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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
Loved the history on this and the character development - fun to see the famous mix with the not so famous.
This Civil War novel about a woman who wanted to be a surgeon was very well researched and written, but I think it included entirely too much battle information and all the amputations were a little graphic for me. Overall I liked it, but I wish it was shorter.
Dumb name, pretty decent book, about a woman in Civil War New York who wants desperately to be a surgeon, and the two doctors who take her under their wing (and fall in love).
I'm already totally biased because I love historical fiction (how did I not know this about myself until the last few years) and am especially prone to American historical fiction. Enjoyed this one.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
After having thoroughly enjoyed the PBS/Ridley Scott miniseries Mercy Street earlier this spring, I was excited about My Name is Mary Sutter after reading the book summary and a few of the more positive reviews of this book. I was hoping for something very similar in tone to Mercy Street, delving deeper into a character like that story’s Nurse Mary, while also not telling the exact same story.
In fact, the story has a similar set up for what I thought would be the romantic through-line of the story in that Mary Sutter meets a somewhat gruff young(ish) doctor in the first chapter (the rule of thumb for any romance plot to get that part of the plot rolling, even if it’s not technically a romance novel, which this one is not) who seems to be the perfect foil for her---there’s even an obvious, growing attraction for her when we’re in his viewpoint, even though he’s married. (It’s quickly revealed that the marriage was a mistake and they’ve been separated almost from the beginning.)
Mary, a trained midwife, wants to become a doctor. So she takes it upon herself to visit Dr. James Blevens to ask him to take her on as an apprentice, since the medical school in her hometown of in Albany, NY, won’t admit her. She’s read as many books as she can get her hands on, so her knowledge is extensive, though she lacks practical experience, which is what she wants from Dr. Blevens. This seems like the perfect setup for the story to come---he says no, the war starts, and he goes off for his “three-month” stint as an army surgeon (remember, no one expected the war to last long, so Lincoln put a call out for volunteers for three months at first). The war, of course, becomes Mary’s opportunity to learn what she needs in order to become a doctor.
We see “Mary Sutter” and “James Blevens” working side-by-side during a difficult delivery (a little more detailed than I was personally comfortable with, as were most of the medical scenes, but seemed very realistic, so kudos to Oliveira for doing her research) and then later, when Dr. Blevens helps transport this woman and her baby to Mary’s house to convalesce. Naturally, he’s invited to dinner by Mary’s mother, Amelia; and they’re joined at dinner by Mary’s twin sister, Jenny, and Jenny’s beau, “Thomas Fall.”
Let me stop here and address a few issues that came up early on and then continued throughout this novel for me:
1. Lack of Structure. As mentioned in my blog post on Chapter 1 of Scene and Structure, “The problem I’m having with Oliveira’s book is another one of mixed POV and seeming lack of structure. . . . And her narrative jumps around in time, dropping flashbacks into the middle of a scene of dialogue, or jumping back in time to tell someone’s entire backstory after leaving the previous chapter hanging at the end. And because this is not genre fiction (or, at least, it’s not structured as typical genre fiction), I’m having a harder and harder time trusting that the author is actually going somewhere with this story.” (This was around 20% into the novel---it didn’t improve.)
2. Head Hopping. Again, as mentioned in the above-linked blog post, I wrote: “Although I think Oliveira was trying to employ an omniscient POV, it’s actually more of a head-hopping style.” The viewpoint changes randomly from character to character with seemingly no logic or reason, which makes the lack of structure even worse, since as a reader, one cannot settle into a viewpoint and just go along for the ride . . . except for in those flashbacks, especially the ones that go on for far too long.
3. (Full) Name Calling. Oliveira has a weird habit of referring to characters by their full names: Mary Sutter. Amelia Sutter. James Blevens. Thomas Fall. Even within their own viewpoint! And it’s not as if they’re just being introduced at the beginning of a chapter or scene by their full name---it happens multiple times on a page. Then there’s the fact that Mary Sutter not only thinks of her mother by her first name, Amelia, she refers to her by her first name in dialogue.
4. The Sister Cliché. Mary Sutter is tall and gangly and not considered pretty. She’s brusque and has few social graces. Her twin sister, however, is petite and pretty and the apple of everyone’s eye. Mary is useful while Jenny is decorative. Mary is practical while Jenny is romantic. Mary is sensible while Jenny is . . . well, you get where I’m going with that one. Not only does this cliché bother me, since there seemed to be no effort to go beyond these stereotypes, but it also bothered me because there was no reason for them to be twins, nor was there the need to set up the sisterly jealousy by having Thomas Fall first seem to be attracted to Mary and then fall for Jenny as soon as he met her.
