. The novel centers around the women characters, but for me personally, it was perhaps unintentionally also a tribute to all the men who made a difference in the history of America. They were all brave. They all sacrificed. They should all be remembered.
A brilliant book. I won't read the follow up though.
March 8, 2018
3.5 stars
I enjoyed this intriguing and informative Civil War novel centered around the strong-willed and stubborn character of Mary Sutter. Sutter is a midwife who dreams of becoming a surgeon, an unheard of occupation for a woman during that time. She is turned away by experienced surgeons who she wishes to shadow and learn from. Her strong determination refuses to accept being denied and drives her to travel into the battlefields to face and assist the injured and dying soldiers head-on.
I really liked the midwife and nursing aspects of this book. I found the war details shocking and fascinating – soldiers being led into battle without proper preparation, inadequate shelter and food for the thousands of soldiers who voluntarily enlisted, the amount of disease that spread among the soldiers from lack of knowledge on sanitization, etc.
While I enjoyed learning about this time, I found that the story became a little too political at times. I got lost in the American political details a few times which took away from my enjoyment.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel and look forward to starting Book #2.
I enjoyed this intriguing and informative Civil War novel centered around the strong-willed and stubborn character of Mary Sutter. Sutter is a midwife who dreams of becoming a surgeon, an unheard of occupation for a woman during that time. She is turned away by experienced surgeons who she wishes to shadow and learn from. Her strong determination refuses to accept being denied and drives her to travel into the battlefields to face and assist the injured and dying soldiers head-on.
I really liked the midwife and nursing aspects of this book. I found the war details shocking and fascinating – soldiers being led into battle without proper preparation, inadequate shelter and food for the thousands of soldiers who voluntarily enlisted, the amount of disease that spread among the soldiers from lack of knowledge on sanitization, etc.
While I enjoyed learning about this time, I found that the story became a little too political at times. I got lost in the American political details a few times which took away from my enjoyment.
Overall, I enjoyed this novel and look forward to starting Book #2.
June 27, 2010
This novel was truly wonderful. Mary Sutter, the strong heroine, is a woman to be both admired and pitied. She wants a life she can not have and when she does follow her dream it becomes the nightmare of the Civil War. Robin Olivera has done a remarkable job of writing that is able to capture your imagination. In fact many of the war scenes described are not for the faint of heart. Mary succeeds not only as a surgeon in the end, but also as a woman who finally finds the peace and the love of a gentle man. A five star novel in my opinion,quite the achievement for a first time author!
February 1, 2012
This is the type of book that I should have LOVED. Takes place in the Civil War era, which I used to obsessed with. Main character is a strong-willed woman who wants to be a doctor more than anything. Yep. Guess what?
This book sucks.
It is so incredibly slow. The war doesn't even start until halfway through the novel. We focus on 3.5 different main characters at random times and in random places. At one point the story veers away from Mary for several chapters, and you are left to wonder ... where did she go? Did she run away because the plot was so bad? Is she hiding from all the "letters to family/friends" inserted in random places? Did she get squicked out by the gross old doctor guy who wants to jump her bones in the middle of a battlefield?
I vote for all of the above.
I cannot tell a lie. There are some decent scenes. The scene at Antietam and the aftermath was, I thought, very moving. Okay. I have now touched on the one good scene in the book.
The pacing was terrible. As in, put to me to sleep (literally) terrible. The characters all felt flat and forced. (Also, why does Mary refer to her mother by her first name? Isn't that totally 21st century?) The love interest made me gag. Even the hospital scenes aren't particularly well done. And here's the saddest thing: Mary is not a likeable character. She's a total brat ("strong willed" my butt. How about a self-centered wishy washy goober who HAS A DREAM but then decides NOT TO DREAM but then DREAMS AGAIN LATER.)
I just...this book. It makes me cry. It makes me cry crocodile tears and I can no longer formulate a review for the travesty contained within its pages.
This book sucks.
It is so incredibly slow. The war doesn't even start until halfway through the novel. We focus on 3.5 different main characters at random times and in random places. At one point the story veers away from Mary for several chapters, and you are left to wonder ... where did she go? Did she run away because the plot was so bad? Is she hiding from all the "letters to family/friends" inserted in random places? Did she get squicked out by the gross old doctor guy who wants to jump her bones in the middle of a battlefield?
I vote for all of the above.
I cannot tell a lie. There are some decent scenes. The scene at Antietam and the aftermath was, I thought, very moving. Okay. I have now touched on the one good scene in the book.
The pacing was terrible. As in, put to me to sleep (literally) terrible. The characters all felt flat and forced. (Also, why does Mary refer to her mother by her first name? Isn't that totally 21st century?) The love interest made me gag. Even the hospital scenes aren't particularly well done. And here's the saddest thing: Mary is not a likeable character. She's a total brat ("strong willed" my butt. How about a self-centered wishy washy goober who HAS A DREAM but then decides NOT TO DREAM but then DREAMS AGAIN LATER.)
I just...this book. It makes me cry. It makes me cry crocodile tears and I can no longer formulate a review for the travesty contained within its pages.
