September 2010 BOTM: My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

[TLee]

This was a wonderful book. The author made you really feel like you were in those horrrible conditions in the hospitals. It opened my eyes as to what those poor injured soldiers had to go through. No wonder so many of them died.

[rockygirl]

I'm teaching the Civil War right now and have been using some of the less horrible medical information in class.

[Divia]

[quote=""rockygirl""]I'm teaching the Civil War right now and have been using some of the less horrible medical information in class.[/quote]

That's cool. What are your student's reactions?

[rockygirl]

[quote=""Divia""]That's cool. What are your student's reactions?[/quote]

My students are very literal. They wanted to know why good doctors did not help the soldiers, and I had a hard time making them understand that all doctors didn't understand infections, etc.

[Divia]

I'm really disappointed that this book didn't get more discussion.

[Michy]

I'm a little behind the game, but... I just picked this book up from the library yesterday. I started it this evening, and read three chapters. I'm liking it so far. The author's style is unique -- I can't quite put my finger on it, her use of parenthetical remarks is different, for one thing -- but I like it.

[Brenna]

I am behind the mark as well, but I was number 29 the library list, so I'm lucky I got it before Christmas. I am completely engrossed in this book (as I sit here at work and wish I had brought it to read at lunchtime). For those in the States, it is similar to Dr. Quinn ( I made the same reference to S. Donati's Into the Wilderness Series). Although Mary has the support of most of her family, she is a woman fighting to be a woman doctor in a man's world. I'm not that far into it (Mary just met Dr. Stipp) but I'm loving the characters already. I'm also afraid by all of the crying remarks made on here-I don't want it to be like John Jake's North and the South where I cried the whole last book. Oy....

[Divia]

I'm glad you guys have been able to pick it up.

The author does have a unique style that drew me into the book. I loved the characters and felt they were very real.

Mary's struggle is very real. And the way the author captured doctoring in the Victorian Era is amazing and frightening.

[Michy]

I'm almost half-way through and still enjoying it. Although there are aspects of Mary and Bonnie that speak to me, there's something about the writer's style that keeps me somewhat disconnected. That's not to say that I'm not enjoying the book, only that I feel like a stand-off observer, and I can't imagine at this point that the book will tap into my emotions enough to be wrenching or make me cry. Although I guess a lot could change between now and the end.

It is interesting to read the descriptions of Washington DC back then, since I just visited the city in April. For instance, there is a brief mention that Mary Lincoln was staying at the Soldier's Home -- that was part of our trip. It has only been opened up for tours for a couple of years, and it is now called "Lincoln's Cottage."

Also, I had learned a little about Dorothea Dix from my friend who took the trip with me. She is an R.N. who knows quite a bit about the history of nursing, and it was seeing Miss Dix's portrait at the National Portrait Gallery that triggered the conversation. Apparently she was a real dragon. But she did a lot to further nursing and help it become a serious occupation for women.

Reading about the soldier's conditions -- the camp life, the lack of necessities, the appalling lack of sanitation and medical care -- reminds me of what I have read about the Revolutionary War. In both cases it is pretty amazing that anyone survived.

[Brenna]

Michy-

That is too funny, because my husband and I were there over Christmas and visited the "Cottage." I was thinking of the exact same things as I was reading the book. That and how anyone survived those god awful conditions.