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The Women
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.
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.
480 pages, Hardcover
First published February 6, 2024
About the author
Kristin Hannah
134 books226k followersKristin Hannah is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels including the international blockbuster, The Nightingale, which was named Goodreads Best Historical fiction novel for 2015 and won the coveted People's Choice award for best fiction in the same year. It was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, iTunes, Buzzfeed, the Wall Street Journal, Paste, and The Week. In 2018,
The Great Alone became an instant New York Times #1 bestseller and was named the Best Historical Novel of the Year by Goodreads.
The Four Winds was published in February of 2021 and immediately hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Indie bookstore's bestseller lists. Additionally, it was selected as a book club pick by the both Today Show and The Book Of the Month club, which named it the best book of 2021.
Firefly Lane, her beloved novel about two best friends, was the #1 Netflix series around the world, in the week it came out. The popular tv show stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke and Season Two is currently set to conclude the series on April 27, 2023.
Her new novel, The Women, about a young woman coming of age during the turbulent 1960's in America, who joins the Army Nurse Corps and serves in Vietnam will be published February 6th, 2024.
A former attorney, Kristin lives in the Pacific Northwest.
The Great Alone became an instant New York Times #1 bestseller and was named the Best Historical Novel of the Year by Goodreads.
The Four Winds was published in February of 2021 and immediately hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Indie bookstore's bestseller lists. Additionally, it was selected as a book club pick by the both Today Show and The Book Of the Month club, which named it the best book of 2021.
Firefly Lane, her beloved novel about two best friends, was the #1 Netflix series around the world, in the week it came out. The popular tv show stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke and Season Two is currently set to conclude the series on April 27, 2023.
Her new novel, The Women, about a young woman coming of age during the turbulent 1960's in America, who joins the Army Nurse Corps and serves in Vietnam will be published February 6th, 2024.
A former attorney, Kristin lives in the Pacific Northwest.
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May 8, 2024
Don’t believe the lie if somebody insists that there were no women in Vietnam. They were there! They served their country, struggling with tragedies, PTSD, and casualties as well. But there was one crucial difference for them: they were never considered war heroes. Nobody applauded them for the sacrifices they made or awarded them medals. They didn't receive praise for their service, and when they attempted to speak about the psychologically consuming experiences they went through, they were silenced, as they weren't even recognized as veterans. This work is dedicated to the women who served their country both militarily and as civilian women stationed in Vietnam – heroines who need to be remembered, praised, and admired.
This time, Kristin Hannah takes us back to the mid-sixties, shortly after JFK was shot in Texas. The country's primary focus is battling communism, and in pursuit of this mission, numerous troops comprising young Americans are sent to Vietnam.
I highly recommend keeping some napkins, handkerchiefs, or tissues close by, as you'll need them during your reading experience. Another word of caution: don't plan anything extensive for your day, because once you start reading this book and tell yourself you'll only read a few pages before setting it down, that plan might not hold. From the moment you dive into Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s story, you'll become engrossed. It's almost as if you're under a spell – you won't be able to put it down. Her story will grip you, tearing at your heartstrings and evoking numerous tears, as you connect with her fears, heartbreaks, pains, anger, and frustrations. You can practically hear her internal screams and the words she's forced to bottle up because nobody wants to listen. She might be the most honest, poignant, tough, and resilient heroine the author has ever created. So, my advice is to clear your schedule, go with the flow, and allow the story to transport you to the jungles of Vietnam, where the echoing sound of helipads reverberates in your ears, and you find yourself in a hospital surrounded by young soldiers uttering their final messages to their loved ones.
The book commences at a house party on Coronado Island, celebrating Frankie’s brother's enlistment. Frankie decides to take a break in her father's study, where a "hero’s walk" is displayed, featuring photos of the family's men who served in various wars. Now, her brother will be added to this wall. But why can't she be included too? It's in this moment that she realizes her brother's best friend, Rye, is also hiding in the room, questioning her: why can't a woman be a hero as well? This question alters everything for Frankie and challenges the life plans her family has set out for her. They expect her to marry and have children, conforming to the norms of the early sixties. However, she decides that she, too, can be a hero, serving her country and making her family proud, just like her brother did. She applies to the Army Nurse Corps to follow in her brother's footsteps.
Her conservative and highly respected family doesn't support her decision, and when a tragic piece of news arrives unexpectedly, Frankie's life takes a sharp turn before she embarks on her earth-shattering journey.
Soon, she finds herself amidst chaos and destruction, realizing that as a young, innocent, and inexperienced woman, she's like a fish in a bottle tossed into a dangerous ocean teeming with sharks. Within a short span of time, she becomes terrified, numb, and exhausted, navigating days where her heart breaks as she witnesses soldiers younger than her brother losing their lives and civilians becoming expendable amidst the chaos. As Frankie edges closer to collapse, nearly drowning in sorrow, her friends Barb and Ethel extend a lifeline, offering enough emotional support to keep her from giving up.
The book takes us on a 20-year journey with Frankie, spanning two terms of her life as she struggles to save herself. She risks her life in the process, and upon her return, she realizes that she's not regarded as a war hero like the men who fought in combat. People avoid discussing the war, and even her own family treats her as though she's done something to embarrass them, something they'd rather not acknowledge. During the day, she's compelled to blend into the community, resuming where she left off before the war, while at night, she battles her nightmares and the clutches of PTSD. She comes to understand that she's not the proud, ideal girl her family wanted her to be and never can be. Eventually, she gives in.
Frankie's painful journey, marked by her substantial losses, her battles with addiction, and her anger toward those who betrayed and disrespected her, is portrayed with remarkable realism. You can feel her emotions; they're everywhere. You ache, you cry, you feel resentment, and you sigh. You experience every pain she carries as if it's a blow to your own face.
She's one of the women from the war whose stories need to be told, remembered, cherished, and respected. Will she overcome her inner demons? Will she learn to heal from her pain, forgive those who worsened her suffering, embrace her flaws, and confront her fears that she's afraid to share with others? Will she ultimately find the peace she's searching for? Read her story to uncover the answers.
I'm still recovering from the impact of this book. My heart is a whirlwind of different emotions. While some characters may seem fictional initially, as you delve into their stories, you'll develop an immediate connection that makes these characters a part of you, lingering in your life indefinitely. Frankie is one such character – unforgettable, courageous, vulnerable, tarnished but not broken, poignant, and dependable.
I believe this might be my favorite work by Kristin Hannah. After reading her closing note, I gained a deeper appreciation for the years of hard work she put into creating these vivid characters and crafting realistic descriptions of war zones, leading us on this unforgettable journey. This book will likely be one of the standout reads of 2024, and I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to read it.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a digital review copy of this amazing book in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
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This time, Kristin Hannah takes us back to the mid-sixties, shortly after JFK was shot in Texas. The country's primary focus is battling communism, and in pursuit of this mission, numerous troops comprising young Americans are sent to Vietnam.
I highly recommend keeping some napkins, handkerchiefs, or tissues close by, as you'll need them during your reading experience. Another word of caution: don't plan anything extensive for your day, because once you start reading this book and tell yourself you'll only read a few pages before setting it down, that plan might not hold. From the moment you dive into Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s story, you'll become engrossed. It's almost as if you're under a spell – you won't be able to put it down. Her story will grip you, tearing at your heartstrings and evoking numerous tears, as you connect with her fears, heartbreaks, pains, anger, and frustrations. You can practically hear her internal screams and the words she's forced to bottle up because nobody wants to listen. She might be the most honest, poignant, tough, and resilient heroine the author has ever created. So, my advice is to clear your schedule, go with the flow, and allow the story to transport you to the jungles of Vietnam, where the echoing sound of helipads reverberates in your ears, and you find yourself in a hospital surrounded by young soldiers uttering their final messages to their loved ones.
The book commences at a house party on Coronado Island, celebrating Frankie’s brother's enlistment. Frankie decides to take a break in her father's study, where a "hero’s walk" is displayed, featuring photos of the family's men who served in various wars. Now, her brother will be added to this wall. But why can't she be included too? It's in this moment that she realizes her brother's best friend, Rye, is also hiding in the room, questioning her: why can't a woman be a hero as well? This question alters everything for Frankie and challenges the life plans her family has set out for her. They expect her to marry and have children, conforming to the norms of the early sixties. However, she decides that she, too, can be a hero, serving her country and making her family proud, just like her brother did. She applies to the Army Nurse Corps to follow in her brother's footsteps.
Her conservative and highly respected family doesn't support her decision, and when a tragic piece of news arrives unexpectedly, Frankie's life takes a sharp turn before she embarks on her earth-shattering journey.
Soon, she finds herself amidst chaos and destruction, realizing that as a young, innocent, and inexperienced woman, she's like a fish in a bottle tossed into a dangerous ocean teeming with sharks. Within a short span of time, she becomes terrified, numb, and exhausted, navigating days where her heart breaks as she witnesses soldiers younger than her brother losing their lives and civilians becoming expendable amidst the chaos. As Frankie edges closer to collapse, nearly drowning in sorrow, her friends Barb and Ethel extend a lifeline, offering enough emotional support to keep her from giving up.
The book takes us on a 20-year journey with Frankie, spanning two terms of her life as she struggles to save herself. She risks her life in the process, and upon her return, she realizes that she's not regarded as a war hero like the men who fought in combat. People avoid discussing the war, and even her own family treats her as though she's done something to embarrass them, something they'd rather not acknowledge. During the day, she's compelled to blend into the community, resuming where she left off before the war, while at night, she battles her nightmares and the clutches of PTSD. She comes to understand that she's not the proud, ideal girl her family wanted her to be and never can be. Eventually, she gives in.
Frankie's painful journey, marked by her substantial losses, her battles with addiction, and her anger toward those who betrayed and disrespected her, is portrayed with remarkable realism. You can feel her emotions; they're everywhere. You ache, you cry, you feel resentment, and you sigh. You experience every pain she carries as if it's a blow to your own face.
She's one of the women from the war whose stories need to be told, remembered, cherished, and respected. Will she overcome her inner demons? Will she learn to heal from her pain, forgive those who worsened her suffering, embrace her flaws, and confront her fears that she's afraid to share with others? Will she ultimately find the peace she's searching for? Read her story to uncover the answers.
I'm still recovering from the impact of this book. My heart is a whirlwind of different emotions. While some characters may seem fictional initially, as you delve into their stories, you'll develop an immediate connection that makes these characters a part of you, lingering in your life indefinitely. Frankie is one such character – unforgettable, courageous, vulnerable, tarnished but not broken, poignant, and dependable.
I believe this might be my favorite work by Kristin Hannah. After reading her closing note, I gained a deeper appreciation for the years of hard work she put into creating these vivid characters and crafting realistic descriptions of war zones, leading us on this unforgettable journey. This book will likely be one of the standout reads of 2024, and I consider myself fortunate to have had the opportunity to read it.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a digital review copy of this amazing book in exchange for my honest thoughts.
Follow me on medium.com to read my articles about books, movies, streaming series, astrology:
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April 8, 2024
Well, I am going to be That Person. That Person who does not rate the book everyone is raving about 5 stars. I just can’t. And here’s why…
First of all, I do want to say that I very much appreciate that Kristin Hannah chose to write a novel about something other than World War 2. It was refreshing to read about the Vietnam War, a war about which very few novels have been written. Furthermore, I appreciate that she focused on the women. Women’s contributions and experiences in history are often overlooked and probably more so in regards to the Vietnam War. I, for one, honestly never thought about it.
Secondly, Hannah does capture the setting very vividly. There are a lot of gory war scenes, you can feel the heat of the jungle, the stress, the exhaustion, etc. Similarly, she captured the experience of PTSD well (as far as I know, not having experienced it myself). I think it’s important to have this experience vividly exposed both for the sake of empathy as well as for those who have gone through it to feel heard and seen. She clearly did a ton of research on PTSD as well as on the war and the time period.
So why not the raving 5 stars? Quite simply, because Kristin Hannah likes to jerk people around emotionally and because the romance in this is obnoxiously awful.
First things first - and I don’t have anything else to say about this - I despise the title. Moving on…
**A few spoilers ahead.**
Emotionally, this book is seriously “everything but the kitchen sink”. Just throw in every tragic thing you can think of, it’s there. Just when you think something good might happen, nope. The tragedy gets almost repetitive and boring. Like, how many times do I want to read about wanting her father’s approval or about how cold her mother is? How many times do I want to read about her bloody clothes and the mud and men’s gaping wounds? How many times do I want to read about her drunken pill popping à la Valley of the Dolls? In a few cases, tragedy conveniently disposed of some plot points and characters which I found annoying. For instance, rather than Frankie having an honest conversation with another character, something traumatic occurs so she doesn’t have to. Do I get that the war trauma (both during and at home)was unending? Absolutely. That’s not really my issue. Kristin Hannah likes to pile on the tragedy and trauma in many of her books; it’s her formula and it gets tiresome after awhile.
And the romance. Ugh, don’t get me started. I predicted basically what would happen every single time a love interest was introduced and I was right. She falls in love suddenly with no real reason other than feelings like “he brought her back to life”. Gag me. That’s not real, especially not after a 5 minute conversation. Why do any of these men deserve to be adored? I can’t see it. None of them were particularly stellar specimens. You can tell me these relationships were realistic all you want but I’m not obligated to like these guys or just gloss over the repeated adultery (that continues after the war). Hannah’s presentation of the romances is sentimental, cheesy and predictable. She does this in her books a lot. And I’m sorry but nothing will compel me to be ok with not one but two men coming back from the dead.
This is a highly readable book and you’ll be turning the pages fast. I hope that we continue to hear more about underappreciated women in history (and this book did make me want to know more). However, I would have preferred less piled on tragedy and fewer contrived, sentimental plotlines.
Pub date: Feb 6, 2024
First of all, I do want to say that I very much appreciate that Kristin Hannah chose to write a novel about something other than World War 2. It was refreshing to read about the Vietnam War, a war about which very few novels have been written. Furthermore, I appreciate that she focused on the women. Women’s contributions and experiences in history are often overlooked and probably more so in regards to the Vietnam War. I, for one, honestly never thought about it.
