Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
An easy, pleasant read. Very enjoyable. I’m terribly fond of strong female protagonists who do the very things people tell them they can’t or shouldn’t do, and Mary Sutter is just such a protagonist. A grown-up version of Charlotte Doyle from Avi’s novel of her True Confessions. A predictable ending but only in the best ways.
A great novel with an ending that did not disappoint. It took me awhile to read but that wasn't the fault of the writing.
Great setting - Civil War - strong woman character- just enjoyed it!
What a rich and wonderful book! Recommended for lovers of realistic historic fiction, especially books that weave real people into the narrative. The book was unsparing in grim detail, but still ended with a sense of hope and possibility.
I assume that Oliveira took the time to do a lot of research into the civil war and what conditions during the war were really like in those times. If conditions really were as bad as she describes then in the book, then oh my god, I am glad I was not alive to experience the civil war. Sanitary conditions were pretty much non-existent. Doctors and nurses had no idea that the best way to prevent infection was simply to wash their hands.
Aside from the horrible conditions of war lies a story of perseverance and a love story. Mary Sutter, the story's protagonist, is a woman and a midwife, and desires with all of her heart to become a surgeon one day but no medical school will give her the time of day because she's a woman. Then she goes off to war in response to a call for nurses, but ends up training under a well known doctor instead, but not before she has mop floors, clean bedpans and scrap feces from the water closet. I enjoyed the book, especially when reading about all the casualties of war. I was more interested in the sanitary conditions of the war than the love story but both stories work well and come together at the end.
Aside from the horrible conditions of war lies a story of perseverance and a love story. Mary Sutter, the story's protagonist, is a woman and a midwife, and desires with all of her heart to become a surgeon one day but no medical school will give her the time of day because she's a woman. Then she goes off to war in response to a call for nurses, but ends up training under a well known doctor instead, but not before she has mop floors, clean bedpans and scrap feces from the water closet. I enjoyed the book, especially when reading about all the casualties of war. I was more interested in the sanitary conditions of the war than the love story but both stories work well and come together at the end.
A gripping story of a young woman yearning to be a surgeon during the Civil War. I think this is historical fiction at its best, the characters stay true to the times and you really feel that you learn something about what medicine practices were like during the first year of the Civil War. Not for the squeamish but still a great read.
Such a great story and written so well! I felt physical pain with Mary and the others. I was not prepared for how gruesome it got. The scenes really put you in the moment.
Why didn't Mary just apply to one of the women's medical schools already open prior to the Civil War? There were two...
I think highly of Robin Oliveira as a historical fiction writer. If you liked this, you might also like The Sweet Blue Distance by Sara Donati. Both books feature women ahead of their time, who deliver babies and witness incredible historical moments as they pursue their medical hopes and dreams. It is always heartbreaking to read about how so many people died because we didn't understand germs and disease. But My Name is Mary Sutter is nonetheless hard to put down.