Title: The Women
Author: Kristin Hannah
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: February 6, 2024
Description:
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.
My Thoughts:
This was another one I’ve been meaning to get to for awhile. I know it was only published last year, but it seemed like everyone I knew was reading it as soon as it came out. I get nervous when a I have such high expectations for a book. But, I should’ve known Kristin Hannah wouldn’t let me down.
I haven’t read many books focused on the Vietnam War, and I thought Hannah handled the difficult subject with honesty and heart. The men in Frankie’s family have a long history of military service. She expects her family to be proud when she volunteers to go to Vietnam as a nurse. She soon finds out that their pride doesn’t extend to the women of the family. Then, after facing the horrors of war, she returns home to find that not only has the public opinion swayed toward all veterans, but the women don’t even qualify for support because they didn’t “see combat”.
Hannah knows how to tear out her readers’ hearts but leave them with hope. She creates characters that are so complex and real. With strong sensory details, you feel like you’ve been dropped into a war zone. As I read, I kept thinking about how much thought and meticulous research went into the writing of this novel. I had no reason to worry; it exceeded my expectations.
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