May 22, 2022
The story of a very independent and strong-willed woman set in the time of the Civil War. Mary Sutter from Albany, N.Y., is a midwife who wants to become a surgeon--an idea that most men at that time felt was an impossibility. But the war with its horrendous losses gives Mary her opportunity, first to become a nurse, and, finally, a surgeon. I read many of the reviews which criticized the book as too slow. But this was to give us a better understanding of the characters. The book also is excellent in evoking the atmosphere of the Civil War, especially life on the Northern home front ( life in the South has been covered much more, such as in Robert Hicks' "Widow of the South"). And the ghastly conditions on the battlefield and in the hospitals are powerfully presented. Today, with our knowledge and technology, we are able to save most of the wounded, but not then. Although the medical care they had seems primitive to us today, the Victorian Age doctors felt they were very advanced...but so much of what they were doing was experimental, especially in the early stage of the war. And, most tragically, the idea of antisepsis and prevention of infection did not occur until right after the war (with the work of Dr. Joseph Lister in England). How many thousands could have been saved if the doctors had known enough to keep hands, instruments, and conditions as clean as possible?
April 17, 2012
I am feeling a bit torn about how I feel about My Name is Mary Sutter. On the one hand I love a book with a strong-willed female protagonist – and this definitely had that. On the other hand, war books are hard for me to emotionally stomach – since I have a brother in the Army.
My Name is Marry Sutter is about an able-bodied young midwife who, during the American Civil war, is trying to fulfill a life-long ambition to become a doctor, more specifically a surgeon. She faces disappointment and sexism at every turn; this is the story of how she overcomes her obstacles. Unbeknownst to me until after I finished the book, this is on Oprah’s reading list club thingy that she does. So, just to head-off any questions about that; no I am not a fan, and no I did not read this because of her.
I thought the over-all prose was reminiscent of Jane Austin. Maybe someone who has read this, and a lot more Jane Austin than I have can confirm or deny my opinion on the prose. I am certainly no Austin connoisseur.
Our protagonist Mary was strong willed, perhaps a bit obstinate and bullheaded at times, but definitely likeable and even relatable on some level. I found myself cheering for her. The plot is fast paced, and that is definitely a good thing since some historical fictions tend to be long winded and drag on about the minor details. As historical fictions go, this one does not focus so much on the “historical” part as the “fiction”. – I don’t mean that as the facts were messed up or wrong, but you are definitely more focused on the story of Mary and her life than you are on the history that is going on at that time. If that makes any sense.
I have a particular penchant for books that evoke strong emotion, even if that emotion is anger or sadness. – Call me a sap but, I like them. Anyway, My Name is Mary Sutter was extremely emotional for me. I honestly almost put the book down about ¾ of the way through because it was truly THAT difficult for me to continue. I pulled myself together, put my big-girl pants on, and I did end up finishing it. However, in the end, I decided that the majority of the strong emotion that I was feeling towards the book was based on my personal ties to soldiers rather than the actual merits of the book. Detailed retellings of the poignant last moments in soldiers’ lives, and the kinds of injuries that soldiers face was simply hitting too close to home.
You are probably saying to yourself, ‘Ok, so it has a good protagonist, and stirred up strong emotion; what is the problem then? Why the lower rating?’ Let me 'splain. [pause] No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Firstly, I am not a huge fan of books that focus almost exclusively on interpersonal relationships between the characters, I need more meat than that. Secondly, it is one thing to read about a scenario that gets your insides churning because it is happening to the book’s characters, it is another thing to have your real life worst fears actualized in detail in front of your face in black and white.
I have to give this 3 & ½ stars. With the disclaimer that anyone who does not suffer from the same overly-protective-older-sister-to-a-soldier-neuroses that I have would probably enjoy this book a lot more than I did. Particularly if you are a fan of historical fiction or U.S. Civil War buff.
Oh, and sorry I don’t have many cutsie pictures for this review. I didn’t think an above-the-knee leg amputation .gif image was going to be conducive to my PG-13 rated review theme -not to mention hard to find.
My Name is Marry Sutter is about an able-bodied young midwife who, during the American Civil war, is trying to fulfill a life-long ambition to become a doctor, more specifically a surgeon. She faces disappointment and sexism at every turn; this is the story of how she overcomes her obstacles. Unbeknownst to me until after I finished the book, this is on Oprah’s reading list club thingy that she does. So, just to head-off any questions about that; no I am not a fan, and no I did not read this because of her.
I thought the over-all prose was reminiscent of Jane Austin. Maybe someone who has read this, and a lot more Jane Austin than I have can confirm or deny my opinion on the prose. I am certainly no Austin connoisseur.
Our protagonist Mary was strong willed, perhaps a bit obstinate and bullheaded at times, but definitely likeable and even relatable on some level. I found myself cheering for her. The plot is fast paced, and that is definitely a good thing since some historical fictions tend to be long winded and drag on about the minor details. As historical fictions go, this one does not focus so much on the “historical” part as the “fiction”. – I don’t mean that as the facts were messed up or wrong, but you are definitely more focused on the story of Mary and her life than you are on the history that is going on at that time. If that makes any sense.
