Hello!
With jack having the flu and wanting me to be there for him, (How can I not when he asks, “Mom. Can you please stay with me?”) I was able to finish up a book that I have been reading…My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira.
From Amazon:
In this stunning first novel, Mary Sutter is a brilliant, headstrong midwife from Albany, New York, who dreams of becoming a surgeon. Determined to overcome the prejudices against women in medicine-and eager to run away from her recent heartbreak- Mary leaves home and travels to Washington, D.C. to help tend the legions of Civil War wounded. Under the guidance of William Stipp and James Blevens-two surgeons who fall unwittingly in love with Mary’s courage, will, and stubbornness in the face of suffering-and resisting her mother’s pleas to return home to help with the birth of her twin sister’s baby, Mary pursues her medical career in the desperately overwhelmed hospitals of the capital.
If you enjoy reading books that are set in the Civil War era, then you will fully enjoy this book and all its history woven in the story about President Lincoln and his generals along with Dorothy Dix. I am not a huge fan of this era, but I must say I did enjoy the book. Admittedly, I skipped over a lot of the history parts of the book, which may have been why I got lost at times reading.
What I did like about the story were the parts that showed Mary’s determination to become a surgeon and the gruesome events she finds herself thrown into, by choice. It describes in some detail how horrific wars aftermath is (thousands of bodies laying on the field that it became impossible to walk between and Mary found herself stepping on the fallen soldiers, some suddenly grabbing at her) and how barbaric the surgeries, mostly amputations, were preformed during the Civil War. How little medicine was available and absolutely no sanitary conditions what so ever. The spreading of diseases through the post-op soldiers and the burning question of why was that happening.
There is a love triangle which adds some what to the story, but not much, due to Mary seeming oblivious to these men, which at times I found confusing. Her first love interest left her heartbroken, which I didn’t realize until I read a review. I thought maybe she was upset, but not heartbroken. The other two love interests I wondered, does he love her, yea no…must be the other two, nope, must be these guys. So I wouldn’t read this book if you are expecting or wanting a love story It’s really not there.
So, overall, I would say this book is good, but not great. I know some people loved this book, but I think they are probably better Civil War reads out there.
I give this book 3 out of 5 stars.