Secondly, Hannah does capture the setting very vividly. There are a lot of gory war scenes, you can feel the heat of the jungle, the stress, the exhaustion, etc. Similarly, she captured the experience of PTSD well (as far as I know, not having experienced it myself). I think it’s important to have this experience vividly exposed both for the sake of empathy as well as for those who have gone through it to feel heard and seen. She clearly did a ton of research on PTSD as well as on the war and the time period.
So why not the raving 5 stars? Quite simply, because Kristin Hannah likes to jerk people around emotionally and because the romance in this is obnoxiously awful.
First things first - and I don’t have anything else to say about this - I despise the title. Moving on…
**A few spoilers ahead.**
Emotionally, this book is seriously “everything but the kitchen sink”. Just throw in every tragic thing you can think of, it’s there. Just when you think something good might happen, nope. The tragedy gets almost repetitive and boring. Like, how many times do I want to read about wanting her father’s approval or about how cold her mother is? How many times do I want to read about her bloody clothes and the mud and men’s gaping wounds? How many times do I want to read about her drunken pill popping à la Valley of the Dolls? In a few cases, tragedy conveniently disposed of some plot points and characters which I found annoying. For instance, rather than Frankie having an honest conversation with another character, something traumatic occurs so she doesn’t have to. Do I get that the war trauma (both during and at home)was unending? Absolutely. That’s not really my issue. Kristin Hannah likes to pile on the tragedy and trauma in many of her books; it’s her formula and it gets tiresome after awhile.
And the romance. Ugh, don’t get me started. I predicted basically what would happen every single time a love interest was introduced and I was right. She falls in love suddenly with no real reason other than feelings like “he brought her back to life”. Gag me. That’s not real, especially not after a 5 minute conversation. Why do any of these men deserve to be adored? I can’t see it. None of them were particularly stellar specimens. You can tell me these relationships were realistic all you want but I’m not obligated to like these guys or just gloss over the repeated adultery (that continues after the war). Hannah’s presentation of the romances is sentimental, cheesy and predictable. She does this in her books a lot. And I’m sorry but nothing will compel me to be ok with not one but two men coming back from the dead.
This is a highly readable book and you’ll be turning the pages fast. I hope that we continue to hear more about underappreciated women in history (and this book did make me want to know more). However, I would have preferred less piled on tragedy and fewer contrived, sentimental plotlines.
Pub date: Feb 6, 2024
September 2, 2023
easiest 5 stars ever!!! it will be nearly IMPOSSIBLE for readers to not love this book. Kristin Hannah is BACK and she has done it again 👏🏼🙏🏼😭❤️
and to answer everyone’s question to me so far… THE NIGHTINGALE is my fave book of all time and therefore my favorite KH book. but… THE WOMEN is right beside it ❤️🙌🏼
a full review is over on my IG, but my quick thoughts:
💔 heartbreaking subject matter. very specific and real stories about The Vietnam War and also life post-war and what that was like for the Vets that returned home
📖 the pacing is on fire. the first half of the book has you flipping pages so fast—the action is page after page after page. it’s 450+ pages but moved QUICK—i finished in 24 hours and could have binged it in one sitting if i had the time
📖 Frankie is one of my fave MCs ever. she’s badass and flawed and tough and inspiring and emotional and an absolutely beautiful woman. she does some bad things but again, she is human and flawed and she is suffering
📖 the female friendships and themes in this book will make your heart so happy
📖 the research KH must have done for this book is INSANE. like so many other hisfic novels, it’s incredibly eye opening and educational. it shows you sides of the Vietnam War you probably have never seen or heard of before, and also brings things you have heard of to light in a very real way
📖 the ending will ruin you in the best way. the tears were definitely flowing but i wouldn’t have changed a single thing 😭❤️❤️❤️👏🏼 i cried the entire last 10 pages. each paragraph hit me harder than the one previously 🥹😂😭
📖 the love stories are very prevalent but try not to get caught up in them—it’s so much more than a woman and her love interests
in her author’s note she mentions how long she’s wanted to write this book but how she wanted to build the courage and strength to do the story justice and boy oh boy did she ever. as someone (like so many others) with a very close family member who fought in Vietnam… this really hits close to home. so much of what is explained and illustrated in this book is what really happened in Vietnam and how some of the veterans really felt and it’s heartbreaking and an important story to be told. it makes me want to be able to call my relatives and talk about what they went through and relive those stories again with them, but they are now at peace 🙏🏼💔
THANK YOU to my friends at St Martins Press for gifting me this early. all opinions and thoughts as always are my own.
i know we don’t want to wait until Feb 2024 to have this out in the world (i want to talk to everyone about it right now…), but i promise it will be WELL worth the wait.
thank you, Kristin, for telling this story of The Women during the Vietnam War ❤️
*EDIT: adding in my fave quotes from the book! 🚨 potential spoilers ahead 🚨
❤️❤️❤️
“Women can be heroes.”
“No fear, McGrath. You can do this.”
“Maybe happy now, happy for a moment, is all we really get. Happy forever seems like a shitload to ask in a world on fire.”
“There are no women in Vietnam, dear.”
“She needed to do as everyone suggested and forget.”
“She was never exactly sure what she was ashamed of, jsut that she was weak, or had somehow done something bad, been a part of something bad, something no one wanted to talk about.”
“We don’t really talk about it.”
“The war no one wants to remember.”
“Thank you for finally remembering us.”
“You and me, McGrath. Finally.”
and to answer everyone’s question to me so far… THE NIGHTINGALE is my fave book of all time and therefore my favorite KH book. but… THE WOMEN is right beside it ❤️🙌🏼
a full review is over on my IG, but my quick thoughts:
💔 heartbreaking subject matter. very specific and real stories about The Vietnam War and also life post-war and what that was like for the Vets that returned home
📖 the pacing is on fire. the first half of the book has you flipping pages so fast—the action is page after page after page. it’s 450+ pages but moved QUICK—i finished in 24 hours and could have binged it in one sitting if i had the time
📖 Frankie is one of my fave MCs ever. she’s badass and flawed and tough and inspiring and emotional and an absolutely beautiful woman. she does some bad things but again, she is human and flawed and she is suffering
📖 the female friendships and themes in this book will make your heart so happy
📖 the research KH must have done for this book is INSANE. like so many other hisfic novels, it’s incredibly eye opening and educational. it shows you sides of the Vietnam War you probably have never seen or heard of before, and also brings things you have heard of to light in a very real way
📖 the ending will ruin you in the best way. the tears were definitely flowing but i wouldn’t have changed a single thing 😭❤️❤️❤️👏🏼 i cried the entire last 10 pages. each paragraph hit me harder than the one previously 🥹😂😭
📖 the love stories are very prevalent but try not to get caught up in them—it’s so much more than a woman and her love interests
in her author’s note she mentions how long she’s wanted to write this book but how she wanted to build the courage and strength to do the story justice and boy oh boy did she ever. as someone (like so many others) with a very close family member who fought in Vietnam… this really hits close to home. so much of what is explained and illustrated in this book is what really happened in Vietnam and how some of the veterans really felt and it’s heartbreaking and an important story to be told. it makes me want to be able to call my relatives and talk about what they went through and relive those stories again with them, but they are now at peace 🙏🏼💔
THANK YOU to my friends at St Martins Press for gifting me this early. all opinions and thoughts as always are my own.
i know we don’t want to wait until Feb 2024 to have this out in the world (i want to talk to everyone about it right now…), but i promise it will be WELL worth the wait.
thank you, Kristin, for telling this story of The Women during the Vietnam War ❤️
*EDIT: adding in my fave quotes from the book! 🚨 potential spoilers ahead 🚨
❤️❤️❤️
“Women can be heroes.”
“No fear, McGrath. You can do this.”
“Maybe happy now, happy for a moment, is all we really get. Happy forever seems like a shitload to ask in a world on fire.”
“There are no women in Vietnam, dear.”
“She needed to do as everyone suggested and forget.”
“She was never exactly sure what she was ashamed of, jsut that she was weak, or had somehow done something bad, been a part of something bad, something no one wanted to talk about.”
“We don’t really talk about it.”
“The war no one wants to remember.”
“Thank you for finally remembering us.”
“You and me, McGrath. Finally.”
February 12, 2024
Women can be heroes.
4 1/2 stars. Kristin Hannah certainly knows how to take a sledgehammer to your heart and she is NOT afraid to do it.
Hannah's reads are so powerful and harrowing that I can forgive a few negatives, like here I think the major plot points of the story are quite predictable-- yet they still hit me like a ton of bricks, their impact not lessened by the fact I'd seen them coming. Maybe this one was easier to predict as I'm getting used to the author's formula. Her novels take us to vastly different times and places but she uses similar tricks to engage the reader. I’m not complaining: it works.
This book is an epic on women in the Vietnam War. Hannah introduces us to bright-eyed and naive nurse Frances "Frankie" McGrath, who longs for a place on her father's "Hero's Wall" and so volunteers for service in Vietnam.
It is an understatement to say she didn't know what she was getting into. Frankie finds herself in hell on Earth, struggling to help put together men who have been blown apart, watching Vietnamese children die from napalm burns, losing friends for a cause none of them even understand. Those sensitive to graphic depictions of injuries should steer clear-- as a nurse in Vietnam, Frankie witnesses some of the most horrific things in our world.
"We've developed the skills to save their bodies, but not their lives," Captain Smith said.
But this is not just a story about the war itself. It is a story of a young woman's growth, aging impossibly in a short amount of time. Her friends, Barb and Ethel, keep her spirits up at the worst times, and the funny dialogue between them is a major highlight of the novel. She falls in love and this, too, gives her hope for the future.
How could she go from red alert sirens and saving lives to butter knives and champagne?
Only half of this story is set in Vietnam; the other half is about coming home and living afterwards. It's not easy to say which one is more difficult. There was no hero's welcome for those returning from Vietnam. Veterans were cursed at and spat on. Many were left with irreparable damage from their time in the war. For some, it was the loss of a limb. For many, it was the loss of something harder to explain. While psychiatric help began to be offered, it was typically for male veterans.
As with several of Hannah's other books, she once again shines a light on the women who have been erased from history. The female veterans she spoke with for this book told her how they often heard "There were no women in Vietnam." I cannot imagine how it must feel to risk your life, sacrifice your youth and peace of mind, and be told that it didn't even happen.
Another horrible, ugly, powerful book from one of my must-read authors.
As well as graphic injuries, this may not be suitable to those sensitive to depictions of substance abuse and .
January 14, 2024
Hot Take: This book would never end
The Women details Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s experience serving in the Vietnam War as a nurse. And her transition into civilian life.
This book had no plot—it is based on one character. The problem is….Frankie isn’t likeable. She is an entitled, spoiled rich girl. She has everything handed to her, and her reason for going to war was to be on the hero’s wall and not wanting to work her way up at the hospital. Although she constantly pulls on her veteran roommates, she couldn’t be bothered to provide support to nurses that arrived after her. Apparently, she hasn’t heard of paying it forward.
Hannah also never gets into what makes Frankie so unique, what makes her special, what drives her. What about her would the world miss if she was gone?
My favorite author says it best: “Every sentence I write is surrounded by the ghosts of the sentences I could have written at that point but chose not to.” In The Women, I wanted to hear about the other servicewomen. After Part 1, it was time to transition to someone else. How did Major Goldstein, the chief nurse, get to her position and how did she cope with placing the nurses, determining their fates? Why didn’t we shift to Ethel and Barb and what happened before Frankie?
Additionally, Hannah is far too verbose, leaving the reader to wade through needless paragraphs, inserting uninteresting details. Sorry, I just don’t care about the cheap motel especially at the end of the book. Not sorry.
The foreshadowing is so heavy that the book becomes predictable, and there are far too many characters—all of them are undeveloped. The author did far too much telling instead of showing. Show us memories of Finley and Frances. Give us the backstory on Ethel and Barb. Don’t tell us. Show us.
Although I greatly enjoyed learning more about the brave women who valiantly served our country, this book was a chore to read.
*Thanks, NetGalley, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion.
How much I spent:
Electronic text – Free/Nada/Zilch through NetGalley provided by publisher
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The Women details Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s experience serving in the Vietnam War as a nurse. And her transition into civilian life.
This book had no plot—it is based on one character. The problem is….Frankie isn’t likeable. She is an entitled, spoiled rich girl. She has everything handed to her, and her reason for going to war was to be on the hero’s wall and not wanting to work her way up at the hospital. Although she constantly pulls on her veteran roommates, she couldn’t be bothered to provide support to nurses that arrived after her. Apparently, she hasn’t heard of paying it forward.
Hannah also never gets into what makes Frankie so unique, what makes her special, what drives her. What about her would the world miss if she was gone?
My favorite author says it best: “Every sentence I write is surrounded by the ghosts of the sentences I could have written at that point but chose not to.” In The Women, I wanted to hear about the other servicewomen. After Part 1, it was time to transition to someone else. How did Major Goldstein, the chief nurse, get to her position and how did she cope with placing the nurses, determining their fates? Why didn’t we shift to Ethel and Barb and what happened before Frankie?
Additionally, Hannah is far too verbose, leaving the reader to wade through needless paragraphs, inserting uninteresting details. Sorry, I just don’t care about the cheap motel especially at the end of the book. Not sorry.
The foreshadowing is so heavy that the book becomes predictable, and there are far too many characters—all of them are undeveloped. The author did far too much telling instead of showing. Show us memories of Finley and Frances. Give us the backstory on Ethel and Barb. Don’t tell us. Show us.
Although I greatly enjoyed learning more about the brave women who valiantly served our country, this book was a chore to read.
*Thanks, NetGalley, for a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and unbiased opinion.
How much I spent:
Electronic text – Free/Nada/Zilch through NetGalley provided by publisher
Connect With Me!