I have a particular penchant for books that evoke strong emotion, even if that emotion is anger or sadness. – Call me a sap but, I like them. Anyway, My Name is Mary Sutter was extremely emotional for me. I honestly almost put the book down about ¾ of the way through because it was truly THAT difficult for me to continue. I pulled myself together, put my big-girl pants on, and I did end up finishing it. However, in the end, I decided that the majority of the strong emotion that I was feeling towards the book was based on my personal ties to soldiers rather than the actual merits of the book. Detailed retellings of the poignant last moments in soldiers’ lives, and the kinds of injuries that soldiers face was simply hitting too close to home.
You are probably saying to yourself, ‘Ok, so it has a good protagonist, and stirred up strong emotion; what is the problem then? Why the lower rating?’ Let me 'splain. [pause] No, there is too much. Let me sum up. Firstly, I am not a huge fan of books that focus almost exclusively on interpersonal relationships between the characters, I need more meat than that. Secondly, it is one thing to read about a scenario that gets your insides churning because it is happening to the book’s characters, it is another thing to have your real life worst fears actualized in detail in front of your face in black and white.
I have to give this 3 & ½ stars. With the disclaimer that anyone who does not suffer from the same overly-protective-older-sister-to-a-soldier-neuroses that I have would probably enjoy this book a lot more than I did. Particularly if you are a fan of historical fiction or U.S. Civil War buff.
Oh, and sorry I don’t have many cutsie pictures for this review. I didn’t think an above-the-knee leg amputation .gif image was going to be conducive to my PG-13 rated review theme -not to mention hard to find.
October 28, 2012
Set in Albany New York during the American Civil War in the 1860's, Mary Sutter is a renowned and respected midwife. However, her fascination with medicine doesn't end there and she dreams of maybe, someday becoming a surgeon, an almost impossible ambition for a woman of that era. Mary is repeatedly turned down for admission to numerous medical schools for simply being a woman. When Dorothea Dix persuades Abraham Lincoln to allow her to recruit a band of female nurses to serve alongside the army doctors, Mary travels to Washington D.C. to secure a position in an army hospital in the hope that this will help her establish a medical career.
I'm a big fan of historical fiction, and this novel is historical fiction at its best. This is a novel that will both move and anger you. It was a very compelling and enthralling story, particularly the fact that Mary Sutter was an unconventional heroine in some respects, but such a strong woman underneath it all. There were quite a few twists and turns in the novel and I found I was unable to put this book down for long, I kept turning the pages hoping Mary would eventually achieve her dream and I kept wondering which man Mary would choose (three men were in love with her during the course of the novel). The level of historical detail in this novel was amazing. It is clear that the medical and civil war aspects of the novel were extremely well-researched. I found the depth of research and work the author put into this novel was simply astounding.
All of Robin Oliveira's characters were vivid, well-developed and extremely likable. I really loved how the protagonist's character evolved throughout the novel. Mary does seem quite shy and awkward at the beginning of the novel but she's filled with a fierce determination to succeed. Mary overcomes her obstacles managing to achieve her dream of becoming a strong and confident doctor in a time that was not at all friendly to women in general. I found Mary's character to be extremely admirable and quite courageous.
I enjoyed this novel immensely and I absolutely loved the main character. My Name is Mary Sutter has become one of my favourite novels. I look forward to reading more from Robin Oliveira in the future.
Five stars!
Beware, the war and medical descriptions are quite graphic so if you are the slightest bit squeamish then this isn't the novel for you.
I'm a big fan of historical fiction, and this novel is historical fiction at its best. This is a novel that will both move and anger you. It was a very compelling and enthralling story, particularly the fact that Mary Sutter was an unconventional heroine in some respects, but such a strong woman underneath it all. There were quite a few twists and turns in the novel and I found I was unable to put this book down for long, I kept turning the pages hoping Mary would eventually achieve her dream and I kept wondering which man Mary would choose (three men were in love with her during the course of the novel). The level of historical detail in this novel was amazing. It is clear that the medical and civil war aspects of the novel were extremely well-researched. I found the depth of research and work the author put into this novel was simply astounding.
All of Robin Oliveira's characters were vivid, well-developed and extremely likable. I really loved how the protagonist's character evolved throughout the novel. Mary does seem quite shy and awkward at the beginning of the novel but she's filled with a fierce determination to succeed. Mary overcomes her obstacles managing to achieve her dream of becoming a strong and confident doctor in a time that was not at all friendly to women in general. I found Mary's character to be extremely admirable and quite courageous.
I enjoyed this novel immensely and I absolutely loved the main character. My Name is Mary Sutter has become one of my favourite novels. I look forward to reading more from Robin Oliveira in the future.
Five stars!
Beware, the war and medical descriptions are quite graphic so if you are the slightest bit squeamish then this isn't the novel for you.
