My Name is Mary Sutter

Oliveira, Robin.  My Name is Mary Sutter.  2010.  Penguin Books, New York, New York.

Annotation:
Mary Sutter is a young woman living during the time of the Civil War.  She is a midwife who wants to be nothing less than a doctor.  Follow Mary through her journey across the battlefields of the Civil War.

Book Talk:
Mary Sutter is a young woman who is one of the most gifted midwives in all of Massachusetts.  Her mother was a good midwife, but Mary is better.  Whenever anyone is having trouble giving birth, Mary is called in to help save the life of the mother and child.

But, Mary wants more.  So much more.  She wants to be a doctor.  Specifically, she wants to be a surgeon.  She has read every anatomy book she can lay her hands on, but no medical school will admit her because she is a woman.

When the Civil War begins, a call is issued by Dorothea Dix for young women to serve as nurses during the unrest.   Mary runs away from her family and travels to Washington in order to become a nurse and receive more medical training.

As Mary serves in the nursing wards, she finds herself caught in the middle of two powerful surgeons, both of whom fall in love with her. 

As she travels from battlefield to battlefield, Mary finds that the line between nurse and doctor is blurred, and she learns even more about medicine than she ever imagined possible.

Will Mary survive the terrors of working in Civil War hospitals?  Will she ever realize her dream of becoming a recognized doctor?  What of her family, left behind in Massachusetts? 

Step back in time with Mary Sutter in her book... "My Name is Mary Sutter"

Author's website: http://www.robinoliveira.com/

Reviewer's Note:
I debated with myself over whether or not to post this book at all. It is an amazing book.  It is the best book I've read so far this summer.  It's also an adult book, not strictly a YA book.  Since this blog is a YA Blog, I did debate long and hard about whether or not to post.   I finally decided that when I was in High School, I would have read this book.  And I would have loved it just as much then as I do now.

The book is full of insightful writing into a time of utter chaos in our national history. 

Many forget that there was a time when an educated woman was an embarrassment to the family.  Higher education was not encouraged among young women, either by the families or by the institutions of higher learning.  A woman in the classroom was taking away a seat from a man who would need the spot in order to furthur his education in order to feed his family.

When I was reading this book, I kept thinking "Finally - a smart woman's Gone With the Wind".  No one lusting after Ashley Wilkes.  No one playing stupid mind games in order to get the attention of a man.   Instead, the book has a smart, intelligent woman who is more about garnering more education.  OH, there is romance in the book.  There is heartbreak in the book.  But, this book keeps everything in balance.  It is a beautifully well written piece of work.

I'd recommend this book to anyone in high school or above.

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