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February 6, 2024
***HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY - ONE OF MY TOP 5 BOOKS OF 2023 ***
There have been books written about some things that occurred in the 60’s – the music, the activism, the “summer of love”, the protests over the war, but this is the first book that I’ve read that has touched my heart so deeply.
If not for a high lottery number, my husband would have been one of the thousands of young men who fought in this senseless war.
Women have been largely ignored in most wars and it seems the same was the case in the Vietnam War (the Vietnamese called it the American war). The government misinformed the public about so much, including the fact that WOMEN WERE THERE TOO!
Frankie McGrath’s brother has just enlisted and she decides to follow him, she enlists in the Army. Just out of nursing school and only 20 years old, she has no idea what to expect. She had lived a sheltered life on Coronado island, her parents were well off and she had an idyllic childhood.
Once in Vietnam she is thrust into taking care of severely wounded men, horrible living conditions and a lack of trained staff. She is unprepared for what is ahead. She will not only learn nursing in extreme conditions but eventually taught how to do surgical procedures. Her base camp had one doctor and three nurses along with medics to care for the hundreds of injured men. Frankie came to dread the sound of helicopters approaching!!
She is fortunate to have incredible roommates who will be her friends for life. She learns love and heartache, loss, anger and frustration.
Upon returning home, there is no welcome, not even from her parents. After all of the parades and sit-ins to protest the war, no one seems to want to SEE THOSE WHO FOUGHT FOR THEIR COUNTRY.
Eventually with lots of help Frankie carves out a life. She had to hit rock bottom before she got help. She struggled with PTSD, depression, alcoholism and betrayal on her path to a new life.
The author states that this was a book that she had wanted to write for a long time. I applaud you Ms. Hannah for putting your heart and incredible research into this book.
“Women can be heroes too” – and they so often are even though their voices aren’t always heard.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.
There have been books written about some things that occurred in the 60’s – the music, the activism, the “summer of love”, the protests over the war, but this is the first book that I’ve read that has touched my heart so deeply.
If not for a high lottery number, my husband would have been one of the thousands of young men who fought in this senseless war.
Women have been largely ignored in most wars and it seems the same was the case in the Vietnam War (the Vietnamese called it the American war). The government misinformed the public about so much, including the fact that WOMEN WERE THERE TOO!
Frankie McGrath’s brother has just enlisted and she decides to follow him, she enlists in the Army. Just out of nursing school and only 20 years old, she has no idea what to expect. She had lived a sheltered life on Coronado island, her parents were well off and she had an idyllic childhood.
Once in Vietnam she is thrust into taking care of severely wounded men, horrible living conditions and a lack of trained staff. She is unprepared for what is ahead. She will not only learn nursing in extreme conditions but eventually taught how to do surgical procedures. Her base camp had one doctor and three nurses along with medics to care for the hundreds of injured men. Frankie came to dread the sound of helicopters approaching!!
She is fortunate to have incredible roommates who will be her friends for life. She learns love and heartache, loss, anger and frustration.
Upon returning home, there is no welcome, not even from her parents. After all of the parades and sit-ins to protest the war, no one seems to want to SEE THOSE WHO FOUGHT FOR THEIR COUNTRY.
Eventually with lots of help Frankie carves out a life. She had to hit rock bottom before she got help. She struggled with PTSD, depression, alcoholism and betrayal on her path to a new life.
The author states that this was a book that she had wanted to write for a long time. I applaud you Ms. Hannah for putting your heart and incredible research into this book.
“Women can be heroes too” – and they so often are even though their voices aren’t always heard.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss. It was my pleasure to read and review this title.
February 21, 2024
2 soap opera stars.
Too cutesy and romance focused.
No one is more surprised (and disappointed) than me to be giving a 2 star rating for this much loved and highly anticipated book. I started this novel thinking it would be an easy 5 star read. My rating quickly lowered to 3 stars by the halfway mark and then slowly dwindled down to 2 stars by the end.
This novel follows a young womans harrowing journey as a nurse in the Vietnam war.
The main character was likeable enough, but she lacked any sort of grit or believability for me. She felt very surface level and cutesy from start to finish, giving the overall tone a soap opera feel. Unfortunately I do not enjoy cute stories, especially when it comes to historical fiction. The lighter tone of this novel made it easy to fly through but neglected to leave any sort of lasting impression on me (other than disappointment).
When I read historical fiction, I want grit, heaviness, atmosphere, rip-my-heart-out emotions along with the factual detail. The only aspect I received from this novel was the educational component of learning about this time in history. It had some atmosphere , but my detachment from the characters had me distanced from the plot altogether. There was no grit or emotion to pull me in. There were a couple of heart wrenching moments, but they didn’t truly move or impact me in any way.
Romance is a heavy theme throughout this book. Unfortunately romance is a genre I do not enjoy reading. The main characters’ love interests had me confused and distanced from the storyline as none of it was even remotely believable. I think most of my lack of connection is that I wasn’t bought into any of the romance pieces and this is an integral part of what makes the storyline work.
I also found this book extremely predictable and very cheesy at times. My eyes rolled a lot in the second half. I predicted several large plot points in the second half which took away any sort of shock factor or enjoyment I may have received from those reveals. The author also included an extreme amount of hot topics, like she was trying to touch on too many things without truly fleshing her ideas out.
Overall, this was a complete miss for me. I am thankful to have read it solely for learning about this time period but I received zero enjoyment from an entertainment perspective. I have loved all of this authors previous historical fiction work, so if you are looking for a gritty, heavy, impactful historical fiction book, I encourage you to read those before picking this up. Please note, I am the outlier with my thoughts so make sure to read the countless raving reviews before deciding on this one.
Too cutesy and romance focused.
No one is more surprised (and disappointed) than me to be giving a 2 star rating for this much loved and highly anticipated book. I started this novel thinking it would be an easy 5 star read. My rating quickly lowered to 3 stars by the halfway mark and then slowly dwindled down to 2 stars by the end.
This novel follows a young womans harrowing journey as a nurse in the Vietnam war.
The main character was likeable enough, but she lacked any sort of grit or believability for me. She felt very surface level and cutesy from start to finish, giving the overall tone a soap opera feel. Unfortunately I do not enjoy cute stories, especially when it comes to historical fiction. The lighter tone of this novel made it easy to fly through but neglected to leave any sort of lasting impression on me (other than disappointment).
When I read historical fiction, I want grit, heaviness, atmosphere, rip-my-heart-out emotions along with the factual detail. The only aspect I received from this novel was the educational component of learning about this time in history. It had some atmosphere , but my detachment from the characters had me distanced from the plot altogether. There was no grit or emotion to pull me in. There were a couple of heart wrenching moments, but they didn’t truly move or impact me in any way.
Romance is a heavy theme throughout this book. Unfortunately romance is a genre I do not enjoy reading. The main characters’ love interests had me confused and distanced from the storyline as none of it was even remotely believable. I think most of my lack of connection is that I wasn’t bought into any of the romance pieces and this is an integral part of what makes the storyline work.
I also found this book extremely predictable and very cheesy at times. My eyes rolled a lot in the second half. I predicted several large plot points in the second half which took away any sort of shock factor or enjoyment I may have received from those reveals. The author also included an extreme amount of hot topics, like she was trying to touch on too many things without truly fleshing her ideas out.
Overall, this was a complete miss for me. I am thankful to have read it solely for learning about this time period but I received zero enjoyment from an entertainment perspective. I have loved all of this authors previous historical fiction work, so if you are looking for a gritty, heavy, impactful historical fiction book, I encourage you to read those before picking this up. Please note, I am the outlier with my thoughts so make sure to read the countless raving reviews before deciding on this one.
Shelved as 'no'
March 10, 2024I have a beautiful big paper arc written by a writer whom I've never read before, but I know she is a NYT bestselling author, and that her books are deeply loved.
I open the book.
The first sentence is: The walled and gated MacGrath estate was a world unto itself, protected and private.
And I think: Gosh, isn't this a slightly uninspired way to begin a book, I mean, couldn't she have tried a little harder than to call something "a world unto itself," which was probably a little on the clichéd side even before the first time anyone wrote it down?
Ok, moving on, the next two sentences are: On this twilit evening, the Tudor-style home's mullioned windows glowed jewel-like amid the lush, landscaped grounds. Palm fronds swayed overhead... and okay okay that's enough, because my brain is saying: "On this twilit evening?" "windows glowed?"..."Palm fronds swayed?"
I'm just talking about my own experience, here.
Speaking solely from my own point of view, this writing makes me feel bored and irritable at the same time. It feels so bland. It's as if someone is slapping me with wet cardboard. It's not exactly hurting me but I want to get away from it.
But: Should I care so much about the prose style? Because, maybe it's a good story.
But I do care. I want to read a story that is written with care.
So, most people would keep reading for several more pages at least, even if they felt the same way about these first sentences--I mean, can you really tell anything at all from two or three sentences?--but for me I'm already thinking that, if this is how a book begins--if the beginning is, indeed, the place where a writer must capture my attention--then I'm done.
And this is normally where I would put a book down.
But this time, because I've heard so much about this writer's books, I open a few pages at random, just to see if I can find just one sentence to fall in love with, anywhere, or some phrase, at least, that catches my eye.
And I read:
Frankie felt a heaviness in her heart, a sorrow that she knew would stay with her...
Jamie was there instantly, holding her steady. She reached for his hand, held it, not daring to look at him...
She looked up in surprise...
He shrugged, as unable to find the words as he'd been to process the grief...
He looked at her a long moment...
That's all I have to say about this book, except to add that clearly I am way, way an outlier on why I read, which is at least 90% for the sound of the language, for the jolt of reading a sentence that is both describing something completely familiar to my human experience and at the same time is said in a completely new and revelatory way, and whenever I begin a book that does not do these things, both of them simultaneously, I think of all the books waiting to be read, and I move on.
I open the book.
The first sentence is: The walled and gated MacGrath estate was a world unto itself, protected and private.
And I think: Gosh, isn't this a slightly uninspired way to begin a book, I mean, couldn't she have tried a little harder than to call something "a world unto itself," which was probably a little on the clichéd side even before the first time anyone wrote it down?
Ok, moving on, the next two sentences are: On this twilit evening, the Tudor-style home's mullioned windows glowed jewel-like amid the lush, landscaped grounds. Palm fronds swayed overhead... and okay okay that's enough, because my brain is saying: "On this twilit evening?" "windows glowed?"..."Palm fronds swayed?"
I'm just talking about my own experience, here.
Speaking solely from my own point of view, this writing makes me feel bored and irritable at the same time. It feels so bland. It's as if someone is slapping me with wet cardboard. It's not exactly hurting me but I want to get away from it.
But: Should I care so much about the prose style? Because, maybe it's a good story.
But I do care. I want to read a story that is written with care.
So, most people would keep reading for several more pages at least, even if they felt the same way about these first sentences--I mean, can you really tell anything at all from two or three sentences?--but for me I'm already thinking that, if this is how a book begins--if the beginning is, indeed, the place where a writer must capture my attention--then I'm done.
And this is normally where I would put a book down.
But this time, because I've heard so much about this writer's books, I open a few pages at random, just to see if I can find just one sentence to fall in love with, anywhere, or some phrase, at least, that catches my eye.
And I read:
Frankie felt a heaviness in her heart, a sorrow that she knew would stay with her...
Jamie was there instantly, holding her steady. She reached for his hand, held it, not daring to look at him...
She looked up in surprise...
He shrugged, as unable to find the words as he'd been to process the grief...
He looked at her a long moment...
That's all I have to say about this book, except to add that clearly I am way, way an outlier on why I read, which is at least 90% for the sound of the language, for the jolt of reading a sentence that is both describing something completely familiar to my human experience and at the same time is said in a completely new and revelatory way, and whenever I begin a book that does not do these things, both of them simultaneously, I think of all the books waiting to be read, and I move on.
September 12, 2023
I love books that not only teach me something but are thought provoking and evoke emotion. This book fits that bill to a "T" and then some. I don't think it is possible for Kristin Hannah to write a bad book. As with her other books, The Women is well written, well thought out, and gripping. I was instantly absorbed in this book and had a hard time putting it down. I felt as if I were a fly on the wall, traveling to Vietnam with Frankie, and observing what life as a nurse was like during that time. The devastating injuries of the soldiers, the choices the medical staff had to make (who could be saved, who not to treat), the explosions, the living conditions, the lack of supplies and the relationships that were formed, left an impression on me.
Frances “Frankie” McGrath was raised Coronado Island, California by her conservative parents. In the beginning of the book, she is a twenty-year-old nursing student living at home with her conservative, country club member parents. After her older brother goes to Vietnam, Frankie recalls the words of one of his friends “Women can be heroes, too.” , Frankie joins the Army Nurse Corps and after training, she is sent to Vietnam to work as a nurse. What she sees and experiences is shocking, traumatizing, heartbreaking and ultimately life changing. When not treating the horrifically injured soldiers, Frankie has formed close bonds with her fellow nurses. Bonds that will also change her life. Upon coming home, Frankie is shocked by being spit on, yelled at, and told repeatedly that women were not in Vietnam.
I was shocked to learn that the Nurses who provide medical care to soldiers were not considered Veterans even though they signed up with the Army. That they could not go to the VA for help with PTSD. It was appalling and heartbreaking.
Besides the beautiful writing, I loved how Hannah showed the strength of female friendship. How the women supported each other and formed a family unit amongst themselves. This was one of the highlights for me. They lifted each other up, loved each other, accepted each other’s faults, celebrated their strengths, and when everyone else was letting them down, they knew they could count on each other.
This book also shows how PTSD affected nurses, doctors, and soldiers. How many self-medicated with drugs and alcohol. This book also depicts scenes of great bravery, political upheaval, war protests, the effects of PTSD, self-medication with drugs, friendships, family dynamics, sexism, and growth.
The characters are fully fleshed out and feel real. I felt for them, rooted for them, and cried with them.
Well written, gripping, shocking, and thought provoking.