5. There’s Something About Mary. However, even though Mary is described as too tall, gangly, mannish, unattractive, overbearing, acerbic, etc., every man who comes near her is automatically and inexplicably attracted to her.
As the book continues, even more viewpoints are introduced once Mary arrives in Washington, DC---Dorothea Dix, John Hays (aide to President Lincoln), President Lincoln, and more. Oh, and there’s another army doctor character introduced about halfway through who ends up playing a big role in the story, as well.
There’s a major lack of character development, as well as the development of relationships between characters. Mary Sutter wants to be a doctor because . . . she wants to be a doctor. That’s it. She wants to be a doctor. She does everything she can to learn how to be a doctor. The problem is, there’s no real motivation to it. She doesn’t seem to derive any pleasure out of what she does or what she learns throughout the book. She just wants to be a doctor. The best relationship development happens in about the first third of the book between Mary Sutter and James Blevens---and it’s mostly one-sided, on James’s side. And this isn’t just romantic relationships---there are occasional mentions of other nurses in the field hospitals, yet Mary has little to no interactions with any of them, and with few of the doctors other than Blevens and Stipp, as well. This lack of emotional connections keeps her a two-dimensional character who is at best boring and at worst unlikeable.
Then, there are the scenes like this (beginning on p. 277):
In 1864, George McClellan, in his run as Democratic candidate opposite Abraham Lincoln, would complain that the failure of the Peninsular Campaign was due to many factors out of his control, including Lincoln’s great meddling in his plans, his failure to provide crucial reinforcements, the teeming hordes of Confederate troops, the inclement weather, the failure of the navy to properly defend the York River, the idiot mapmakers who mistook a river’s location that forced him to march miles out of his way, his recurring bouts of malarial fever due to the criminal lack of quinine, the abysmal roads which were nothing but a morass of mud, the swampy, nearly oceanic terrain, and finally, the wily Robert E. Lee, who decimated the Union troops in the last hopeless battle of Seven Days as they retreated down the Peninsula after the Union’s failure to seize Richmond.
This is followed by at least another 200 to 300 words continuing this recitation of the research that Oliveira did. And this isn’t the only place this happens---it starts to happen with regularity throughout the last half of the book.
If I wanted to read nonfiction about the American Civil War, I would pull one of the many (many) nonfiction books on my shelves about the American Civil War (most from my days when I minored in it at LSU).
Then, there’s the ending. So disappointing! Once I realized that was how the book would end, I pretty much gave up on even trying to enjoy it.
In fact, the story has a similar set up for what I thought would be the romantic through-line of the story in that Mary Sutter meets a somewhat gruff young(ish) doctor in the first chapter (the rule of thumb for any romance plot to get that part of the plot rolling, even if it’s not technically a romance novel, which this one is not) who seems to be the perfect foil for her---there’s even an obvious, growing attraction for her when we’re in his viewpoint, even though he’s married. (It’s quickly revealed that the marriage was a mistake and they’ve been separated almost from the beginning.)
Mary, a trained midwife, wants to become a doctor. So she takes it upon herself to visit Dr. James Blevens to ask him to take her on as an apprentice, since the medical school in her hometown of in Albany, NY, won’t admit her. She’s read as many books as she can get her hands on, so her knowledge is extensive, though she lacks practical experience, which is what she wants from Dr. Blevens. This seems like the perfect setup for the story to come---he says no, the war starts, and he goes off for his “three-month” stint as an army surgeon (remember, no one expected the war to last long, so Lincoln put a call out for volunteers for three months at first). The war, of course, becomes Mary’s opportunity to learn what she needs in order to become a doctor.
We see “Mary Sutter” and “James Blevens” working side-by-side during a difficult delivery (a little more detailed than I was personally comfortable with, as were most of the medical scenes, but seemed very realistic, so kudos to Oliveira for doing her research) and then later, when Dr. Blevens helps transport this woman and her baby to Mary’s house to convalesce. Naturally, he’s invited to dinner by Mary’s mother, Amelia; and they’re joined at dinner by Mary’s twin sister, Jenny, and Jenny’s beau, “Thomas Fall.”