March 21, 2015
I am a huge fan of Historical fiction but this has got to be one of the most boring books I read. I could not even get past the initial pages, it just read like a bad monologue between characters, absolutely no desire to care what happens to any character. The entire time I was asking myself, why should I care who is Mary Sutter? As far as I am concerned she was an undeveloped character that I soon ditched after I got to know her.
Oh well interesting plot but failed to deliver.
NEXT!
Oh well interesting plot but failed to deliver.
NEXT!
March 31, 2018
Sometimes the publicity placed on a book cover is mostly hype. That is not the case with this amazing novel. It's brilliantly researched and brilliantly written. And it's a debut novel. From first page to last, I was utterly gripped. I can't recommend it highly enough.
May 1, 2010
Engrossing read, rich with historical detail, My Name is Mary Sutter tells the story of a woman determined to be a surgeon and how the Civil War gives her the chance to enter the male-dominated medical field.
While I think it's high time the North had an answer to the high-spirited and strong-willed Scarlett O'Hara, Mary Sutter is not quite it. She is determined (although it's never made quite clear why, and her desire waxes and wanes oddly) but she's not as likable (or as unlikeable) as Scarlett. And My Name is Mary Sutter is no Gone With the Wind.
I loved the idea of this book but found the execution of it uneven. (I think I might have preferred a non-fiction account of the women who became nurses and doctors during the Civil War.) Oliveira has definitely done her research, but the fiction she spins with it is a bit too light. She's better at details than characters.
Here's a few issues I had with the book:
Where's this going? -- There's a big buildup to a major event in the book which comes too early and falls too flat afterward. Things get so muddled that, for a time, we even lose track of the titular character.
Wait, who's talking? -- The writing is occasionally clunky and confusing. For example, sections are begun talking about people with pronouns so that it's not clear who is being referred to or who is speaking. Characters seem to be walking by but then jump into the conversation later. Actions are described which seemed to be implied as already happening or that don't fit what came before, like people sitting down when it seemed they already were. (These would be simple fixes, and to be fair, I have an advance copy which may have been corrected later. Ditto on the grammatical errors.)
Everybody loves Mary -- It seems that every man in the book (that's not a relative) is enamored with Mary. I get that the soldiers she treats would look at her with affection. I also see how her drive would be appealing, but she's described as less than beautiful, and she's just a bit one-note. I don't buy that all these men were so taken with her, and I don't get how she feels about them.
What about the other nurses? -- There's only brief reference to other women helping as nurses, and they have little interaction with Mary. Even if Mary is singular in her desire to become a surgeon, I would have liked seeing more camaraderie between the women and perhaps different characters illustrating the reasons behind why the women came to help, which ones lasted as nurses and why others didn't, etc.
Missed mixed emotions potential -- The idea of Mary getting her chance to get into medicine only because of a horrific war had a lot more dramatic potential than was played out. Mary could have been gleeful to get her first chances to do surgery and then realize guiltily that it was all at the terrible cost of the war. (This is hinted at with another character doing medical research, but coming from Mary it would have made her more real and sympathetic.)
You mean there's a war on? -- Besides the chapters with Lincoln and Hay and the other historical figures of the time, no one really voices any thoughts or opinions about the war. Details are stated blandly when they could have been news discussed between characters.
And about those historical figures -- They should not have been viewpoint characters in the book. Let them make a few appearances, but keep the action and focus on Mary and the rest.
And about those other characters -- The shifting perspectives with the many different characters was just a bit much, and occasionally I think a particular scene or point would have been better told from another character's viewpoint. At other times, important things happen without being really shown. For example, when one character has a change of heart about Mary, it comes out of nowhere, like there should have been a chapter in between with some dialogue. (Other chapters read like an outline of what's happening instead of fleshed-out story.) I'm fine with multi-person omniscience, but when your book is titled My Name is Mary Sutter, I would expect more about (and from) Mary.
The twin thing -- Why does Mary's sister Jenny have to be her twin? The sibling rivalry between the two would have worked just as well with her as an older or younger sister. It's never explicitly stated in the book, but it seems that Mary and Jenny are not identical. Mary's strongest physical characteristics seem to be her large build, wild hair and prominent chin, while Jenny is beautiful, blonde and delicate enough that her pregnancy puts her in danger. So why write them as twins?
A selectively stupid mother -- A major conflict in the book revolves around the fact that Mary's mother Amelia wants Mary to be home to help with Jenny's pregnancy & delivery. So, even though Amelia has taught Mary to be a midwife, somehow Mary knows more that her mother? I get that Amelia wouldn't want to deliver her own grandchild, but she acts like she knows nothin' 'bout birthin' babies when this is far from the truth. In general I did not care for the mother at all. And while I know grief can make people do crazy things, I didn't like how she was because of it.
And while we're on the subject of family -- The pull between Mary's sense of greater good/duty/most cherished dream vs. the pull of family obligations is interesting enough without throwing in a love triangle and sibling rivalry. (Mary leaving a happier family behind would have been emotionally interesting enough; the other issues just muddy things, making Mary's feelings and desires less clear.)
