Nada A. reviewed on 6/9/2011 + 1389 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 3

This book started off very strong. The main character is Mary Sutter, a young woman in the 1860s. She is midwife as many generations of women in her family have been. She dreams of being a surgeon. Every door is closed to her as people cannot conceive of a woman surgeon. Surrounding Mary is a family and other very interesting characters. The characters are compelling and the story is well told.

Part way through the book, however, it transitions. From Mary's story, the book also becomes a story of the Civil War. At that point, for me, the book started to drag. It is still beautifully written, but I would rather have stayed completely with Mary's story without as much description and explanation of the war.

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