*Traveling Friends buddy read with Mary Beth
#KristinHannah #NetGalley #StMartinsPress
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
Frances “Frankie” McGrath was raised Coronado Island, California by her conservative parents. In the beginning of the book, she is a twenty-year-old nursing student living at home with her conservative, country club member parents. After her older brother goes to Vietnam, Frankie recalls the words of one of his friends “Women can be heroes, too.” , Frankie joins the Army Nurse Corps and after training, she is sent to Vietnam to work as a nurse. What she sees and experiences is shocking, traumatizing, heartbreaking and ultimately life changing. When not treating the horrifically injured soldiers, Frankie has formed close bonds with her fellow nurses. Bonds that will also change her life. Upon coming home, Frankie is shocked by being spit on, yelled at, and told repeatedly that women were not in Vietnam.
I was shocked to learn that the Nurses who provide medical care to soldiers were not considered Veterans even though they signed up with the Army. That they could not go to the VA for help with PTSD. It was appalling and heartbreaking.
Besides the beautiful writing, I loved how Hannah showed the strength of female friendship. How the women supported each other and formed a family unit amongst themselves. This was one of the highlights for me. They lifted each other up, loved each other, accepted each other’s faults, celebrated their strengths, and when everyone else was letting them down, they knew they could count on each other.
This book also shows how PTSD affected nurses, doctors, and soldiers. How many self-medicated with drugs and alcohol. This book also depicts scenes of great bravery, political upheaval, war protests, the effects of PTSD, self-medication with drugs, friendships, family dynamics, sexism, and growth.
The characters are fully fleshed out and feel real. I felt for them, rooted for them, and cried with them.
Well written, gripping, shocking, and thought provoking.
*Traveling Friends buddy read with Mary Beth
#KristinHannah #NetGalley #StMartinsPress
Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
February 6, 2024
When Frances "Frankie McGrath's brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path when she hears that women can be heroes too. Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.
Every time I open up a Kristin Hannah novel I get so excited. I have loved all of her books. This story is all about the women, the nurses in the Vietnam War. I think this is the first book that actually is about the women in the Vietnam War. It's about the women who puts themselves in harms way to help others. Women whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has all too often been forgotten. It's an emotional story.
Frankie is so brave and strong and has dealt with so much death. Many of the women ended up with PTSD, flashbacks, and nightmares but they couldn't get the help that was needed like the men could.
I loved all of the characters. They were all done so well. I loved the women's friendship. They all had each other's backs. They all were a good support group with each other. This was such a great book.
I want to thank St. Martin's Press for the copy of this book.
Every time I open up a Kristin Hannah novel I get so excited. I have loved all of her books. This story is all about the women, the nurses in the Vietnam War. I think this is the first book that actually is about the women in the Vietnam War. It's about the women who puts themselves in harms way to help others. Women whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has all too often been forgotten. It's an emotional story.
Frankie is so brave and strong and has dealt with so much death. Many of the women ended up with PTSD, flashbacks, and nightmares but they couldn't get the help that was needed like the men could.
I loved all of the characters. They were all done so well. I loved the women's friendship. They all had each other's backs. They all were a good support group with each other. This was such a great book.
I want to thank St. Martin's Press for the copy of this book.
March 1, 2024
In a Nutshell: Expected far more from my very first Kristin Hannah book. 😔 Loved the intent, liked the content, disliked the writing. This is, as is obvious, an outlier review.
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Plot Preview:
Bookish Yays:
😊 The intent deserves credit: to focus on the women veterans of the war, to depict what women can do, even if they aren’t allowed to.
😊 The war-related scenes are as gruesome as expected. Felt like I was right there in the war zone with Frankie.
😊 The focus on the importance of and the struggles faced by nurses and the secondary treatment they are given compared to doctors.
😊 The details about the mental struggles and health issues faced by returning veterans, which went much beyond typically shown in fiction.
Bookish Mixed Bags:
😐 Frankie starts as a great character. Even when she is a naïve fresher, she has the right approach towards her work. But as the book progresses, her decisions start turning more and more impulsive and short-sighted. I don’t mind books with unlikeable characters as they add a nuance of realism to the story, but in this case, Frankie’s behaviour, especially in the second half, was more frustrating than understandable.
😐 The Vietnam war is not called the ‘American War’ by Vietnam without a reason. I appreciate the author’s decision to highlight even the American atrocities and the lies spun by American politicians. Though these negatives are not covered in as much detail as I would have liked, they are still enough to shed light on the truth. However, the depiction of the American troops in Vietnam is white-saviour in approach for the most way, focussing more on the medical aid offered by the Americans to the locals than talking about why the locals needed the aid in the first place.
😐 Most war books stop at the end of the war without showing the aftermath. That is one aspect in which this novel excelled; it went much beyond the timeline of the war and shows the reception of the Americans to the returning veterans, and the protests. However, the depiction of these events seems a bit exaggerated. I am obviously not privy to what happened in 1970s America, but I find it hard to believe that not even one person knew about women serving in Vietnam, or that not a single person showed sympathy to Frankie’s mental situation. The author’s note mentions that women veterans often met with dismissal, but ‘often’ doesn’t equate to ‘always.’ The balance is missing.
😐 Frankie’s downward spiral in the second half is, in one way, a good creative call as it shows us the darker side of PTSD. However, the events get tedious and repetitive after a while. Plus, the hyper-drama level is way too high in this section.
😐 While there are some interesting secondary characters in the book, they barely get proper detailing. Most of what we know about their background is the little we get from passing references in conversations. Many characters disappear without a trace as soon as their purpose is served in the plot. The one I am most curious about is the senior nurse who greets Frankie on her arrival in Vietnam. What happened to her? There were at least three skilled nurses that we know of (Ethel, Barb, and the senior nurse), but we hardly get to see them in action. Why does Frankie have to be the one to save the day, every time? The character decisions also induce much eyerolling. Whenever there is a party, the nurses drop everything and rush off, without asking or informing anyone. How is that possible in the army?
😐 For the first time ever, I, a big fan of author’s notes, have mixed feelings about the note in this novel. I appreciate the clarity the author provides about her intention behind this book and her research sources. Two issues, though: 1. She has no first-hand experience of Vietnam (which is very evident in her writing about its weather), and 2. She said that she wanted to change the place names and war unit details for ease of writing, but changed her mind only after veterans told her not to. I find it very odd that an accomplished writer of historical fiction even considered falsifying factual details just for making her task easier.
Bookish Nays:
😣 The writing was the biggest disappointment. This book is much overwritten. At 470+ pages, I thought we would hear multiple women’s perspectives and experiences in the war. But unlike what the title suggests, “The Women” is mainly the story of only one WOMAN – Frankie. Moreover, there is too much of telling in the writing. Every single outfit worn by Frankie and the others is described in elaborate detail. Actions are narrated step by step. Every now and then, we see the time mentioned in army style – “At 20:15” – as if to remind us that Frankie is now a military member. The foreshadowing is too blatant. One phrase that comes up multiple times is “How long had it been since…”. The worst of it was the character resurrections – yes, plural! The effect is repetitive and annoying.
😣 The romance is cheesy and unappealing. Every single guy who has a proper role in the story falls in love with Frankie. We are expected to believe that this is common during the war time because of the low number of American women around, but in that case, how come Ethel and Barb and the other nurses didn’t have anyone falling for them? As it is, I don’t like romance popping in non-romance books, but it is even worse when the writing is so corny and the situations so lopsided. The lack of appeal in the male characters doesn’t help.
😣 There is not a single Vietnamese character of importance in the whole book. Moreover, the representation of Vietnam is, as expected, focussed on the problems: rats, malaria, heat, lack of potable water,… Though the Americans enjoy water-skiing and swimming and so on in the local lakes, the beauty of the location is rarely described. The funniest to me was the finger-pointing at Vietnam’s monsoon for causing Frankie’s travel bag to stay musty and stink even eight years later. Sorry! But if your travel bag is odoriferous, it’s probably because you haven’t washed it, ever. Don’t blame the monsoon!
🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at almost 15 hours, is narrated by the inimitable Julia Whelan. Need I say anything more? Everyone who knows audiobooks knows that she is among the best narrators. If you still want to try this book, the audio version is definitely a fabulous way to check it out, especially considering its length.
All in all, I do appreciate the author’s efforts and the intention that made her write this book. I even liked certain aspects of the storyline, and loved learning about the nurses who gave so much to the fruitless war. But the writing and the plot development were not to my liking. The problems are exacerbated in the audio version as it feels like an endless journey through monotonous situations.
As is evident from the current rating on Goodreads, mine is very much an outlier opinion. Most other readers have not just loved the book but are positively gushing about it. So please go through their reviews before taking a final call. If you are the kind of reader who prioritises sentiments over plot and writing, you might love this novel way more than I did.
2.25 stars.
My thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Women”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
Content warning: War-related brutalities and deaths, infidelity, miscarriage, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, PTSD, gender discrimination, racial discrimination.
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Plot Preview:
1966, Coronado Island. Twenty-year-old Frances McGrath, known to all as ‘Frankie’, belongs to a wealthy family of navy veterans. At the send-off party for her elder brother who has enlisted for Vietnam, someone tells her, “Women can be heroes, too.” This sparks a desire in Frankie’s mind to serve her country through the armed forces, something she never considered before.
As the only corps willing to take a freshly-graduated nurse is the army, Frankie, against her family’s wishes, registers with the Army Nurse Corps and sets off to Vietnam. There, she sees the true picture of war, where every day is a fight for survival. But will this struggle end with the end of the war? With war protestors becoming stronger by the day, the Vietnam veterans might not be coming home to the open arms of their country. What lies ahead?
The story comes to us in Frankie’s third person perspective.
Bookish Yays:
😊 The intent deserves credit: to focus on the women veterans of the war, to depict what women can do, even if they aren’t allowed to.
😊 The war-related scenes are as gruesome as expected. Felt like I was right there in the war zone with Frankie.
😊 The focus on the importance of and the struggles faced by nurses and the secondary treatment they are given compared to doctors.
😊 The details about the mental struggles and health issues faced by returning veterans, which went much beyond typically shown in fiction.
Bookish Mixed Bags:
😐 Frankie starts as a great character. Even when she is a naïve fresher, she has the right approach towards her work. But as the book progresses, her decisions start turning more and more impulsive and short-sighted. I don’t mind books with unlikeable characters as they add a nuance of realism to the story, but in this case, Frankie’s behaviour, especially in the second half, was more frustrating than understandable.
😐 The Vietnam war is not called the ‘American War’ by Vietnam without a reason. I appreciate the author’s decision to highlight even the American atrocities and the lies spun by American politicians. Though these negatives are not covered in as much detail as I would have liked, they are still enough to shed light on the truth. However, the depiction of the American troops in Vietnam is white-saviour in approach for the most way, focussing more on the medical aid offered by the Americans to the locals than talking about why the locals needed the aid in the first place.
😐 Most war books stop at the end of the war without showing the aftermath. That is one aspect in which this novel excelled; it went much beyond the timeline of the war and shows the reception of the Americans to the returning veterans, and the protests. However, the depiction of these events seems a bit exaggerated. I am obviously not privy to what happened in 1970s America, but I find it hard to believe that not even one person knew about women serving in Vietnam, or that not a single person showed sympathy to Frankie’s mental situation. The author’s note mentions that women veterans often met with dismissal, but ‘often’ doesn’t equate to ‘always.’ The balance is missing.
😐 Frankie’s downward spiral in the second half is, in one way, a good creative call as it shows us the darker side of PTSD. However, the events get tedious and repetitive after a while. Plus, the hyper-drama level is way too high in this section.
😐 While there are some interesting secondary characters in the book, they barely get proper detailing. Most of what we know about their background is the little we get from passing references in conversations. Many characters disappear without a trace as soon as their purpose is served in the plot. The one I am most curious about is the senior nurse who greets Frankie on her arrival in Vietnam. What happened to her? There were at least three skilled nurses that we know of (Ethel, Barb, and the senior nurse), but we hardly get to see them in action. Why does Frankie have to be the one to save the day, every time? The character decisions also induce much eyerolling. Whenever there is a party, the nurses drop everything and rush off, without asking or informing anyone. How is that possible in the army?
😐 For the first time ever, I, a big fan of author’s notes, have mixed feelings about the note in this novel. I appreciate the clarity the author provides about her intention behind this book and her research sources. Two issues, though: 1. She has no first-hand experience of Vietnam (which is very evident in her writing about its weather), and 2. She said that she wanted to change the place names and war unit details for ease of writing, but changed her mind only after veterans told her not to. I find it very odd that an accomplished writer of historical fiction even considered falsifying factual details just for making her task easier.
Bookish Nays:
😣 The writing was the biggest disappointment. This book is much overwritten. At 470+ pages, I thought we would hear multiple women’s perspectives and experiences in the war. But unlike what the title suggests, “The Women” is mainly the story of only one WOMAN – Frankie. Moreover, there is too much of telling in the writing. Every single outfit worn by Frankie and the others is described in elaborate detail. Actions are narrated step by step. Every now and then, we see the time mentioned in army style – “At 20:15” – as if to remind us that Frankie is now a military member. The foreshadowing is too blatant. One phrase that comes up multiple times is “How long had it been since…”. The worst of it was the character resurrections – yes, plural! The effect is repetitive and annoying.
😣 The romance is cheesy and unappealing. Every single guy who has a proper role in the story falls in love with Frankie. We are expected to believe that this is common during the war time because of the low number of American women around, but in that case, how come Ethel and Barb and the other nurses didn’t have anyone falling for them? As it is, I don’t like romance popping in non-romance books, but it is even worse when the writing is so corny and the situations so lopsided. The lack of appeal in the male characters doesn’t help.
😣 There is not a single Vietnamese character of importance in the whole book. Moreover, the representation of Vietnam is, as expected, focussed on the problems: rats, malaria, heat, lack of potable water,… Though the Americans enjoy water-skiing and swimming and so on in the local lakes, the beauty of the location is rarely described. The funniest to me was the finger-pointing at Vietnam’s monsoon for causing Frankie’s travel bag to stay musty and stink even eight years later. Sorry! But if your travel bag is odoriferous, it’s probably because you haven’t washed it, ever. Don’t blame the monsoon!
🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at almost 15 hours, is narrated by the inimitable Julia Whelan. Need I say anything more? Everyone who knows audiobooks knows that she is among the best narrators. If you still want to try this book, the audio version is definitely a fabulous way to check it out, especially considering its length.
All in all, I do appreciate the author’s efforts and the intention that made her write this book. I even liked certain aspects of the storyline, and loved learning about the nurses who gave so much to the fruitless war. But the writing and the plot development were not to my liking. The problems are exacerbated in the audio version as it feels like an endless journey through monotonous situations.
As is evident from the current rating on Goodreads, mine is very much an outlier opinion. Most other readers have not just loved the book but are positively gushing about it. So please go through their reviews before taking a final call. If you are the kind of reader who prioritises sentiments over plot and writing, you might love this novel way more than I did.
2.25 stars.
My thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of “The Women”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.
Content warning: War-related brutalities and deaths, infidelity, miscarriage, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, PTSD, gender discrimination, racial discrimination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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February 21, 2024
The Women was divine. Hannah’s writing has matured much like a fine wine. Each of her stories becoming richer, more complex, multi-layered.
The Women is a tribute to the many unsung female nurses who served in the Vietnam War. Frankie, 20, has graduated nursing school and has enlisted. Although green, her nursing skills sharpen during her 2 tours. However when she returns home, the welcome isn’t a warm one.
The brevity and courage these veterans had. Not only fighting for their lives over seas, but fighting for their own recognition at home amid a storm of protests and division. The sacrifices made. The lies told.
Hannah masterly develops a character from a young naive girl, to a professional combat nurse, to a veteran returning home experiencing many of the symptoms men did- except many unaware women even served. Grief, PTSD, shame, addiction and healing.
5⭐️ Hannah, you knocked it out of the park.
The Women is a tribute to the many unsung female nurses who served in the Vietnam War. Frankie, 20, has graduated nursing school and has enlisted. Although green, her nursing skills sharpen during her 2 tours. However when she returns home, the welcome isn’t a warm one.
The brevity and courage these veterans had. Not only fighting for their lives over seas, but fighting for their own recognition at home amid a storm of protests and division. The sacrifices made. The lies told.
Hannah masterly develops a character from a young naive girl, to a professional combat nurse, to a veteran returning home experiencing many of the symptoms men did- except many unaware women even served. Grief, PTSD, shame, addiction and healing.
5⭐️ Hannah, you knocked it out of the park.
August 23, 2023
Another fantastic book by Kristin Hannah
I haven’t read much about the Vietnam War.. but, I was born in ‘58 and as a young girl I remember seeing the horrific video and images on the nightly news and.. fortunately for me.. I only knew of one older cousin who got drafted to go to war.
Most everything we saw before, during, and after the war was about the men who were there.. of course it was the men who saw combat.. but women were there too… the nurses trying to patch up mutilated bodies, being alongside the dying as they took their last breaths..the women also endured a lot!
This is the story of the WOMEN… a few of them.. mostly about a young girl Frankie, who after her brother enlisted.. she followed him and was a war nurse in the Army.
I loved the story, mostly the first half that took place in Vietnam during wartime.
So much about this story took me back to those days.. the riots, the political landscape, the war protests, the mention of certain songs.
Wonderful!
Thank you to Netgalley and St Martins Press for the ARC!
I haven’t read much about the Vietnam War.. but, I was born in ‘58 and as a young girl I remember seeing the horrific video and images on the nightly news and.. fortunately for me.. I only knew of one older cousin who got drafted to go to war.
Most everything we saw before, during, and after the war was about the men who were there.. of course it was the men who saw combat.. but women were there too… the nurses trying to patch up mutilated bodies, being alongside the dying as they took their last breaths..the women also endured a lot!
This is the story of the WOMEN… a few of them.. mostly about a young girl Frankie, who after her brother enlisted.. she followed him and was a war nurse in the Army.
I loved the story, mostly the first half that took place in Vietnam during wartime.
So much about this story took me back to those days.. the riots, the political landscape, the war protests, the mention of certain songs.
Wonderful!
Thank you to Netgalley and St Martins Press for the ARC!
December 15, 2023
4.5 stars rounded up.
I was I high school when the Vietnam War started and I have to admit that I didn’t pay much attention until several years later in college when I found myself in a protest march on campus. I was more aware then or at least I thought I was. I had learned that a high school friend was killed there. The focus then was on the young men killed, the innocents of the region bombed, the insanity of the war. I never gave a thought about the women who served in the military as nurses, who saved so many, who experienced the trauma of seeing mutilated bodies, held the hands of those who wouldn’t come home. I never thought of the nurses who worked tirelessly under horrible conditions, who through their stamina and skill made it possible for so many to come home. Had I thought about them I never would have imagined that they would not be considered veterans. Kristin Hannah in this novel though the character of Frankie McGrath and her two best friends brings light and honor to the women who served.
It’s a stunning read, not for the faint of heart, with vivid descriptions of the wounds and loss of limbs and loss of life. It portrays the grueling days and nights of these women as well as the doctors vividly. Their physical and emotional exhaustion and how they cope with sometimes heartbreaking effect. Frankie’s life after she returned home is heart wrenching. Highly recommend for those who remember the times and for those who don’t. It’s an eye opener that will punch you in the gut, but it’s worth it.
I received a copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley.
I was I high school when the Vietnam War started and I have to admit that I didn’t pay much attention until several years later in college when I found myself in a protest march on campus. I was more aware then or at least I thought I was. I had learned that a high school friend was killed there. The focus then was on the young men killed, the innocents of the region bombed, the insanity of the war. I never gave a thought about the women who served in the military as nurses, who saved so many, who experienced the trauma of seeing mutilated bodies, held the hands of those who wouldn’t come home. I never thought of the nurses who worked tirelessly under horrible conditions, who through their stamina and skill made it possible for so many to come home. Had I thought about them I never would have imagined that they would not be considered veterans. Kristin Hannah in this novel though the character of Frankie McGrath and her two best friends brings light and honor to the women who served.
It’s a stunning read, not for the faint of heart, with vivid descriptions of the wounds and loss of limbs and loss of life. It portrays the grueling days and nights of these women as well as the doctors vividly. Their physical and emotional exhaustion and how they cope with sometimes heartbreaking effect. Frankie’s life after she returned home is heart wrenching. Highly recommend for those who remember the times and for those who don’t. It’s an eye opener that will punch you in the gut, but it’s worth it.
I received a copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley.
April 1, 2024
In this devided world run by men , you can count on women.
This quote felt like a perfect background for the overlooked story of the women serving their country in Vietnam. I for one hadn’t thought about the people who went there as nurses or other professions to help any way they could. I knew how important the war was when it came to recognizing how trauma can stay in the body and wreak havoc, and this book also showed how much society can make it harder to heal by not recognizing people who partake in war. In addition to being a convincing portrayal of war and PTSD, it was a love story that made me cry at the end. At one point I had to take a pause from listening because it was hard to process all the pain the main character suffered. When that happens, you know a story has affected you deeply.
This quote felt like a perfect background for the overlooked story of the women serving their country in Vietnam. I for one hadn’t thought about the people who went there as nurses or other professions to help any way they could. I knew how important the war was when it came to recognizing how trauma can stay in the body and wreak havoc, and this book also showed how much society can make it harder to heal by not recognizing people who partake in war. In addition to being a convincing portrayal of war and PTSD, it was a love story that made me cry at the end. At one point I had to take a pause from listening because it was hard to process all the pain the main character suffered. When that happens, you know a story has affected you deeply.
February 12, 2024
It’s perfect.
😭😭😭😭😭
😭😭😭😭😭
March 1, 2024
The Women by Kristin Hannah is a Blend of Historical, Literary, and Women's Fiction!
I'll be honest, I was expecting more finesse from Kristan Hannah's writing style and storytelling...
The Women transports the reader, along with the main character, Frances "Frankie" McGrath, to the Thirty-Sixth Evac Hospital in Vietnam, sixty miles from Saigon, within the first four chapters. By the end of the sixth chapter, I shed my first tears. This is an emotional read and, for those of us who remember those years during the Vietnam War, it stirs different memories in each of us...
Overall, the pace of this story is slow, allowing repetition to sneak in. This is especially true after Frankie's return from Vietnam. Her homecoming was heart-wrenching but carried on, chapter after chapter, making the story too long. Perhaps the length would have been better justified if backstories were included for the primary characters. Very little to nothing was provided for any of them.
Early in, the writing felt cumbersome and overly descriptive with flowery prose. The narration sounded throaty, stilted, sometimes monotone, and at other times exaggerated. The story had more telling than showing by the author's use of the story's narrative, rather than focusing on creative writing skills to allow the story to flow naturally. The writing style was my least favorite aspect of this book. It felt clumsy, overdramatic, and at times, snarky.
This was an immersion read with a Kindle copy and an Audible audiobook, narrated by Julia Whelan.
I love the female-focused premise and how the author allows the reader's imagination to proceed beyond the ending of the story. The story is emotional, true to the era, and well-researched. I cried, relived the memories and the music from that time, and appreciated the feeling of authenticity.
The Women has many positive reviews and high ratings and I respect those viewpoints. As in all of my reviews, this critique is my honest opinion. Outlier Island, here I come. It's going to be a lonely place this time around...
2⭐
I'll be honest, I was expecting more finesse from Kristan Hannah's writing style and storytelling...
The Women transports the reader, along with the main character, Frances "Frankie" McGrath, to the Thirty-Sixth Evac Hospital in Vietnam, sixty miles from Saigon, within the first four chapters. By the end of the sixth chapter, I shed my first tears. This is an emotional read and, for those of us who remember those years during the Vietnam War, it stirs different memories in each of us...
Overall, the pace of this story is slow, allowing repetition to sneak in. This is especially true after Frankie's return from Vietnam. Her homecoming was heart-wrenching but carried on, chapter after chapter, making the story too long. Perhaps the length would have been better justified if backstories were included for the primary characters. Very little to nothing was provided for any of them.
Early in, the writing felt cumbersome and overly descriptive with flowery prose. The narration sounded throaty, stilted, sometimes monotone, and at other times exaggerated. The story had more telling than showing by the author's use of the story's narrative, rather than focusing on creative writing skills to allow the story to flow naturally. The writing style was my least favorite aspect of this book. It felt clumsy, overdramatic, and at times, snarky.
This was an immersion read with a Kindle copy and an Audible audiobook, narrated by Julia Whelan.
I love the female-focused premise and how the author allows the reader's imagination to proceed beyond the ending of the story. The story is emotional, true to the era, and well-researched. I cried, relived the memories and the music from that time, and appreciated the feeling of authenticity.
The Women has many positive reviews and high ratings and I respect those viewpoints. As in all of my reviews, this critique is my honest opinion. Outlier Island, here I come. It's going to be a lonely place this time around...
2⭐
January 3, 2024
Five stars with a minor quibble
It’s a fine art to write a story that immediately immerses the reader in a different world. Once again, Hannah has done it with The Women. I felt I was right there with Frankie, a new nurse in Vietnam. My heart was beating just as quickly as hers, feeling just as helpless, questioning the decision that brought her there. She’s quickly forced out of her comfort zone, having to take on responsibilities she never imagined. Hannah gets the immediacy of the relationships, how quickly they become deep. But just as quickly dear friends are gone, hopefully because they’ve fulfilled their obligations. Other times, because they’ve died.
I hadn’t realized how few of the nurses in Vietnam were women. She is one of only nine female nurses at the triage hospital where she’s initially sent. I also hadn’t realized how their very presence in Vietnam was denied. Frankie is repeatedly told “there were no women in Vietnam”.
The second half of the story tackles Frankie’s return to the States. Again, Hannah does a great job presenting the PTSD, the failure to recognize her service, the protests, especially the Veteran protests. My one quibble was that the romance part of the story started coming across as more soap opera than real.
This one grabbed me and never let me go. I was finding all sorts of reasons to continue to read/listen to this. I finished this 15 hour book in two days.
The story is incredibly well researched. Right down to the little things, like nurses not being allowed to wear pantyhose with their dress uniform but forced to wear a girdle and hose. Or how prevalent rats were. I am curious to know if studies back up the idea that the Vietnam vets suffered more PTSD because their service, unlike other war time vets, was not acknowledged - that they weren’t lauded when they returned home, that they were forced to keep silent about their experiences.
The audio book was narrated by Julia Whelan who did a fabulous job. She truly enhanced the story.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this book.
It’s a fine art to write a story that immediately immerses the reader in a different world. Once again, Hannah has done it with The Women. I felt I was right there with Frankie, a new nurse in Vietnam. My heart was beating just as quickly as hers, feeling just as helpless, questioning the decision that brought her there. She’s quickly forced out of her comfort zone, having to take on responsibilities she never imagined. Hannah gets the immediacy of the relationships, how quickly they become deep. But just as quickly dear friends are gone, hopefully because they’ve fulfilled their obligations. Other times, because they’ve died.
I hadn’t realized how few of the nurses in Vietnam were women. She is one of only nine female nurses at the triage hospital where she’s initially sent. I also hadn’t realized how their very presence in Vietnam was denied. Frankie is repeatedly told “there were no women in Vietnam”.
The second half of the story tackles Frankie’s return to the States. Again, Hannah does a great job presenting the PTSD, the failure to recognize her service, the protests, especially the Veteran protests. My one quibble was that the romance part of the story started coming across as more soap opera than real.
This one grabbed me and never let me go. I was finding all sorts of reasons to continue to read/listen to this. I finished this 15 hour book in two days.
The story is incredibly well researched. Right down to the little things, like nurses not being allowed to wear pantyhose with their dress uniform but forced to wear a girdle and hose. Or how prevalent rats were. I am curious to know if studies back up the idea that the Vietnam vets suffered more PTSD because their service, unlike other war time vets, was not acknowledged - that they weren’t lauded when they returned home, that they were forced to keep silent about their experiences.