Let me stop here and address a few issues that came up early on and then continued throughout this novel for me:
1. Lack of Structure. As mentioned in my blog post on Chapter 1 of Scene and Structure, “The problem I’m having with Oliveira’s book is another one of mixed POV and seeming lack of structure. . . . And her narrative jumps around in time, dropping flashbacks into the middle of a scene of dialogue, or jumping back in time to tell someone’s entire backstory after leaving the previous chapter hanging at the end. And because this is not genre fiction (or, at least, it’s not structured as typical genre fiction), I’m having a harder and harder time trusting that the author is actually going somewhere with this story.” (This was around 20% into the novel---it didn’t improve.)
2. Head Hopping. Again, as mentioned in the above-linked blog post, I wrote: “Although I think Oliveira was trying to employ an omniscient POV, it’s actually more of a head-hopping style.” The viewpoint changes randomly from character to character with seemingly no logic or reason, which makes the lack of structure even worse, since as a reader, one cannot settle into a viewpoint and just go along for the ride . . . except for in those flashbacks, especially the ones that go on for far too long.
3. (Full) Name Calling. Oliveira has a weird habit of referring to characters by their full names: Mary Sutter. Amelia Sutter. James Blevens. Thomas Fall. Even within their own viewpoint! And it’s not as if they’re just being introduced at the beginning of a chapter or scene by their full name---it happens multiple times on a page. Then there’s the fact that Mary Sutter not only thinks of her mother by her first name, Amelia, she refers to her by her first name in dialogue.
4. The Sister Cliché. Mary Sutter is tall and gangly and not considered pretty. She’s brusque and has few social graces. Her twin sister, however, is petite and pretty and the apple of everyone’s eye. Mary is useful while Jenny is decorative. Mary is practical while Jenny is romantic. Mary is sensible while Jenny is . . . well, you get where I’m going with that one. Not only does this cliché bother me, since there seemed to be no effort to go beyond these stereotypes, but it also bothered me because there was no reason for them to be twins, nor was there the need to set up the sisterly jealousy by having Thomas Fall first seem to be attracted to Mary and then fall for Jenny as soon as he met her.
5. There’s Something About Mary. However, even though Mary is described as too tall, gangly, mannish, unattractive, overbearing, acerbic, etc., every man who comes near her is automatically and inexplicably attracted to her.
As the book continues, even more viewpoints are introduced once Mary arrives in Washington, DC---Dorothea Dix, John Hays (aide to President Lincoln), President Lincoln, and more. Oh, and there’s another army doctor character introduced about halfway through who ends up playing a big role in the story, as well.
There’s a major lack of character development, as well as the development of relationships between characters. Mary Sutter wants to be a doctor because . . . she wants to be a doctor. That’s it. She wants to be a doctor. She does everything she can to learn how to be a doctor. The problem is, there’s no real motivation to it. She doesn’t seem to derive any pleasure out of what she does or what she learns throughout the book. She just wants to be a doctor. The best relationship development happens in about the first third of the book between Mary Sutter and James Blevens---and it’s mostly one-sided, on James’s side. And this isn’t just romantic relationships---there are occasional mentions of other nurses in the field hospitals, yet Mary has little to no interactions with any of them, and with few of the doctors other than Blevens and Stipp, as well. This lack of emotional connections keeps her a two-dimensional character who is at best boring and at worst unlikeable.
Then, there are the scenes like this (beginning on p. 277):
In 1864, George McClellan, in his run as Democratic candidate opposite Abraham Lincoln, would complain that the failure of the Peninsular Campaign was due to many factors out of his control, including Lincoln’s great meddling in his plans, his failure to provide crucial reinforcements, the teeming hordes of Confederate troops, the inclement weather, the failure of the navy to properly defend the York River, the idiot mapmakers who mistook a river’s location that forced him to march miles out of his way, his recurring bouts of malarial fever due to the criminal lack of quinine, the abysmal roads which were nothing but a morass of mud, the swampy, nearly oceanic terrain, and finally, the wily Robert E. Lee, who decimated the Union troops in the last hopeless battle of Seven Days as they retreated down the Peninsula after the Union’s failure to seize Richmond.
This is followed by at least another 200 to 300 words continuing this recitation of the research that Oliveira did. And this isn’t the only place this happens---it starts to happen with regularity throughout the last half of the book.
