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My Name is Mary Sutter
My Name is Mary Sutter
Nov 29, 2025 2:08 PM

Author:Robin Oliveira

My Name is Mary Sutter

My Name is Mary Sutterby Robin Oliveira is an epic historical novel about a brilliant young woman's struggle to become a doctor during the American Civil War.

Mary Sutter, a brilliant young midwife, dreams of proving herself as capable as any man. But medical schools refuse to teach women. So when her heart is broken, she heads to Washington DC to tend the Civil War wounded. Assisted and encouraged by two surgeons, who both fall for her, and ignoring requests to return home to help her twin sister give birth, Mary pursues her dream of becoming a surgeon and saving lives - no matter the cost to herself or those she loves and no matter the harrowing conditions she has yet to face.

A brilliant portrait of an unforgettable heroine and a powerful evocation of trauma in the aftermath of battle, My Name is Mary Sutter is an utterly original story of one woman proving she is a match for any man.

'[Mary Sutter's] pluck will win you over within pages. A debut as confident as its heroine, it's a sweeping love story' Daily Mail

'This heroine is truly heroic' The Times

'Mary Sutter is a satisfyingly complex character; a tempestuous mixture of touching vulnerability and courageous single-mindedness' Marie Claire

Robin Oliveira received an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and was awarded the James Jones First Novel Fellowship for a work-in-progress for My Name is Mary Sutter. She lives in Seattle, Washington.

Reviews

This heroine is truly heroic

—— The Times

Mary Sutter is a satisfyingly complex character; a tempestuous mixture of touching vulnerability and courageous single-mindedness

—— Marie Claire

Extraordinary. Vivid, intelligent and expertly told

—— Woman & Home

[Mary Sutter's] pluck will win you over within pages. A debut as confident as its heroine, it's a sweeping love story

—— Daily Mail

Riveting. The language is beautiful and the story will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout

—— Herald Tribune

'The excitement and disquiet gained spectacular, page-turning momentum...There are many highlights in Nicoll's sweeping and assured narrative...but the real star of White Male Heart is the Highlands...it is his supreme gift that he pulls this off on the page. He creates a backdrop so vivid that it becomes integral to the action...Meaty stuff indeed'

—— Scotland on Sunday

'An explosively violent début...Nicoll reveals himself every bit as much a natural-born writer...lighting the fuses for his Highland Götterdämmerung'

—— The Scotsman

'At once both brutal and beautiful...White Male Heart owes an obvious debt to Iain Banks's The Wasp Factory and a less obvious one to Andrew Greig's Electric Brae, both also remarkable debut novels by Scottish men, but Ruaridh Nicoll stakes out a corner of the territory that is uniquely his. The quality of the observation is breathtaking ...this is an absorbing and uncomfortable read, raising as many questions as it answers about what it means to be a young man in a territory where the roles are few and growing more limited with every passing year. But White Male Heart has far wider relevance than that. This is a novel that is both heart-rending and heart-stopping but which never loses sight of the importance of the blackest of humour. It is without question a welcome and worthy addition to the growing sub-genre of tartan noir'

—— VAL McDERMID , The Express

Welsh performs the mysterious feat of making you think that his characters are real.

—— Theo Tait , Guardian

A brilliantly funny, scary, sweeping novel with all the energy of Welsh's debut, but imbued with a wider sense of political and social engagement.

—— Doug Johnstone , Independent on Sunday

It’s brilliant and even more thrilling than its predecessor.

—— Simon Humphreys , Mail on Sunday

Like Trainspotting, Skagboys thrusts along with the exuberance of its episodic stories. Welsh hasn't lost his flair for comic set pieces.

—— Robert Collins , Sunday Times

Quite simply a masterpiece…at least as assured and vibrant in its characterization as Trainspotting, Skagboys is even more on the money politically… This novel more than any other, (including its brilliant predecessor) stands as our spiritual and moral history.

—— Scotsman

It was never going to be light reading, but Welsh's vigour, wit and energy still make it compulsive.

—— Charlotte Sinclair , Vogue

Skagboys is a compelling tale…a seriously entertaining piece of work.

—— Peter Murphy , The Irish Times

If you too loved the colloquial tangle of Trainspotting, you'll find a similar rhythm in Skagboys.

—— Andrew Collins , Word Magazine

There is enough of what Welsh does well - needle-sharp dialogue, vivid characters and a certainty of place - to make Skagboys his best work in many years…an essential read.

—— Timothy Mo , Irish Examiner

A cracking read.

—— Time Out

Very good.

—— Sam Leith , Prospect

The prose flows easily, underpinned with a wry humour that counters the harsh, modern realism

—— Big Issue in the North

Totally awesome!

—— Edinburgh Evening News

I would recommend this book in a heartbeat...young or old - it's just brilliant!

—— Books4Teens.co.uk

In the safe hands of none other than Mr. Steven Spielberg, this is your last chance to read the book before the movie hype drowns out the written word. A mixed up dystopian fantasy adventure novel with more nods to 80’s pop culture than even the biggest John Hughes fan will be able to handle, it’s just a whole lot of fun to read

—— 'Best books of 2015’, All in London

This is one you need to read before EVERYONE knows about it!

—— So Feminine

Ultimately entertaining, enthusiastic and enjoyable. A real must-have for any collection…a beautifully constructed piece of escapism which will pull you in with such vigour that you miss your train stop.

—— Live Magazines

Powerful and very timely message

—— Guardian

This novel's great achievement is to capture the tensions and subtleties of a married life cut short… I read [it] virtually in one sitting, but that's a fairly common experience with Anne Tyler books… I didn't want it to end. Which is also a fairly common Tyler thing.

—— Viv Groskop , Independent on Sunday

The Beginner’s Goodbye is a very funny book … every incident is at once recognizably true to life and yet somehow utterly off-kilter.

—— Edmund Gordon , Times Literary Supplement

Brims with wry perceptiveness and rueful humour

—— Peter Kemp , Sunday Times (Books of the Year)

Tyler's playful humour imbues this unsentimental portrait of a mismatched marriage

—— Emma Hagestadt , Independent

A cleverly observed tale of an imperfect relationship and grief

—— Big Issue in the North

A bittersweet, utterly beguiling story of love and loss from a brilliant writer

—— John Koski , Mail on Sunday

Both compelling and deeply touching, once you start reading you won’t want The Beginner’s Goodbye to end

—— Hannah Britt , Daily Express

It begins with one of those sentences that impels you to read on…Tyler’s haunting tale of love and loss is intelligent, unsentimental and often wryly funny

—— The Lady

A lovely, stylish way to write a novel about marriage

—— William Leith , Evening Standard

A beautifully poignant portrait of marriage, loss and grief

—— Good Housekeeping

Exhibit[s] all the delicious readability that admirers of Tyler expect

—— Brandon Robshaw , Independent on Sunday

Both compelling and deeply touching, once you start reading you won't want The Beginner's Goodbye to end

—— Hannah Britt , Scottish Daily Express

An emotionally satisfying book with wise and moving moments

—— Good Housekeeping

Cline [crafts] a fresh and imaginative world from our old toy box ... Cline strikes the nerves of nerd culture as expertly as Andy played that skeleton organ in The Goonies.

—— Entertainment Weekly
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