The audio book was narrated by Julia Whelan who did a fabulous job. She truly enhanced the story.
My thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for an advance copy of this book.
February 11, 2024
4⭐
Genre ~ historical fiction
Setting ~ California, Vietnam, Virginia, Montana
Publication date ~ February 6, 2024
Est page Count ~ 480 (35 chapters)
Audio length ~ 14 hours 57 minutes
Narrator ~ Julia Whelan
POV ~ single 3rd
Featuring ~ nurse, sexism, some graphic scenes, death, miscarriage, PTSD, reckless behavior, substance abuse, suicide attempt, infidelity
Part 1 ~ 1966 ~ California & Vietnam
21 year old Frankie is missing her brother after he heads off to Vietnam with the navy. She enlists with the Army since they're the only branch that will get her over there quickly. This part is full on war and all the chaos that it entails.
Oh Frankie, I salute you for your service, but not for your decision making when it comes to men.
Part 2 ~ 1971 ~ 1982 ~Virginia & California & Montana
She has completed her tours and is understandably having a tough time. It really dives deep into how getting back into civilian life is not easy to do. She joins the protests. She tries to look for support, but gets turned away for being a woman and not having actually been in combat. Her journey to get her mental health in check is a long one, but eventually she gets there and uses her experience perfectly in the end.
It was really hard to listen to her father disrespect her time and time again, but different times I suppose. The friendships she made with Ethel and Barb were ones to last a lifetime as they each know what the other has lived through. They'd drop everything to be by her side when she needed them the most (not sure how they were able to get to her so quickly, cuz it's fiction I guess).
Overall, as expected, it was well researched, but I do think this could have been cut down quite a bit.
Narration notes:
A superb job as usual. She really brought the story to life.
*Thanks to the author, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audio copy. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*
Connect with me ➡ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter
Genre ~ historical fiction
Setting ~ California, Vietnam, Virginia, Montana
Publication date ~ February 6, 2024
Est page Count ~ 480 (35 chapters)
Audio length ~ 14 hours 57 minutes
Narrator ~ Julia Whelan
POV ~ single 3rd
Featuring ~ nurse, sexism, some graphic scenes, death, miscarriage, PTSD, reckless behavior, substance abuse, suicide attempt, infidelity
Part 1 ~ 1966 ~ California & Vietnam
21 year old Frankie is missing her brother after he heads off to Vietnam with the navy. She enlists with the Army since they're the only branch that will get her over there quickly. This part is full on war and all the chaos that it entails.
Oh Frankie, I salute you for your service, but not for your decision making when it comes to men.
Part 2 ~ 1971 ~ 1982 ~Virginia & California & Montana
She has completed her tours and is understandably having a tough time. It really dives deep into how getting back into civilian life is not easy to do. She joins the protests. She tries to look for support, but gets turned away for being a woman and not having actually been in combat. Her journey to get her mental health in check is a long one, but eventually she gets there and uses her experience perfectly in the end.
It was really hard to listen to her father disrespect her time and time again, but different times I suppose. The friendships she made with Ethel and Barb were ones to last a lifetime as they each know what the other has lived through. They'd drop everything to be by her side when she needed them the most (not sure how they were able to get to her so quickly, cuz it's fiction I guess).
Overall, as expected, it was well researched, but I do think this could have been cut down quite a bit.
Narration notes:
A superb job as usual. She really brought the story to life.
*Thanks to the author, Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the audio copy. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*
Connect with me ➡ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter
February 7, 2024
women can be heroes too
AMAZING! I don't know how to express how much I love The Women! ✨
I've read of how Vietnam soldiers were mistreated when they returned home. Never once had I read about the women who served in that war. Never.
We knew about the lack of support the veterans received, the nurses in this story had none whatsoever. No one admitted women were serving in Vietnam.
Frances “Frankie” McGrath wants to make her parents proud. After graduating from nursing school, she decides to follow her brother to Vietnam by joining the Navy. But with a two-year requirement, she decides to enlist with the Army which will send her to Vietnam after a short training.
Little did she understand, that heroes in their family were exclusively men who served. Against her parent's wishes that she should marry and start a family, she heads to Vietnam ill-prepared for what's ahead.
Part of the novel is set in Vietnam but Frankie's heartwrenching journey continues after her service. Ashamed by her family and broken by war. The story covers romance, tragedies, casualties, trauma, addiction, PTSD, civil rights, and women's rights. As with other returning soldiers, they are forgotten by all especially the women.
I enjoyed listening to The Women knowing little detail when I started. Julia Whelan's narration was phenomenal and I highly recommend this audiobook.
The story of army nurse Frankie McGrath will stay with me for a long time. No question The Women is my favorite read so far this year and the best I've read by Kristin Hannah.
Thank you Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for this ALC.
14 hrs and 57 mins
Published February 6, 2024
August 29, 2023
Five Standing Ovation Stars ⭐️ for The Women by Kristin Hannah! This book took my breath away. I can honestly say that I learned more about the men and women in Vietnam from this book than any other historical book that I have read. I will admit that the Vietnam War ended in 1975, when I was only two years old (I know, I just gave my age away), so growing up, I never really paid attention. Now that I am older, history interests me, and learning about the women in Vietnam took it to a whole other dimension.
Our main character in this book is Frances (Frankie) McGrath. Frankie is very close with her brother Finley, who is in the Navy and goes off to Vietnam. Her father is so very proud of Finley, as all the men in the family are “war heroes”. Frankie decides she would like to be a hero too, just like all the other men in her family. As Frankie finishes her nursing degree, she recruits herself into the Army Nurse Corps and becomes Lieutenant Frances McGrath.
As Lieutenant Frances McGrath, she is stationed in Vietnam as a surgical nurse. Frankie has two bunk mates, Ethel and Barb, who help show her the ropes and get her through some extremely rough days. As a surgical nurse, Frankie is exposed to mass casualties on a daily basis. She witnesses loss of limbs, gunshot wounds, head traumas, infections, broken bones, etc… Frankie also knows that she is the last person/girl that some of the soldiers will ever see. So Frankie takes photos with the soldiers, so their families know that their loved ones didn’t have to die alone.
Frankie returns home after after serving two years in Vietnam. Her parents are ashamed of her, local citizens spit on her, she can’t find suitable employment. And the worst part? No one believes that a woman was in Vietnam! Her rages of anger and grief are uncontrollable, and no one seems to care or understand her.
Frankie was told to just forget about everything that she witnessed, not think about it anymore, move forward with her life. But things weren’t so easy for Frankie.
I learned some interesting and rather disturbing facts about the Vietnam War in this book. I know that they are true and a part of history, but some things are still hard to process. I don’t know how anyone can live through anything like that. To all the men and women that served- I commend you and thank you for your service!
While this is a work of historical fiction, it is a book that I will not forget anytime soon. I highly recommend reading this book, and know that this book is moving into my favorite book of the year slot! While reading this book, I also recommend having tissues nearby- because trust me, you will need them. 😭
I also enjoyed reading the Author’s Note at the end, and her Acknowledgments. Kristin Hannah told how this story came to be (and how long she worked on this), and also about the POW bracelet she wore in middle school. I also needed my tissues for that. So touching!
Many, many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for an ARC of this book which I had the pleasure of reading. All opinions are my own. Publication date: February 6, 2024.
Genre~ Women’s Fiction, Historical
Our main character in this book is Frances (Frankie) McGrath. Frankie is very close with her brother Finley, who is in the Navy and goes off to Vietnam. Her father is so very proud of Finley, as all the men in the family are “war heroes”. Frankie decides she would like to be a hero too, just like all the other men in her family. As Frankie finishes her nursing degree, she recruits herself into the Army Nurse Corps and becomes Lieutenant Frances McGrath.
As Lieutenant Frances McGrath, she is stationed in Vietnam as a surgical nurse. Frankie has two bunk mates, Ethel and Barb, who help show her the ropes and get her through some extremely rough days. As a surgical nurse, Frankie is exposed to mass casualties on a daily basis. She witnesses loss of limbs, gunshot wounds, head traumas, infections, broken bones, etc… Frankie also knows that she is the last person/girl that some of the soldiers will ever see. So Frankie takes photos with the soldiers, so their families know that their loved ones didn’t have to die alone.
Frankie returns home after after serving two years in Vietnam. Her parents are ashamed of her, local citizens spit on her, she can’t find suitable employment. And the worst part? No one believes that a woman was in Vietnam! Her rages of anger and grief are uncontrollable, and no one seems to care or understand her.
Frankie was told to just forget about everything that she witnessed, not think about it anymore, move forward with her life. But things weren’t so easy for Frankie.
I learned some interesting and rather disturbing facts about the Vietnam War in this book. I know that they are true and a part of history, but some things are still hard to process. I don’t know how anyone can live through anything like that. To all the men and women that served- I commend you and thank you for your service!
While this is a work of historical fiction, it is a book that I will not forget anytime soon. I highly recommend reading this book, and know that this book is moving into my favorite book of the year slot! While reading this book, I also recommend having tissues nearby- because trust me, you will need them. 😭
I also enjoyed reading the Author’s Note at the end, and her Acknowledgments. Kristin Hannah told how this story came to be (and how long she worked on this), and also about the POW bracelet she wore in middle school. I also needed my tissues for that. So touching!
Many, many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for an ARC of this book which I had the pleasure of reading. All opinions are my own. Publication date: February 6, 2024.
Genre~ Women’s Fiction, Historical
January 30, 2024
Whoa, this was good. Maybe my favorite of her books now.
Also, it's got plenty of sad things, but it didn't feel as truly crushing as The Four Winds or Winter Garden (both of which I really loved).
Also, it's got plenty of sad things, but it didn't feel as truly crushing as The Four Winds or Winter Garden (both of which I really loved).
February 6, 2024
5 there were no women in Vietnam stars (and a special side note, my 500th NetGalley review)
*now available
Kristin Hannah is a winner for me every time! Her characters are realistic and fleshed out; they grow on me, and I almost always cry at some point while I’m reading her books. This time is no exception.
Hannah tackles the 1960s -- the Vietnam War, protests, and the aftermath, especially for women. Frankie (short for Frances) has an older brother who has just gone off to war. In Frankie’s family, only men can be heroes, at least according to her father. Surprising everyone, Frankie decides she wants to do her part as well, and she finds that the Army will take her without years of nursing experience.
The experience of working in a war hospital is like nothing she can imagine. She’s thrown into the action and meets amazing men and women who are saving lives in horrible conditions. She gains so much experience, from every nursing task possible to assisting in surgery. Her roommates are amazing women, and they become friends for life.
The first half of the book deals with Frankie’s time in Vietnam, the men she saves, and the ones that she simply comforts because there’s nothing that can be done.
When Frankie finally returns home, it is a difficult transition. I was shocked at how she was turned away from the Veterans Administration because she hadn’t seen combat in the war and wasn’t really considered a veteran. Many people said that women were not in Vietnam. Those returning were not treated as heroes, which was very different from soldiers returning after WWII. Even Frankie’s parents didn’t treat her well. PTSD wasn’t well understood, and many suffered, often turning to drugs and alcohol to cope.
This is not always an easy book to read, but I’m so glad I’ve read it and have more insight into this important time in our nation’s history. At times, it filled me with emotions, sometimes shock, sometimes anger, and sometimes grief. At the end of the day, it is clear that women are heroes.
My thanks to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and honestly review this one.
*now available
Kristin Hannah is a winner for me every time! Her characters are realistic and fleshed out; they grow on me, and I almost always cry at some point while I’m reading her books. This time is no exception.
Hannah tackles the 1960s -- the Vietnam War, protests, and the aftermath, especially for women. Frankie (short for Frances) has an older brother who has just gone off to war. In Frankie’s family, only men can be heroes, at least according to her father. Surprising everyone, Frankie decides she wants to do her part as well, and she finds that the Army will take her without years of nursing experience.
The experience of working in a war hospital is like nothing she can imagine. She’s thrown into the action and meets amazing men and women who are saving lives in horrible conditions. She gains so much experience, from every nursing task possible to assisting in surgery. Her roommates are amazing women, and they become friends for life.
The first half of the book deals with Frankie’s time in Vietnam, the men she saves, and the ones that she simply comforts because there’s nothing that can be done.
When Frankie finally returns home, it is a difficult transition. I was shocked at how she was turned away from the Veterans Administration because she hadn’t seen combat in the war and wasn’t really considered a veteran. Many people said that women were not in Vietnam. Those returning were not treated as heroes, which was very different from soldiers returning after WWII. Even Frankie’s parents didn’t treat her well. PTSD wasn’t well understood, and many suffered, often turning to drugs and alcohol to cope.
This is not always an easy book to read, but I’m so glad I’ve read it and have more insight into this important time in our nation’s history. At times, it filled me with emotions, sometimes shock, sometimes anger, and sometimes grief. At the end of the day, it is clear that women are heroes.
My thanks to St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and honestly review this one.
February 4, 2024
Around 1971 or 1972, when I was 11 or 12, I began wearing a POW/MIA bracelet. At that age, I thought it was the "cool" thing to do. I wore it constantly, even when the cheap nickel turned my wrist green. Finally, it broke in half and I threw it away. Now that I am older, I wish that I had kept it and found out what happened to the man whose name I wore. Author Kristin Hannah, who is a few years younger, still remembers the name on the bracelet she wore. Unfortunately, her soldier never returned. Now, she has written a powerful book about the forgotten women who served in Vietnam.
Frances "Frankie" McGrath was raised in an affluent home on Coronado Island, CA. When her older brother goes to Vietnam, Frankie enlists as a nurse so she can go, too. At 21 years old, she is wholly unprepared for the violence of war but quickly rises to the occasion. After her return home, she struggles with hatred of those who oppose the war, her family's shame of her service, and the common misperception that no women served in Vietnam.
Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group has preemptively acquired rights to The Women. It will make an excellent movie or mini-series.
4.5-Stars. The only thing that kept me from giving it the full 5-stars was that Frankie went from one bad thing to another, and then would still make self-defeating choices. It got exhausting at times.