And, in the end -- The book looks only at the early part of the Civil War (yeah, it's a long war, and I can see why the author didn't try and cover it all) but there's an Epilogue of what happens after. And I didn't like it. The way the love element of the book is wrapped up is unexpected (OK) and unsatisfying (not OK). (I'm fine with Mary ending up with someone, but the who and how didn't really gel for me.) Other characters are left hanging. I have different ideas for how I would have ended things, but I'm keeping it spoiler-free here.
Yes, I'm being highly critical of this book, but only because I think it could have been better. As is, it's not a bad read, but the lost potential here really disappointed me. It's the kind of book that makes me think, hey, I should write a book, or at least I could help edit someone's to improve it. (You hear me, Viking? Give me a call.)
Great idea that doesn't quite live up to its promise. More time, a few rewrites, and some editing could have made this one great. (Perhaps I'll have to check out the official release and see how different it is. Or give the author's next book (if there is one) a try.)
While I think it's high time the North had an answer to the high-spirited and strong-willed Scarlett O'Hara, Mary Sutter is not quite it. She is determined (although it's never made quite clear why, and her desire waxes and wanes oddly) but she's not as likable (or as unlikeable) as Scarlett. And My Name is Mary Sutter is no Gone With the Wind.
I loved the idea of this book but found the execution of it uneven. (I think I might have preferred a non-fiction account of the women who became nurses and doctors during the Civil War.) Oliveira has definitely done her research, but the fiction she spins with it is a bit too light. She's better at details than characters.
Here's a few issues I had with the book:
Where's this going? -- There's a big buildup to a major event in the book which comes too early and falls too flat afterward. Things get so muddled that, for a time, we even lose track of the titular character.
Wait, who's talking? -- The writing is occasionally clunky and confusing. For example, sections are begun talking about people with pronouns so that it's not clear who is being referred to or who is speaking. Characters seem to be walking by but then jump into the conversation later. Actions are described which seemed to be implied as already happening or that don't fit what came before, like people sitting down when it seemed they already were. (These would be simple fixes, and to be fair, I have an advance copy which may have been corrected later. Ditto on the grammatical errors.)
Everybody loves Mary -- It seems that every man in the book (that's not a relative) is enamored with Mary. I get that the soldiers she treats would look at her with affection. I also see how her drive would be appealing, but she's described as less than beautiful, and she's just a bit one-note. I don't buy that all these men were so taken with her, and I don't get how she feels about them.
What about the other nurses? -- There's only brief reference to other women helping as nurses, and they have little interaction with Mary. Even if Mary is singular in her desire to become a surgeon, I would have liked seeing more camaraderie between the women and perhaps different characters illustrating the reasons behind why the women came to help, which ones lasted as nurses and why others didn't, etc.
Missed mixed emotions potential -- The idea of Mary getting her chance to get into medicine only because of a horrific war had a lot more dramatic potential than was played out. Mary could have been gleeful to get her first chances to do surgery and then realize guiltily that it was all at the terrible cost of the war. (This is hinted at with another character doing medical research, but coming from Mary it would have made her more real and sympathetic.)
You mean there's a war on? -- Besides the chapters with Lincoln and Hay and the other historical figures of the time, no one really voices any thoughts or opinions about the war. Details are stated blandly when they could have been news discussed between characters.
And about those historical figures -- They should not have been viewpoint characters in the book. Let them make a few appearances, but keep the action and focus on Mary and the rest.
And about those other characters -- The shifting perspectives with the many different characters was just a bit much, and occasionally I think a particular scene or point would have been better told from another character's viewpoint. At other times, important things happen without being really shown. For example, when one character has a change of heart about Mary, it comes out of nowhere, like there should have been a chapter in between with some dialogue. (Other chapters read like an outline of what's happening instead of fleshed-out story.) I'm fine with multi-person omniscience, but when your book is titled My Name is Mary Sutter, I would expect more about (and from) Mary.
The twin thing -- Why does Mary's sister Jenny have to be her twin? The sibling rivalry between the two would have worked just as well with her as an older or younger sister. It's never explicitly stated in the book, but it seems that Mary and Jenny are not identical. Mary's strongest physical characteristics seem to be her large build, wild hair and prominent chin, while Jenny is beautiful, blonde and delicate enough that her pregnancy puts her in danger. So why write them as twins?
A selectively stupid mother -- A major conflict in the book revolves around the fact that Mary's mother Amelia wants Mary to be home to help with Jenny's pregnancy & delivery. So, even though Amelia has taught Mary to be a midwife, somehow Mary knows more that her mother? I get that Amelia wouldn't want to deliver her own grandchild, but she acts like she knows nothin' 'bout birthin' babies when this is far from the truth. In general I did not care for the mother at all. And while I know grief can make people do crazy things, I didn't like how she was because of it.
And while we're on the subject of family -- The pull between Mary's sense of greater good/duty/most cherished dream vs. the pull of family obligations is interesting enough without throwing in a love triangle and sibling rivalry. (Mary leaving a happier family behind would have been emotionally interesting enough; the other issues just muddy things, making Mary's feelings and desires less clear.)
