Contacts: Yen Cheong - yen.cheong@us.penguingroup.com / 212.366.2275
Lindsay Prevette - lindsay.prevette@us.penguingroup.com / 212.366.2224
Meredith Burks - meredith.burks@us.penguingroup.com / 212.366.2274
An enthralling debut novel about a young midwife's struggle to become a doctor during the Civil War
MY NAME IS MARY SUTTER
A novel by
Robin Oliveira
"Oliveira's graceful, assured portrayal of a courageous woman shines through in her outstanding debut novel...this impressive historical epic deserves a large readership."
—Booklist
"A rich debut [with] fine details that set this novel above the gauzier variety of Civil War fiction."
—Publishers Weekly
"A well-written and compelling debut that will engage all readers of historical fiction."
—Library Journal
"A magnificent Civil War epic, a saga of female liberation and a gorgeous love story. From Ireland's Corners, New York, to the over-crowded hospitals of Washington to battlefield surgeries, Mary Sutter's progress is gritty and passionate—a riveting read."
—Douglas Glover, author of Elle
"A vivid, dramatic novel about love, medicine, and the Civil War [with an] indomitable, memorable heroine whom the reader will root for until the very end."
—David Ebershoff, author of The 19th Wife and The Danish Girl
"There's more than a whiff of the classic in Oliveira's charming, compulsively readable historical tale."
—Janice Lee, author of The Piano Teacher
Instantly becoming an in-house favorite, Robin Oliveira's debut novel MY NAME IS MARY SUTTER (Viking; On-Sale: May 17, 2010; $26.95) is the epic story of a young woman who leaves her home in Albany to nurse the Civil War wounded, encountering prejudice, violence and devastation along the way, but through unwavering determination, becomes one of the nation’s first female doctors.
In this stunning historical novel, which opens on the eve of the Civil War, Mary Sutter is a brilliant, somewhat odd, yet remarkable young woman who has followed in her mother's footsteps to become a skilled midwife, but dreams of becoming a surgeon. When Mary seeks admission to medical school, she finds herself rejected because of her sex. Determined to overcome prejudices against women in medicine—and eager to escape recent heartbreak—Mary travels to Washington, D.C. to help tend the legions of Civil War wounded.
Under the guidance of Stipp and Blevens—two surgeons who unwittingly fall in love with Mary's courage 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 makes the impossible decision of remaining in the capital to pursue her medical career and tend to the endless numbers of sick and wounded soldiers.
Like Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain and Robert Hicks's The Widow of the South, MY NAME IS MARY SUTTER powerfully evokes the atmosphere of the period with rich historical details. But while Dorothea Dix, Abraham Lincoln and John Hay make cameo appearances throughout, the character that no one will be able to forget is Mary Sutter—a truly remarkable heroine whose unwavering determination and vulnerability will resonate with readers everywhere.
** Indie Next Pick for May **
BJ's May Book Club Pick
Robin Oliveira will be touring to New York, Madison, CT, Memphis, Atlanta, Raleigh, DC, Chicago, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Denver, Portland, San Francisco, and San Diego
www.robinoliveira.com
www.penguin.com
MY NAME IS MARY SUTTER • Robin Oliveira • Viking • $26.95
On-sale: May 17, 2010 • ISBN: 978-0-670-02167-3
For additional information or to schedule an interview with Robin Oliveira, contact:
Yen Cheong / 212.366.2275
Lindsay Prevette / 212.366.2224
Meredith Burks / 212.366.2274
Penguin Group (USA) Inc. is the U.S. member of the internationally renowned Penguin Group. Penguin Group (USA) is one of the leading U.S. adult and children's trade book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including Berkley Books, Dutton, Frederick Warne, G.P. Putnam's Sons, Grosset & Dunlap, New American Library, Penguin, Philomel, Riverhead Books and Viking, among others. The Penguin Group is part of Pearson plc, the international media company.