Thanks to St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
Frances "Frankie" McGrath was raised in an affluent home on Coronado Island, CA. When her older brother goes to Vietnam, Frankie enlists as a nurse so she can go, too. At 21 years old, she is wholly unprepared for the violence of war but quickly rises to the occasion. After her return home, she struggles with hatred of those who oppose the war, her family's shame of her service, and the common misperception that no women served in Vietnam.
Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group has preemptively acquired rights to The Women. It will make an excellent movie or mini-series.
4.5-Stars. The only thing that kept me from giving it the full 5-stars was that Frankie went from one bad thing to another, and then would still make self-defeating choices. It got exhausting at times.
Thanks to St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.
April 11, 2024
Eeeek. This will undoubtedly be one of my most disappointing reads of '24! I am baffled by all the 5 star ratings that it's getting.
After "The Nightingale" and "Four Winds," both of which were 5 star reads for me, I was really looking forward to "The Women." I started it immediately the day it was released. I was excited, to say the least.
But ugh.
The premise: Frankie McGrath is not your traditional girl, wanting more out of life than the traditional domestic roles. When the U.S. goes to war in Vietnam, her brother Finley, who is also her best friend, enlists and her parents are brimming with pride. Her father came from a "Navy house" and has a "hero wall" in their home where he puts up pictures of "heroes." His father was a veteran, and his own generation of men all went to war during WWII, but he was not able to go and overcompensated for his subsequent feelings of inadequacy by going overboard on the patriotism. His children are raised believing that serving your country is the highest honor. So when Finley enlists & is deployed, it occurs to Frankie that as an R.N., she should follow in his footsteps. She winds up joining the army bc it's the only military branch that will accept her fresh out of college with no experience, she envisions proud parents, meeting up with her brother in 'Nam, coming home to accolades and a heroes welcome. Reality is nothing even close to that.
So it started off alright. I am not particularly knowledgable about the Vietnam War so I figured I'd learn a thing or two. Things escalate quickly. Before Frankie's plane even lands in Vietnam, she's getting shot at by "Charlie" & cowering in fear bc of all the loud, terrifying gunshots & explosions happening in the vicinity. She's quickly thrust into wartime nursing, exposed to death, missing limbs, & other horrific injuries within minutes of reporting for duty. There is no learning curve, there is no training, she's forced to sac up & buckle down & WORK.
So this was as far as I got while still thinking that I would enjoy this. At this point, things started to go awry.
The best bits IMO were the bits about the friendships Frankie made while nursing. Going through something as traumatizing as a war together has a way of solidifying relationships & bringing people much closer together than the average friendship. The way that Frankie relied on them & the way they showed up for her time & time again warmed my heart, but tbh even these parts highlighted how lacking the whole book was bc again, they lacked any substantial characterizations. We got no real backstories on either of the women, even the bits & pieces of their present lives were quickly glossed over. They were props, devices plugged in just to get Frankie out of whatever man-induced hole she was currently in. It also validated my opinion about Frankie being self absorbed & selfish, for all the support & love she’s given by these women, she gave almost none of it herself. For example, it takes her a very long time to be open minded about the cause her “best friend” has devoted her life to bc she’s too busy wallowing, & then when one of them gets engaged Frankie is jealous. Everything ties back to whatever is going on in her love life, it was annoying. For a book titled "The Women” which supposedly was intended to be something that gave distinction & a voice to a group that history has all but forgotten, a lot of this was about the men.
Historical fiction is not my favorite genre, but when written well (according to my preferences) they can still be some of my favorite books. But when I pick up a piece of historical fiction, I want to learn something about a time or a place or a people. Often after or while reading HF I find myself reading up on that topic, watching documentaries, searching out facts. Kate Quinn, John Boyne, Geraldine Brooks are a few that come to mind that have consistently provided me with what I want in my historical fiction. What I don’t want is to read a romance within a historical setting. In “The Women,” reading about the experiences of a nurse in a time of war DID interest me, but it could have just as easily been any other place or time or war. Other than a few mentions of the heat & of “Charlie” one would hardly be able to differentiate between this & any other wars. It was ultimately just a hollow construction of the war, a backdrop for the romantic exploits of our MC. I could have written this book with what little I knew about the Vietnam war. I got through just shy of 500 pages without learning a single thing.
To be fair, I didn’t completely despise this book, it was readable, I was never bored. It was just that I had such high expectations & the result was disappointing. It felt like Kristin Hannah deviated a bit from her previous chick-lit/romance categorization with more literary work with "Nightingale," and "Four Winds," but then reverted back to her former M.O. with "The Women." (Which no shame to readers of chick-lit, some of it is great, but it’s just not what I was looking for in this instance.) Ordinarily I might have rated this 3 stars, but because my disappointment was so severe I had to go with 2. That doesn't mean that I'm giving up on Kristin Hannah, I still plan to one day read the "Great Alone," and I will likely continue to read whatever she comes out with.
It is worth noting that so far the reaction to “The Women”has been so positive that it leaves me feeling like I could be alone in these feelings. I’m getting the typical “what did I miss?!” feeling. To each their own I guess 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
After "The Nightingale" and "Four Winds," both of which were 5 star reads for me, I was really looking forward to "The Women." I started it immediately the day it was released. I was excited, to say the least.
But ugh.
The premise: Frankie McGrath is not your traditional girl, wanting more out of life than the traditional domestic roles. When the U.S. goes to war in Vietnam, her brother Finley, who is also her best friend, enlists and her parents are brimming with pride. Her father came from a "Navy house" and has a "hero wall" in their home where he puts up pictures of "heroes." His father was a veteran, and his own generation of men all went to war during WWII, but he was not able to go and overcompensated for his subsequent feelings of inadequacy by going overboard on the patriotism. His children are raised believing that serving your country is the highest honor. So when Finley enlists & is deployed, it occurs to Frankie that as an R.N., she should follow in his footsteps. She winds up joining the army bc it's the only military branch that will accept her fresh out of college with no experience, she envisions proud parents, meeting up with her brother in 'Nam, coming home to accolades and a heroes welcome. Reality is nothing even close to that.
So it started off alright. I am not particularly knowledgable about the Vietnam War so I figured I'd learn a thing or two. Things escalate quickly. Before Frankie's plane even lands in Vietnam, she's getting shot at by "Charlie" & cowering in fear bc of all the loud, terrifying gunshots & explosions happening in the vicinity. She's quickly thrust into wartime nursing, exposed to death, missing limbs, & other horrific injuries within minutes of reporting for duty. There is no learning curve, there is no training, she's forced to sac up & buckle down & WORK.
So this was as far as I got while still thinking that I would enjoy this. At this point, things started to go awry.
The best bits IMO were the bits about the friendships Frankie made while nursing. Going through something as traumatizing as a war together has a way of solidifying relationships & bringing people much closer together than the average friendship. The way that Frankie relied on them & the way they showed up for her time & time again warmed my heart, but tbh even these parts highlighted how lacking the whole book was bc again, they lacked any substantial characterizations. We got no real backstories on either of the women, even the bits & pieces of their present lives were quickly glossed over. They were props, devices plugged in just to get Frankie out of whatever man-induced hole she was currently in. It also validated my opinion about Frankie being self absorbed & selfish, for all the support & love she’s given by these women, she gave almost none of it herself. For example, it takes her a very long time to be open minded about the cause her “best friend” has devoted her life to bc she’s too busy wallowing, & then when one of them gets engaged Frankie is jealous. Everything ties back to whatever is going on in her love life, it was annoying. For a book titled "The Women” which supposedly was intended to be something that gave distinction & a voice to a group that history has all but forgotten, a lot of this was about the men.
Historical fiction is not my favorite genre, but when written well (according to my preferences) they can still be some of my favorite books. But when I pick up a piece of historical fiction, I want to learn something about a time or a place or a people. Often after or while reading HF I find myself reading up on that topic, watching documentaries, searching out facts. Kate Quinn, John Boyne, Geraldine Brooks are a few that come to mind that have consistently provided me with what I want in my historical fiction. What I don’t want is to read a romance within a historical setting. In “The Women,” reading about the experiences of a nurse in a time of war DID interest me, but it could have just as easily been any other place or time or war. Other than a few mentions of the heat & of “Charlie” one would hardly be able to differentiate between this & any other wars. It was ultimately just a hollow construction of the war, a backdrop for the romantic exploits of our MC. I could have written this book with what little I knew about the Vietnam war. I got through just shy of 500 pages without learning a single thing.
To be fair, I didn’t completely despise this book, it was readable, I was never bored. It was just that I had such high expectations & the result was disappointing. It felt like Kristin Hannah deviated a bit from her previous chick-lit/romance categorization with more literary work with "Nightingale," and "Four Winds," but then reverted back to her former M.O. with "The Women." (Which no shame to readers of chick-lit, some of it is great, but it’s just not what I was looking for in this instance.) Ordinarily I might have rated this 3 stars, but because my disappointment was so severe I had to go with 2. That doesn't mean that I'm giving up on Kristin Hannah, I still plan to one day read the "Great Alone," and I will likely continue to read whatever she comes out with.
It is worth noting that so far the reaction to “The Women”has been so positive that it leaves me feeling like I could be alone in these feelings. I’m getting the typical “what did I miss?!” feeling. To each their own I guess 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
February 24, 2024
**Many thanks to NetGalley, Erica Martirano at St. Martin's Press, and Kristin Hannah for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 2.6!!**
"A woman is like a tea bag - you never know how strong she is until you put her in hot water." - Eleanor Roosevelt
Frances "Frankie" McGrath knows that nursing school is just the beginning for her...but the men in her life don't quite agree. With her brother heading out to Vietnam to follow in the footsteps of the men in McGrath family, his goodbye party is a wake-up call to Frankie...and she feels a pull she just can't ignore. Why aren't any WOMEN featured on her father's "Wall of Heroes?" In the words of the poet Dylan, the times were 'a-changin' and a 'safe' and sheltered life at home in the California sun just doesn't seem like the right fit for Frankie. She feels compelled to put her skills to use overseas, and to be the first McGrath woman to serve her country as part of the medical corps. Despite her family's protests, Frankie ends up enlisting in the Army Nurse Corps and proudly takes her place alongside other brave men and women ready to save lives - no matter the cost.
But Frankie's innocence and lack of experience lead to a rude awakening the minute she hits the soil: her two roommates (who will become besties) Barb and Ethel quickly show her the ropes and remind her not to drink the water...and that the prim and pristine nurse outfits that might work in the States have no place here. Her hooch (slang for a 'thatched hut or improvised living space' is not exactly a cabin from summer camp...and Frankie learns that the type of horrors she's going to see on a daily basis....well, they weren't exactly depicted in her nursing school textbooks. Dealing with the constant threat of ending up a casualty, and learning how to perform surgical procedures on the fly, Frankie has her hands full...and throw in a questionable romantic entanglement or two, and it's CERTAINLY more than she bargained for...
Eventually, Frankie's tour comes to an end, and she looks forward to the warm embrace of the family she left behind...but nothing could have prepared her for what she finds when she returns to the States. Not only is she not afforded a hero's welcome...she's met with scorn, ridicule, and a family that seems ashamed of her service. The country itself is divided, and because so many believe the war itself to be a mistake, there are protests, anger, and vitriol coursing through the veins of the citizens of the United States. Frankie is even met with statements like "There were no women in Vietnam," leaving her floored, hurt, and terrified about what a return to civilian life will be like for her and her friends. As tensions continue to rise and Frankie fights for her rights as a Vietnam veteran AND a female in a rapidly changing environment, a flood of mental health struggles threaten to disrupt her life...permanently. Can Frankie learn to process her trauma, fight for her rights AND discover what life after the war looks like for her...or will the aftershocks of a senseless war keep her mired in pain and unable to move forward...at all?
If there's one thing that's evident in all of Kristin Hannah's historical fiction, it's that she's spent FAR longer than many of her contemporaries burying herself in research about the time period (and oftentimes, the battle) at hand. Her books have a specific feel to them, one that is simply bursting with detail about the sights, sounds, smells, and look of the scenery in play. However, with all of this detail teeming from each page, I've found that at times it feels like Hannah is OVER explaining and almost justifying what time period we are in a bit TOO often, while simultaneously expecting the reader to have the level of familiarity she does with some of the background of the time period. A great example of this: TaB is mentioned as a beverage of choice many times throughout the book...as if to say, "Remember? It's the 1960s!"...but when intricacies of wartime life and vocabulary a reader who may not be familiar with the Vietnam War much at all (such as myself) such as the aforementioned "hooch" are presented with little explanation...it feels like a missed opportunity. I realize Hannah's books are fiction and not a textbook: however. coming into this book with little context about the war itself and what the day-to-day looked like in Vietnam, THAT would have been interesting to learn, rather than to just surmise what I THOUGHT it might be via context clues.
There's a second hallmark of Hannah's writing that was certainly present here: she leans into telling stories of strong women battling the patriarchy, and demonstrating that they are as powerful as men, if not more so. Frankie certainly fits the bill at first glance: she's smart, determined, brave, and even a bit headstrong, and as a reader, at the beginning of the book, I was all in with her journey. However, once you get to actually KNOW Frankie...she's a bit of a mess when it comes to decision making, and to be honest, it made it incredibly hard to empathize with her at times. For a woman so determined to forge her own path and be independent, she relies HEAVILY on her friends to bail her out time and time again (which due to the magic of fiction and storytelling, they are consistently able to drop everything at a moment's notice), and despite CONSISTENT clues that men in her life are toxic, Frankie ignores this information and continues to pursue these options. NOT TO MENTION when she ends up with a wonderful man in her life later on, she basically treats him like The Backup Guy and drops him like a bad habit. This sort of disparity in our MC made her more than a bit unlikable, and despite the empathy I felt towards her overall situation, I also felt like she purposefully got in her own way FAR more than was necessary to make the drama in the story work.
