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Overview
Fast-paced and well-researched historical novel, with a bittersweet romance, and a young woman's struggle to become a trauma surgeon, a profession unheard of for women in the 1890s. Becky Russell is a young woman training to be a clothing designer in Red Wing, Minnesota, on the shores of the Mississippi River. Bucking the propriety norms of the time, she and three friends take an unescorted excursion on a paddle steamer,Sea Wing, to Lake City to view a military display at the nearby National Guard camp. Little does she realize her life will change forever. When the Sea Wing flounders during the return trip to Red Wing, Becky's life is saved by a dashing young Army Lieutenant, Bill Cravats. Becky's close call with death and the loss of her closest friend solidifies her true passion for becoming a doctor, and even more unlikely, for the time, a trauma surgeon. As Becky and Bill slowly fall in love, events move to separate them. Bill is posted to Pine Ridge in South Dakota to help quell a native uprising, the pair are separated, but not before they become engaged. The story follows Bill's harrowing experiences at the Battle of Wounded Knee and the Battle of Bloody Pocket, a box canyon where the Indians have the 7th Cavalry pinned down, He is shot trying to sneak out to get help, his body is not found, and he is reported missing and presumed dead. Meanwhile, with the help of very influential proponetns of women's rights, Becky is accepted at the Minnesota Medical School and begins the torturous and challenging task of learning medicine and enduring the disdain and bullying of many of her male classmates, professors and even doctors. Upon learning that her fiance, Bill is presumed dead, she rejects not only the raditional role for women at the time (husband, kids, picket fence), she also shuns the typical "female" medical occupation - gynecology. Despite being first in her class every term, no major hospital, including the newly formed Mayo Clinic, will admit her into their trauma surgeon intern and residency programs. Determined, and with the help of her Medical School advisor and his son, Becky embarks on a wild journey to achieve her goal, which ultimately takes her to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during the Spanish-American War - and a surprise. Having been shot in the head and taken captive by the Indians when they left Bloody Pocket, Bill suffers memory loss. Not knowing who he is, and with no memory of Becky, he falls in love with Melia, the Chief's half-white granddaughter, a nurse, who has been providing his care. When he suddently recovers his memory after almost two years, Melia is pregnant. The Chief, one of the last great warriors, assured by Bill that he will marry Melia when they reach Pine Ridge, leads Bill back to Pine Ridge from the Badlands, and Joseph, the chief of the Native Indian Police force, accepts his tribe's "surrender."
Readers Favorite Reviewer Comments: Not the Same Water is a fun read, full of twists and turns that keep the reader engaged and even gasping at times. Author Karen Black has created two wonderful characters, Bill and Becky, to carry her tale of prejudice, injustice, and downright unfairness toward both women and Native Americans at the time. I particularly appreciated Becky's character as a woman able to retain her innate femininity but still aggressive and brave enough to challenge the status quo. Her valedictorian address at her graduation was as inspiring and beautiful to readers as I'm sure it was to the listeners in her story. The plotting is clever and intricate. Although I'm confident the main surprise in the narrative will be evident, the author kept us guessing for a long enough time to make us wonder if we'd got it right. I loved that the story was used to tell the events of Wounded Knee and Bloody Pocket from the Native American perspective. The use of Joseph's character to soften and understand better the attitude of the Native Americans to the intrusion of the white man was an inspired choicer. I learned a lot about the period and the locale from this story, and for me, a wonderful love story that educates is one to be lauded. This story does the job perfectly, and the author deserves the plaudits. This is one of the best books I've read this year; believe me, I read a lot. I can highly recommend this book.
Readers Favorite Reviewer Comments: Not the Same Water is a fun read, full of twists and turns that keep the reader engaged and even gasping at times. Author Karen Black has created two wonderful characters, Bill and Becky, to carry her tale of prejudice, injustice, and downright unfairness toward both women and Native Americans at the time. I particularly appreciated Becky's character as a woman able to retain her innate femininity but still aggressive and brave enough to challenge the status quo. Her valedictorian address at her graduation was as inspiring and beautiful to readers as I'm sure it was to the listeners in her story. The plotting is clever and intricate. Although I'm confident the main surprise in the narrative will be evident, the author kept us guessing for a long enough time to make us wonder if we'd got it right. I loved that the story was used to tell the events of Wounded Knee and Bloody Pocket from the Native American perspective. The use of Joseph's character to soften and understand better the attitude of the Native Americans to the intrusion of the white man was an inspired choicer. I learned a lot about the period and the locale from this story, and for me, a wonderful love story that educates is one to be lauded. This story does the job perfectly, and the author deserves the plaudits. This is one of the best books I've read this year; believe me, I read a lot. I can highly recommend this book.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940186094029 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Karen Black |
| Publication date: | 02/05/2024 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Sales rank: | 4,374 |
| File size: | 4 MB |
About the Author
Karen Black is a retired California Certified Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate attorney and a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA). Her diverse background “before law” included legal secretary, construction company estimator and office manager, award-winning Suzuki motorcycle dealer, and truck bumper and automotive parts salesperson.
Her husband, Cole Black, spent almost seven years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Captain Black was killed in 2007 when the private plane returning him from a speaking engagement in Roseburg, Oregon, ran out of gas and crashed near Bakersfield, CA.
Karen has four children from a previous marriage. Cole had two children from a prior marriage (one deceased). Together, they have ten grandchildren (one deceased) and eight great-grandchildren.
Karen has also published:
Code of Conduct. A novel based on her husband’s POW experience, coming home to a broken family.
TINMAN. She is the co-author of this suspense thriller.
Deadly Deception. Her newest novel is a murder mystery with international intrigue.
Fortitude. Her autobiography.
Her husband, Cole Black, spent almost seven years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. Captain Black was killed in 2007 when the private plane returning him from a speaking engagement in Roseburg, Oregon, ran out of gas and crashed near Bakersfield, CA.
Karen has four children from a previous marriage. Cole had two children from a prior marriage (one deceased). Together, they have ten grandchildren (one deceased) and eight great-grandchildren.
Karen has also published:
Code of Conduct. A novel based on her husband’s POW experience, coming home to a broken family.
TINMAN. She is the co-author of this suspense thriller.
Deadly Deception. Her newest novel is a murder mystery with international intrigue.
Fortitude. Her autobiography.
From the B&N Reads Blog
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