The Women by Kristin Hannah

An intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over- whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

Genre

Historical Fiction

480 pages, Hardcover

First published February 6, 2024

My Thoughts

I have read a lot of books an seen a lot of movies centered around the Vietnam War, but I have never read a book like this with the backdrop of that same war. Kristin Hannah takes on the Vietnam epic, but re-centers the story on the experience of women — in this instance, the military nurses who worked under fire, on bases and in field hospitals.

Hannah affirms our views of the Vietnam narrative. She may not offer any new takes on the war and its aftermath, but she gathers women into the experience with conviction. I thought she did a fantastic job of shedding light on things we don't always talk about and I appreciated the view of the war through the eyes of the women who were front and center.

I have seen a few criticisms of the novel, based on how historically accurate it is or isn't. Here is one example. Hannah is discussing the young men that Frankie sees. "The majority were Black or Hispanic or poor." The reviewer who didn't like this, said it simply isn't true and she cited her father's experience in the war. I would like to highlight the fact that sometimes when emotions get in the way, our objectivity as reviewers is impacted and we need to remember that each person's view of the war is exactly that -- one person's view. What she didn't share is that that is only part of the quote. Here is the entire quote. "The majority were Black or Hispanic or poor, straight out of high school. They didn't have parents who could pull strings to get them out of service or into the National Guard, or college classes to keep them safe, or girls who would marry them." I happen to believe this is a pretty accurate portrayal, but the bigger point is that it is the view through the eyes of Frankie the surgical nurse and our main character.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I did think the ending was a bit contrived but that was not enough to make me change my rating of this book. This one gets a solid 5 stars from me.