And, in the end -- The book looks only at the early part of the Civil War (yeah, it's a long war, and I can see why the author didn't try and cover it all) but there's an Epilogue of what happens after. And I didn't like it. The way the love element of the book is wrapped up is unexpected (OK) and unsatisfying (not OK). (I'm fine with Mary ending up with someone, but the who and how didn't really gel for me.) Other characters are left hanging. I have different ideas for how I would have ended things, but I'm keeping it spoiler-free here.
Yes, I'm being highly critical of this book, but only because I think it could have been better. As is, it's not a bad read, but the lost potential here really disappointed me. It's the kind of book that makes me think, hey, I should write a book, or at least I could help edit someone's to improve it. (You hear me, Viking? Give me a call.)
Great idea that doesn't quite live up to its promise. More time, a few rewrites, and some editing could have made this one great. (Perhaps I'll have to check out the official release and see how different it is. Or give the author's next book (if there is one) a try.)
March 2, 2018
While I was waiting for my library copy of Winter Sisters I decided to read this not realizing that it was a prequel to Winter Sisters or that I had attempted it once before but abandoned for who knows what esoteric reason. This time I easily became absorbed in the story and thoroughly enjoyed this civil war era tale of a woman with fierce determination to become a surgeon at a time when women just did not do that. Although Mary Sutter was not a real person, she embodies the spirit of 17 women who became doctors after the Civil War based on their experiences working as nurses. It is also a love story.
Coming as it did on the heels of my reading Lincoln in the Bardo I paid special attention to the brief passages about Abraham Lincoln and his son Willie who died of typhoid fever at the age of 11.
I love historical fiction when it's well done and this is very well done. I have high expectations for the continuation of Mary Sutter in Winter Sisters.
Coming as it did on the heels of my reading Lincoln in the Bardo I paid special attention to the brief passages about Abraham Lincoln and his son Willie who died of typhoid fever at the age of 11.
I love historical fiction when it's well done and this is very well done. I have high expectations for the continuation of Mary Sutter in Winter Sisters.
June 3, 2014
Most of my GR friends rated this 3 star. Most did not comment so I'm not certain what kept them from giving My Name is Mary Sutter a higher rating. A solid 4 for me. Length and a bit too much war kept it from a 5 star rating though that might not be entirely fair. After all this is as much a story of the men of the Civil War as it is historical fiction of a determined young woman with aspirations of becoming a surgeon. The war is a perfect backdrop for this as where else might Mary have achieved her goal.
Through the course of the novel Mary only ages a few years but how she grows and changes in these. We meet Mary when she is just twenty years old, a competent mid-wife but one who sees more for herself. She practices her craft at the side of her mother, Amelia, who has taught her much but has already surpassed her mother's expertise. Mary is a twin to her sister Jenny, a relationship that bespeaks the bonds and yet a tenseness that perhaps only they can understand. Mary meets and falls for Thomas, a new neighbor. He initially seems interested in Mary but soon he only has eyes for Jenny.
When nurses are being recruited by Dorothea Dix, Mary travels to Washington, D.C. in hopes of realizing her dream of not becoming a surgeon. Little does she realize where this path will take her.
Many passages gave me food for thought. My Name is Mary Sutter is a story of mothers and daughters, of sisters and family, of love and war, of want and desire and of perseverance and hard work to meet one's goals.
A subtle quote but one that I loved
"We love too little
We love too much"
speaks to guilt and the hard decisions that sometimes must be made in spite of the consequences.
My Name is Mary Sutter is well told historical fiction but not for the squeamish as many of the battle scenes with their depictions of the wounded are brutal. My Name is Mary Sutter is a debut. Robin Oliveira has recently published I Always Loved You, a fictional bio of Mary Cassatt. If it's half as good as My Name is Mary Sutter it goes on my list.
Recommended to me by my good friend Judy who is not a member of GR. I will thank her personally for leading me to this superior read.
Through the course of the novel Mary only ages a few years but how she grows and changes in these. We meet Mary when she is just twenty years old, a competent mid-wife but one who sees more for herself. She practices her craft at the side of her mother, Amelia, who has taught her much but has already surpassed her mother's expertise. Mary is a twin to her sister Jenny, a relationship that bespeaks the bonds and yet a tenseness that perhaps only they can understand. Mary meets and falls for Thomas, a new neighbor. He initially seems interested in Mary but soon he only has eyes for Jenny.
When nurses are being recruited by Dorothea Dix, Mary travels to Washington, D.C. in hopes of realizing her dream of not becoming a surgeon. Little does she realize where this path will take her.
Many passages gave me food for thought. My Name is Mary Sutter is a story of mothers and daughters, of sisters and family, of love and war, of want and desire and of perseverance and hard work to meet one's goals.
A subtle quote but one that I loved
"We love too little
We love too much"
speaks to guilt and the hard decisions that sometimes must be made in spite of the consequences.
My Name is Mary Sutter is well told historical fiction but not for the squeamish as many of the battle scenes with their depictions of the wounded are brutal. My Name is Mary Sutter is a debut. Robin Oliveira has recently published I Always Loved You, a fictional bio of Mary Cassatt. If it's half as good as My Name is Mary Sutter it goes on my list.