If I wanted to read nonfiction about the American Civil War, I would pull one of the many (many) nonfiction books on my shelves about the American Civil War (most from my days when I minored in it at LSU).
Then, there’s the ending. So disappointing!
Spoiler
As mentioned before, the setup of this book was that somehow, even though he’s married in the beginning, Mary Sutter and James Blevens would end up together. Not only are their characters perfect for each other, but James is definitely attracted to her before he leaves for the war, and falling in love with her after they’re separated---he can’t stop thinking about her. But then the character of Dr. William Stipp comes along---a man more than twice Mary’s age (she’s in her early twenties, he’s in his fifties when we meet him) and for some strange reason, he ends up being the love interest.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Mary Sutter is a very well-respected midwife in upstate New York, but would much rather be learning the skills of a surgeon. Refused admittance to every school she has applied for, and even turned down when she pleads to apprentice with a surgeon, she leaves home to do and learn what she can when war breaks out between the states.
I won this book as a first-reads giveaway and I enjoyed it a lot. I have to echo the many other reviews stating that Robin Oliveira did her research. I'm by no means a scholar on the civil war, let along the culture, politics, and medical situation existing in the 1860s, but I could feel like it has been accurately represented in this book. I was intrigued by the telling of the battles, of the switching of generals, of the state of the hospitals, of the peril of those on the battle fronts and those left at home. It was fascinating.
This book also tells the story from several different points of view. We hear from Mary Sutter; her teacher, William Stipp; her colleague James Blevens; President Lincoln; his secretary and military personnel; Dorothea Dix; Amealia Sutter and Jenny Sutter, Mary's mother and sister; and some characters in smaller roles. So many stories being told, but expertly brought together by the end.
A brief warning: this book keeps to reality and does not spare the details of midwifery as it was then, the wounds of war, or the efforts taken to administer to the sick and dying in the face of insufficient supplies, shelter, etc. There are some parts that may need to be skimmed over by those who don't wish to read about these things in sharp detail.
I won this book as a first-reads giveaway and I enjoyed it a lot. I have to echo the many other reviews stating that Robin Oliveira did her research. I'm by no means a scholar on the civil war, let along the culture, politics, and medical situation existing in the 1860s, but I could feel like it has been accurately represented in this book. I was intrigued by the telling of the battles, of the switching of generals, of the state of the hospitals, of the peril of those on the battle fronts and those left at home. It was fascinating.
This book also tells the story from several different points of view. We hear from Mary Sutter; her teacher, William Stipp; her colleague James Blevens; President Lincoln; his secretary and military personnel; Dorothea Dix; Amealia Sutter and Jenny Sutter, Mary's mother and sister; and some characters in smaller roles. So many stories being told, but expertly brought together by the end.
A brief warning: this book keeps to reality and does not spare the details of midwifery as it was then, the wounds of war, or the efforts taken to administer to the sick and dying in the face of insufficient supplies, shelter, etc. There are some parts that may need to be skimmed over by those who don't wish to read about these things in sharp detail.
medium-paced
So first didn’t read the subtitle (a novel), thought this was going to be a nonfiction history book, it wasn’t (it’s historical fiction), that’s on me.
But uh. Chapter 2 is infodumping on family history so heavy that I was 100% convinced Mary Sutter was a real person right up until I finished the book and googled her (she isn’t). The whole book is in extremely awkward conflict between infodumping on her OCs’ backstories a la a history book and actually telling any sort of narrative, and I have no idea why the editor didn’t take an axe to the whole thing.
Also: Only a tiny fraction of it is actually on the purported topic–nursing during the American Civil War. Jesus fuck.
This is an incredible work of historical fiction set during the American Civil War. Mary Sutter is an accomplished midwife determined despite the odds to become a surgeon. She is thwarted on all sides until fate in the form of the Civil War intervenes. Mary, after a broken heart leaves her even more desperate to pursue her career ambitions, travels to Washington DC to respond to a call for nurses to assist in the war effort. Mary starts from the bottom and through sheer determination and grit builds her skills and feeds her passion for medicine while helping wounded soldiers. Along the way, she forms bonds with two surgeons that will impact the rest of her life. This book is incredibly powerful. The characters are amazingly compelling, particularly the indomitable force that is Mary and the backdrop of the Civil War is rich in historical detail. One of the best books of its kind I have read in years.