My Name Is Mary Sutter (Mary Sutter, #1) in Retro Chapter Chicks

Sep 13, 2014 Tasha rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: civil-war, historical-fiction, favorites-2015

Robin Oliveira did a wonderful job with this one, you can tell she did her research. She set the scenes and period so well and developed a wonderful character in Mary Sutter.

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Oct 21, 2011 Book Concierge rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, new-york, library, concierge, strong-women, medicine, washington-dc, civil-war

Audio performed by Kimberly Farr
3.5 Stars

This is a work of historical fiction, centering on Mary Sutter, a midwife in Albany, New York, who is determined to become a surgeon. As the novel opens the Civil War is just beginning and she has been turned down, yet again, by the only medical school in Albany. Mary decides to seek an apprenticeship with a practicing surgeon, and so appears at the door of Dr James Blevin’s clinic just as he was about to send for her to help deliver a woman whose labor i Audio performed by Kimberly Farr
3.5 Stars

This is a work of historical fiction, centering on Mary Sutter, a midwife in Albany, New York, who is determined to become a surgeon. As the novel opens the Civil War is just beginning and she has been turned down, yet again, by the only medical school in Albany. Mary decides to seek an apprenticeship with a practicing surgeon, and so appears at the door of Dr James Blevin’s clinic just as he was about to send for her to help deliver a woman whose labor is not going well. She saves the mother and child and impresses Blevins with her knowledge and skill. However, Blevins is about to enlist as an Army surgeon and insists he cannot accommodate her request that he teach her what he knows. This refusal only strengthens Mary’s determination, however, and when she sees an advertisement for nurses she heads to Washington.

I really enjoyed this book and was drawn in immediately. I particularly appreciated the information Oliveira included about the very poor state of medical care, and how what was learned by Army surgeons on the battlefield helped to change the practice of medicine. There were times, as I listened, that I wanted to yell to the characters,“Wash your hands! Use a clean cloth!” I felt enervated by the seemingly never-ending horrors of war witnessed by these brave men and women, despite my obvious distance from the actual events. Their tireless service in the face of impossible odds was commendable. That they had any success at all, given their ignorance of the infectious process, and their lack of supplies (seems that the most heavily used “medication” was whiskey) was nothing short of miraculous. The writing was vivid, and the aftermath of the battles – thousands of dead and wounded, laid so closely together it was nearly impossible to walk among them – called to my mind the scene from the movie of Gone With the Wind when Scarlett goes in search of the doctor for Melanie and the camera crane zooms out to show a screen filled with thousands waiting for any little comfort.

Oliveira doesn’t just write about war and medicine, however. Her characters have to deal with various weaknesses and emotions – pride, guilt, sibling rivalry, impetuousness, fear (and even cowardice), snobbery, ineptitude, joy, excitement and love. There is underlying romantic tension between Mary and certain male characters, which I found a little distracting and unnecessary to the basic story. However, I’ll admit that I have always been interested in reading about medicine and that was much more interesting to me than her love life.

Kimberly Farr did an excellent job of reading the audio book. She had a somewhat limited range with the male voices, but was credible and it was still easy to distinguish among the characters when there were two- or even three-way conversations.
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Jun 16, 2024 Sarah Brown rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, spring-2024-mad-hatter-blooming

This was a wonderful book! It was eye opening seeing first hand what it may have been like for volunteers helping the wounded during the Civil War. It's sad to see how many people died just because of poor conditions and not even war related injuries. I also can't imagine having my son at 14 go to battle, as they mentioned some looked that young, and I am sure they were. I lost my physical copy while reading, so I had to finish up on audio, and I just am wondering about the author's note, if one ...more

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Mar 17, 2019 Joanne rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction-read

A great tale of strong women, medicine and the Civil War.

Mary Sutter lives in Albany with her family, her mother being a sought after mid-wife in the community. As Mary grows-up she begins to follow her mother to appointments and births and begins to love the work. Her twin sister Jenny, not so much. But Mary had higher aspirations and searched for a Surgeon to apprentice with, or a Medical School that will admit her. Neither materializes and with the the outbreak of the Civil War, Mary eyes Was ...more

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