Recommended to me by my good friend Judy who is not a member of GR. I will thank her personally for leading me to this superior read.
May 25, 2021
Wonderful book of a woman in a man’s world fighting to fulfill her dream to be a surgeon. Follow Mary on her journey and watch how she conquers her barriers in a man driven world. Watch her triumphs, guilt, and failures.
May 17, 2014
It was unfortunate that I started reading this book 2 seconds after I finished another book that was not only vivid and creative, but emotionally vivid and creative. That seemed to amplify the difference between these two books in such an extreme way. My Name is Mary Sutter was just okay for me.
Reading this was like looking at a painting. I could see the color of the sky, the civil war uniforms, the clothes, the buildings, and I could see stiff looking characters....but I had no idea what they were thinking or feeling. There were NO descriptions of emotion except for maybe...she was heartbroken. That was it - just one word here and there.
There was also nothing good in her life. It was just death, death, squashed dream, death, death, squashed dream and more death.
Reading this was like looking at a painting. I could see the color of the sky, the civil war uniforms, the clothes, the buildings, and I could see stiff looking characters....but I had no idea what they were thinking or feeling. There were NO descriptions of emotion except for maybe...she was heartbroken. That was it - just one word here and there.
There was also nothing good in her life. It was just death, death, squashed dream, death, death, squashed dream and more death.
August 30, 2021
Given the title, I expected this to be the story of Mary Sutter, midwife, who really wanted to be a surgeon. It is that. It is also the state of medicine at the time of the US Civil War. (Sterilization and the need to wash between surgeries wasn't learned until late in the war.) And then it is the story of the absolute lack of military competence at the beginning of the US Civil War. (The Union lost so many battles due to completely inept leadership.) For most of the novel I was a bit frustrated that Oliveira took on so much for a novel of only average length.
I very much liked the writing style. By the time I reached the last 50-75 pages, I also thought all of these stories well done as to plot. They came together to represent a whole. Even when all is said and done, I wanted more from the characterizations. Except, perhaps, President Lincoln. I have read other novels where he was a supporting character. So much has been written of him that it's hard not to get his agony for the state of his beloved country, his sense of loss when his son died, and even his sense of humor despite it all. The below I had not read before, but it seemed to fit what I know. Oliveira places it where Lincoln is considering the Emancipation Proclamation.
I very much liked the writing style. By the time I reached the last 50-75 pages, I also thought all of these stories well done as to plot. They came together to represent a whole. Even when all is said and done, I wanted more from the characterizations. Except, perhaps, President Lincoln. I have read other novels where he was a supporting character. So much has been written of him that it's hard not to get his agony for the state of his beloved country, his sense of loss when his son died, and even his sense of humor despite it all. The below I had not read before, but it seemed to fit what I know. Oliveira places it where Lincoln is considering the Emancipation Proclamation.
Lincoln simply could not understand a man who could not see his own fallibility. Irony lost in the blind pursuit of cacophonous righteousness. I wish to be free, but you may not be free. What he hated most was that they could not see the inherent cruelty in their economy. Their slaves' skin might be black, but it was not as black as the souls who might enslave them.What I thought were disparate parts came together well by the end. Still, I was disgruntled enough for long enough that I can't find a fifth star.
January 27, 2016
This is just a beautifully written story of a strident young midwife from Albany, NY who follows her dream of becoming a surgeon to Washington DC during the Civil War. The author masterfully inserts the historical horror of that war while creating characters the reader roots for. There is nothing contrived and the plot is tight and believable. The pacing of each chapter is perfect without an extraneous word or image. Just perfect!
April 27, 2018
A deep look at the civil war through a young woman's eyes and heart as she reaches for her future in medicine.
November 6, 2011
This Civil War story was good for its historical information and insight about what it could have been like in the trenches of that war (there are some graphic scenes). The story centered around a young woman's quest to become a surgeon during this time. While her perseverance in pursuing her dreams against all odds was admirable, I needed more from her character in order to connect with her. And because of that, I didn't connect very well with the love story either. It is possible that a fan of Gone with the Wind may really like this book, though.
August 29, 2013
Wish I had never heard of Mary Sutter or any of the other cardboard characters that people this tedious, plodding book. Can't think of any redeeming qualities. Had to read this for book club, otherwise would have stopped after five pages.
July 30, 2010
I read 130 pages into this book and was so bored with it. Life is too short to force yourself to read a book that isn't picking up speed by 130 pages in!
June 14, 2016
Excellent book about a very independent, intelligent midwife whose goal is to become a doctor, a vocation closed to women at the beginning of the Civil War. It's the story of her experiences in the makeshift Union hospitals and the battlefields in the Civil War. It's very descriptive of battlefield conditions, and the hell that war is. It also tells the story of her family and their complex relationships. It's a well written and well researched book without being dry.
May 19, 2011
Started it. Can't finish it. Boring.
September 16, 2020
Shocking and eloquent. I had no idea.
