BEA Week Giveaway: My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

An enthralling historical novel about a young woman's struggle to become a doctor during the Civil War

In this stunning first novel, Mary Sutter is a brilliant, head­strong midwife from Albany, New York, who dreams of becoming a surgeon. Determined to overcome the prejudices against women in medicine-and eager to run away from her recent heartbreak- Mary leaves home and travels to Washington, D.C. to help tend the legions of Civil War wounded. Under the guidance of William Stipp and James Blevens-two surgeons who fall unwittingly in love with Mary's courage, will, 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 pursues her medical career in the desperately overwhelmed hospitals of the capital.

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. Rich with historical detail (including marvelous depictions of Lincoln, Dorothea Dix, General McClellan, and John Hay among others), and full of the tragedies and challenges of wartime, My Name Is Mary Sutter is an exceptional novel. And in Mary herself, Robin Oliveira has created a truly unforgettable heroine whose unwavering determination and vulnerability will resonate with readers everywhere.

~Synopsis courtesy of the publisher

My Name Is Mary Sutter is published by Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-02167-3 Visit the author's website here.

I admit I'm running behind in my review of this one, but I have one copy to give away courtesy of the publisher. Winner will be drawn at random and must have a US or Canada mailing address. For one entry, just leave me a comment here. If you would like extra entries there are instructions below. Giveaway open through midnight eastern time on June 4.

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Good luck everyone, thank you for visiting and entering!

Review & Blog Tour: The Return by Victoria Hislop

Sonia's life in London is full, but not full of joy. She has a high stress job and a crumbling marriage. A chance stop at a dance studio and the resulting dance classes she enrolls in become the one area of her life that brings her happiness. So when her longtime friend Maggie decides to celebrate her birthday with a trip to Granada, Spain and asks Sonia to come, she jumps at the chance.

In Granada, the women decide to take dance classes and while Sonia is thrilled with the fun of the Salsa, Maggie is intrigued by the passion of the Flamenco dancers. While Maggie dances until dawn and sleeps all morning, Sonia is up early to enjoy the city.

On her first morning, she wanders to a small cafe, El Barril. She makes an unlikely friend there, her waiter Miguel, when she expresses an interest in the history of Granada and Spain. He turns out to be the owner of the cafe. When she goes inside, she is struck by the multitude of posters pasted on the wall, all showing one bullfighter or one flamenco dancer.

Their few days fly by and all too soon they are back in London. When Sonia goes to visit her elderly father she comes away with some surprising information. Her mother, who died from a degenerative disease when Sonia was a teenager, was from Granada. And her parents loved to dance when they were young, winning many competitions. But, as her father tells her, it was the fifties and everyone danced. She can't help but think that this is where her own love for dancing comes from.

As the weeks pass and Sonia's marriage becomes still worse, she thinks often of her time in Spain. Then, Maggie calls with the surprising news that she is going to live in Granada. She loved it there and can't stop thinking about it. As soon as she is settled, Sonia is invited to visit.

The first person Sonia wants to see after her arrival is Miguel. She has brought along a photo of her mother when she was young. She wants to know more about the history of her mother's birthplace. Miguel is the right one to ask. He tells her about the family who lived at and ran El Barril in the 1930's.

The Spanish Civil War was horrendous, bloody conflict. Miguel describes the war through the eyes of the Ramirez family, who owned the cafe. Pablo and Concha had four children: Antonio, a teacher; Ignacio, a bullfighter -and the man on the posters; Mercedes, a flamenco dancer -and the girl in the posters; and Emilio, a guitarist. Though they try to remain neutral, before long everyone is on one side or the other. The war turns brother against brother, even in the Ramirez family.

Mercedes is a talented young dancer and she is in love with a guitarist, a rising star named Javier Montero. The war separates the young couple as lines of communication are cut. Through the grief and tragedy Mercedes supports her family as best she can. But the day comes when she can wait no longer. If she is to have any chance at happiness in the war torn, hellish world she lives in, she must find Javier. She goes on foot, alone, walking from town to town, heartbroken by the violence and destruction everywhere but always searching.

When I was in London last April, The Return was out there and I saw it in every bookstore. So I was very excited to be able to read it for this tour. It is part modern novel with a bit of a mystery and part historical fiction. The author did a good job of describing the details of the Spanish Civil War, which I knew nothing at all about until I read this book. I did get a little confused about which political party was on what side at times, but that is probably due to my lack of education in this area. Which is why I love to read historical fiction! You gain some knowledge about a period while being totally entertained by a fantastic story. It is a vivid portrait of a turbulent time period. I really enjoyed it.

For more information about the author and her books, visit her website.

I received this book as part of the TLC Book Tour. For a list of all the tour stops, click here.

The Return is published by Harper, ISBN 978-0-06-171541-9

Giveaway: The Widow's War by Mary Mackey

How about some American historical fiction, for a change? This new novel, set in Kansas during the Civil War, promises to be exciting! Here's the synopsis from the publisher:

Carrie Vinton, a Kentucky native, finds herself alone and pregnant in Rio de Janeiro after her abolitionist fiancee, Dr. William Saylor, disappears. When Carrie receives word of William’s death from his deceitful stepbrother, Deacon Presgrove, the welfare of her unborn child becomes top priority, and thus, she accepts a marriage proposal from Presgrove for her baby’s sake.

After they return to Kansas , Carrie realizes she’s been tricked by Presgrove and his pro-slavery senator father. William is still alive! Their passionate reunion takes place in the midst of a violent civil war that will soon engulf the entire nation, but as abolitionists and proslavers battle to determine whether the Kansas Territory will enter the Union as a free or slave state, fire and fury sweep across the plains threatening to tear Carrie and William apart again, this time forever.

Attacking Carrie’s home, proslavers kidnap William and Carrie’s newborn child. Desperate to fight for what she believes in, to get her child back safely, and to be reunited with the man she loves, Carrie arms a cavalry unit of African-American soldiers and leads them on a rescue mission into the slave state of Missouri . Will Carrie’s determination and burning love be enough to save the two people she cares most about?

For more information about the author and all of her books, please visit her website. And if you are lucky enough to live in the beautiful San Francisco area, you can go to see her at the following upcoming events:

September 1st: at 7:00 p.m. Mary will be reading at Diesel Books, 5433 College Avenue, Oakland (near the Rockridge BART station) Phone: 510-653-9965. www.dieselbookstore.com.

September 3: Time Tested Books, 7:00 pm, 1114 21st Street, Sacramento. www.timetestedbooks.com

September 11: Mary Mackey will be reading from her new novel "The Widow's War" at Book Passage Bookstore, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd. Corte Madera, CA 94925; Phone 415-927-0960. 7:00 p.m.

I have two copies to give away, courtesy of Berkley Books (thanks, Kaitlyn!!) To enter, just leave me a comment here. The winners will be drawn at random and must have a US mailing address. Enter thru midnight eastern on September 12. Below are some ways for you to earn extra entries. Please leave ONE comment for each thing you choose to do. You can combine your comments together if you like but please do not leave multiple comments for the same extra thing (for example, one comment if you fave at Technorati or subscribe via Feedburner, not three). Thank you for visiting and entering!!

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