April 12, 2010
Mary Sutter is from a well-to-do family in Albany New York and the females in her family have been midwives for generations, but Mary dreams the impossible dream of being a surgeon. When the sabers rattle between the North and the South and the men of Albany gleefully join the Army, Mary heads for Washington City - if she can't be a surgeon she'll nurse instead - and she is soon literally up to her neck in wounded soldiers. Mary's story takes her to several battlefields and through her eyes we see the horror of what these poor soldiers suffered at the hands of ignorant politicians and incompetent generals. I haven't the words for it, so I will let these quotes do the *talking*,
"If we let one on the train who will die anyway, it will doom two."
"In all the world, there is not medicine enough to heal what ails the Union army, mopping or no."
"How do you forget coffins? How do you forget to supply tourniquets? How do you forget that people might die?"
Days later, the citizens of Washington would remark that the Potomac had turned the color of rust, but would not make the connection until news of the enormous numbers of casualties came pouring in."
"If they had just washed their hands between patients, then all those deaths could have been prevented."
This is a novel that will move you and anger you. I actually had to put it down a couple of times and take an emotional break with something lighter. You will learn a whole lot more about the removal of limbs than you might ever wish to know and if you are the least bit fainthearted this might not the book for you. One more thing, if you're expecting "a gorgeous love story" as one jacket blurber mentions - you are not going to find it here. Yes there are three men who love Mary but that is not the main focus of this book, nor should it be considered *chick lit*. Like other reviewers, I wasn't that fond of the chapters with Lincoln and his cronies but other than that this is a solid five star read, and would make an excellent book club choice.
"If we let one on the train who will die anyway, it will doom two."
"In all the world, there is not medicine enough to heal what ails the Union army, mopping or no."
"How do you forget coffins? How do you forget to supply tourniquets? How do you forget that people might die?"
Days later, the citizens of Washington would remark that the Potomac had turned the color of rust, but would not make the connection until news of the enormous numbers of casualties came pouring in."
"If they had just washed their hands between patients, then all those deaths could have been prevented."
This is a novel that will move you and anger you. I actually had to put it down a couple of times and take an emotional break with something lighter. You will learn a whole lot more about the removal of limbs than you might ever wish to know and if you are the least bit fainthearted this might not the book for you. One more thing, if you're expecting "a gorgeous love story" as one jacket blurber mentions - you are not going to find it here. Yes there are three men who love Mary but that is not the main focus of this book, nor should it be considered *chick lit*. Like other reviewers, I wasn't that fond of the chapters with Lincoln and his cronies but other than that this is a solid five star read, and would make an excellent book club choice.
November 29, 2012
Dreary! Why does she really want to be a doctor? Because she had a start as a midwife? This question is never truly answered. The joy of medicine and the deep intrigue of the most amazing machine on the planet, the human body, is never examined. From the perspective of this novel, medicine is the worst occupation possible. This is the author's slant on it. Dark book. The soul of a physician is NOT examined. Mary Sutter is purely ambitious for no other reason other than she has skills and few romantic possibilities. The book is relentless and gets harder to read as it goes alone. I would NOT recommend this. Also... inaccurate on several levels. I find it difficult to believe surgeons were put on the front line with NO dissection experience. From my understanding, at that time training surgeons practiced on stray dogs. This was common. I know that nobody survived amputations because there was cross contamination from no hand washing between surgeries and it was only discovered after the high fatality rates of the Civil War - but this inkling that something is wrong with ALL the surgical patients needed to be addressed at the beginning. Not as a side note.
February 28, 2017
I loved this book. Mary Sutter is a midwife with one ambition - to become a surgeon. No easy feat in 19th century America where the doors to medical school are firmly closed to women. Therefore, when the Civil War breaks out, Mary grasps the chance to fulfil her dream and leaves home to tend to wounded soldiers in the makeshift hospitals and out in the battlefield.
I was pulled into the story from the very first paragraph. Mary's determination is captivating, she becomes your heroine, somebody to champion, even though you question some of the sacrifices she makes in the process. Alongside Mary's struggle to get where she wants, the story also centers around the personal relationships she forms with her "mentors" Dr Stipp and James Bleven. There isn't a single character in the book who can truly be disliked. You find yourself rooting for all of them.
Finally, the writing is beautiful. The narrative flows, she captures the atmosphere of the era perfectly. It's not an action-packed book, it's paced evenly and is simply a huge pleasure to read. I look forward to reading more of Ms Oliveira in the future.
I was pulled into the story from the very first paragraph. Mary's determination is captivating, she becomes your heroine, somebody to champion, even though you question some of the sacrifices she makes in the process. Alongside Mary's struggle to get where she wants, the story also centers around the personal relationships she forms with her "mentors" Dr Stipp and James Bleven. There isn't a single character in the book who can truly be disliked. You find yourself rooting for all of them.
Finally, the writing is beautiful. The narrative flows, she captures the atmosphere of the era perfectly. It's not an action-packed book, it's paced evenly and is simply a huge pleasure to read. I look forward to reading more of Ms Oliveira in the future.
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