There's also the small fact that Frankie is the ONLY person we hear from....for the ENTIRE book. All 480 pages of it. With fascinating side characters like Frankie's two pals Barb and Ethel, and even some of the people she meets after returning home from war that seemed...to be blunt, more likable than Frankie, we only see the turn of events from her perspective. This book felt more like it could have been called "The WOMAN," in all honesty. Aside from not hearing from Frankie's pals, another glaring opportunity that was missed was the chance to hear from ANY of the women in VIETNAM in a real way. There are very few interactions between Frankie and these characters...but I don't see why this needed to be the case. As an author who has made it her mission to tell these type of stories, a way to flesh out this book (and still probably cut down on page count!) would have been to include the perspective of some of the women fighting for survival in their own country, at LEAST in the first half of the book. I would have gladly dropped some of the seemingly endless descriptions of bombs, blood, and some of Frankie's mooning over the aforementioned Bad Guy to hear more of THESE stories.
Perhaps the final 'hallmark' of a Hannah book in and of itself is tragedy: there WILL be deaths, and plenty of them. This is also a bit of a pain point for me personally when reading her books, because at times it can be easy to telegraph exactly who will meet their demise...and even sometimes WHEN, for the benefit of the plot. I don't mind a couple of these 'predictable' instances, but with Hannah's books, they can have the feel of a thriller that just didn't know when to quit and has a few too MANY twists.
Despite these areas for opportunity in this particular novel, Hannah continues to forge ahead with her long-standing mission of exploring the other side of the coin: rather than a male-dominated, patriarchal view of all things war-related, it is the bold and brilliant women who were the backbone of many a turbulent time. She perhaps could not have picked a more complex conflict to explore, and with such divide about what it means to be a true patriot still ringing true today, this quote from MLK perhaps sums up the ramifications of a nation still feeling the aftershocks today: "The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit."
And if there's anyone with the strength to cure ANY malady...who better than a nurse? 👩⚕️
4 stars
"A woman is like a tea bag - you never know how strong she is until you put her in hot water." - Eleanor Roosevelt
Frances "Frankie" McGrath knows that nursing school is just the beginning for her...but the men in her life don't quite agree. With her brother heading out to Vietnam to follow in the footsteps of the men in McGrath family, his goodbye party is a wake-up call to Frankie...and she feels a pull she just can't ignore. Why aren't any WOMEN featured on her father's "Wall of Heroes?" In the words of the poet Dylan, the times were 'a-changin' and a 'safe' and sheltered life at home in the California sun just doesn't seem like the right fit for Frankie. She feels compelled to put her skills to use overseas, and to be the first McGrath woman to serve her country as part of the medical corps. Despite her family's protests, Frankie ends up enlisting in the Army Nurse Corps and proudly takes her place alongside other brave men and women ready to save lives - no matter the cost.
But Frankie's innocence and lack of experience lead to a rude awakening the minute she hits the soil: her two roommates (who will become besties) Barb and Ethel quickly show her the ropes and remind her not to drink the water...and that the prim and pristine nurse outfits that might work in the States have no place here. Her hooch (slang for a 'thatched hut or improvised living space' is not exactly a cabin from summer camp...and Frankie learns that the type of horrors she's going to see on a daily basis....well, they weren't exactly depicted in her nursing school textbooks. Dealing with the constant threat of ending up a casualty, and learning how to perform surgical procedures on the fly, Frankie has her hands full...and throw in a questionable romantic entanglement or two, and it's CERTAINLY more than she bargained for...
Eventually, Frankie's tour comes to an end, and she looks forward to the warm embrace of the family she left behind...but nothing could have prepared her for what she finds when she returns to the States. Not only is she not afforded a hero's welcome...she's met with scorn, ridicule, and a family that seems ashamed of her service. The country itself is divided, and because so many believe the war itself to be a mistake, there are protests, anger, and vitriol coursing through the veins of the citizens of the United States. Frankie is even met with statements like "There were no women in Vietnam," leaving her floored, hurt, and terrified about what a return to civilian life will be like for her and her friends. As tensions continue to rise and Frankie fights for her rights as a Vietnam veteran AND a female in a rapidly changing environment, a flood of mental health struggles threaten to disrupt her life...permanently. Can Frankie learn to process her trauma, fight for her rights AND discover what life after the war looks like for her...or will the aftershocks of a senseless war keep her mired in pain and unable to move forward...at all?
If there's one thing that's evident in all of Kristin Hannah's historical fiction, it's that she's spent FAR longer than many of her contemporaries burying herself in research about the time period (and oftentimes, the battle) at hand. Her books have a specific feel to them, one that is simply bursting with detail about the sights, sounds, smells, and look of the scenery in play. However, with all of this detail teeming from each page, I've found that at times it feels like Hannah is OVER explaining and almost justifying what time period we are in a bit TOO often, while simultaneously expecting the reader to have the level of familiarity she does with some of the background of the time period. A great example of this: TaB is mentioned as a beverage of choice many times throughout the book...as if to say, "Remember? It's the 1960s!"...but when intricacies of wartime life and vocabulary a reader who may not be familiar with the Vietnam War much at all (such as myself) such as the aforementioned "hooch" are presented with little explanation...it feels like a missed opportunity. I realize Hannah's books are fiction and not a textbook: however. coming into this book with little context about the war itself and what the day-to-day looked like in Vietnam, THAT would have been interesting to learn, rather than to just surmise what I THOUGHT it might be via context clues.
There's a second hallmark of Hannah's writing that was certainly present here: she leans into telling stories of strong women battling the patriarchy, and demonstrating that they are as powerful as men, if not more so. Frankie certainly fits the bill at first glance: she's smart, determined, brave, and even a bit headstrong, and as a reader, at the beginning of the book, I was all in with her journey. However, once you get to actually KNOW Frankie...she's a bit of a mess when it comes to decision making, and to be honest, it made it incredibly hard to empathize with her at times. For a woman so determined to forge her own path and be independent, she relies HEAVILY on her friends to bail her out time and time again (which due to the magic of fiction and storytelling, they are consistently able to drop everything at a moment's notice), and despite CONSISTENT clues that men in her life are toxic, Frankie ignores this information and continues to pursue these options. NOT TO MENTION when she ends up with a wonderful man in her life later on, she basically treats him like The Backup Guy and drops him like a bad habit. This sort of disparity in our MC made her more than a bit unlikable, and despite the empathy I felt towards her overall situation, I also felt like she purposefully got in her own way FAR more than was necessary to make the drama in the story work.
There's also the small fact that Frankie is the ONLY person we hear from....for the ENTIRE book. All 480 pages of it. With fascinating side characters like Frankie's two pals Barb and Ethel, and even some of the people she meets after returning home from war that seemed...to be blunt, more likable than Frankie, we only see the turn of events from her perspective. This book felt more like it could have been called "The WOMAN," in all honesty. Aside from not hearing from Frankie's pals, another glaring opportunity that was missed was the chance to hear from ANY of the women in VIETNAM in a real way. There are very few interactions between Frankie and these characters...but I don't see why this needed to be the case. As an author who has made it her mission to tell these type of stories, a way to flesh out this book (and still probably cut down on page count!) would have been to include the perspective of some of the women fighting for survival in their own country, at LEAST in the first half of the book. I would have gladly dropped some of the seemingly endless descriptions of bombs, blood, and some of Frankie's mooning over the aforementioned Bad Guy to hear more of THESE stories.
Perhaps the final 'hallmark' of a Hannah book in and of itself is tragedy: there WILL be deaths, and plenty of them. This is also a bit of a pain point for me personally when reading her books, because at times it can be easy to telegraph exactly who will meet their demise...and even sometimes WHEN, for the benefit of the plot. I don't mind a couple of these 'predictable' instances, but with Hannah's books, they can have the feel of a thriller that just didn't know when to quit and has a few too MANY twists.
Despite these areas for opportunity in this particular novel, Hannah continues to forge ahead with her long-standing mission of exploring the other side of the coin: rather than a male-dominated, patriarchal view of all things war-related, it is the bold and brilliant women who were the backbone of many a turbulent time. She perhaps could not have picked a more complex conflict to explore, and with such divide about what it means to be a true patriot still ringing true today, this quote from MLK perhaps sums up the ramifications of a nation still feeling the aftershocks today: "The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit."
And if there's anyone with the strength to cure ANY malady...who better than a nurse? 👩⚕️
4 stars
December 14, 2023
“What is it good for…absolutely nothing.” - War
When twenty-year-old nursing student Frankie McGrath is told by her brother’s friend that “women can be heroes too,” it sparks an indelible flame within her. When her brother is drafted to serve in the Vietnam War, she decides to enlist in the Army Nurse Corps and join him, having no idea just how much that decision will ultimately affect the course of her life.
This book pays homage to the millions of vets who experienced detrimental physical and emotional damage in a widely unpopular war (not of their own volition in most cases) only to return home to public outrage. Kristin Hannah gives voice to the pain and suffering these veterans experienced post war - both the high suicide rates and the very high drug and alcohol addiction rates in a world that was only beginning to recognize PTSD.
At the heart of this story though, are the women - those who served their country in the same vain as their male counterparts, and yet received none of the recognition from their fellow Veterans, including the Veterans Administration (VA) who refused them needed psychological treatment.
I have read some criticism that the second part of the story has too much going on, and is too dramatic and/or all over the place. I have to very respectfully disagree. It is through the mess and the chaos (both very present in this turbulent part of history) that we see just how much the war has broken these men and women, and how hard they must work to find their way back to being whole.
I chose to do an immersive read of this book, primarily because my all time favorite narrator was at the helm. Julia Whelan could not have done a better job of voicing this incredible story, these unforgettable characters, and all of the angst, tension, distress, and messiness of the times. If you could only choose one book to read immersively, make it this one.
This will easily top my list of 2024 favorites.
Read if you like:
•learning about the Vietnam war
•the turbulence of the 1960s and 1970s
•strong female protagonist
•coming of age stories
•messy love stories
•emotional reads
Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan audio for my gifted copies.
When twenty-year-old nursing student Frankie McGrath is told by her brother’s friend that “women can be heroes too,” it sparks an indelible flame within her. When her brother is drafted to serve in the Vietnam War, she decides to enlist in the Army Nurse Corps and join him, having no idea just how much that decision will ultimately affect the course of her life.
This book pays homage to the millions of vets who experienced detrimental physical and emotional damage in a widely unpopular war (not of their own volition in most cases) only to return home to public outrage. Kristin Hannah gives voice to the pain and suffering these veterans experienced post war - both the high suicide rates and the very high drug and alcohol addiction rates in a world that was only beginning to recognize PTSD.
At the heart of this story though, are the women - those who served their country in the same vain as their male counterparts, and yet received none of the recognition from their fellow Veterans, including the Veterans Administration (VA) who refused them needed psychological treatment.
I have read some criticism that the second part of the story has too much going on, and is too dramatic and/or all over the place. I have to very respectfully disagree. It is through the mess and the chaos (both very present in this turbulent part of history) that we see just how much the war has broken these men and women, and how hard they must work to find their way back to being whole.
I chose to do an immersive read of this book, primarily because my all time favorite narrator was at the helm. Julia Whelan could not have done a better job of voicing this incredible story, these unforgettable characters, and all of the angst, tension, distress, and messiness of the times. If you could only choose one book to read immersively, make it this one.
This will easily top my list of 2024 favorites.
Read if you like:
•learning about the Vietnam war
•the turbulence of the 1960s and 1970s
•strong female protagonist
•coming of age stories
•messy love stories
•emotional reads
Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan audio for my gifted copies.
March 3, 2024
The first Kristin Hannah book I read was The Nightingale and it was phenomenal! I also loved The Four Winds and The Great Alone. I have five or six other Kristin Hannah books sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read.
The Women is about women nurses who served in the Vietnam War and what life was like when they returned home to the US. Frances, aka Frankie, is the main protagonist who experiences tragedies, trauma, PTSD, and relationship challenges.
Highly recommend!
The Women is about women nurses who served in the Vietnam War and what life was like when they returned home to the US. Frances, aka Frankie, is the main protagonist who experiences tragedies, trauma, PTSD, and relationship challenges.
Highly recommend!
April 26, 2024
“The women had a story to tell, even if the world wasn’t quite yet ready to hear it, and their story began with three simple words. We were there.”
The Women by Kristin Hannah follows twenty-one-year-old Frances “Frankie” Grace McGrath, a sheltered young woman from an affluent family, who enlisted as a nurse during the Vietnam War. The narrative follows Frankie through the years of the war and the decades that follow.
There is a lot to like about this novel. The author writes with compassion and the narrative flows well. The fact that the author wanted to tell the story of the women who served in the Vietnam War, giving those whose contributions have been ignored a voice, renders this novel remarkable in its scope and intention. I loved how the author describes the camaraderie between friends and colleagues, their support for one another, the resilience, compassion and bravery of the women who served and the sacrifices they made. I also liked how the author incorporated the public outcry and protests back home - the mixed feelings about the war and those who served and the politics of the time - into the narrative. The author’s unflinching depiction of PTSD and how so many people could not find the help they needed to cope with the trauma they carried back home was heartbreaking was realistic and thought-provoking as were the descriptions of the horrors of war (some of which were more than a little difficult to read). Despite the story being set in years of the Vietnam War and its aftermath, the issues that she has raised are both crucial and relevant even in today’s world.
Unfortunately, there are a few issues that prevent me from giving this novel a higher rating. I was invested in Frankie’s journey and was eager to see how she evolved from a privileged young woman whose sheltered upbringing could not have prepared her for what she would have to endure. The weak character development, the focus on her love life, and the stereotypical and slightly disrespectful representation of the men (with whom she gets romantically involved) who serve their country did not make for pleasant reading and detracted from the overall experience. The ending was poignant, but again, the author’s choice to provide a “happy” (melodramatic) ending lessened the overall impact.
Both Ethel and Barb were well thought out characters ( in fact, I found them more interesting than Frankie). Though we do get to know their stories in segments interspersed throughout the novel, mostly through Frankie’s interactions with them, I feel the author has missed an opportunity to further enrich the narrative. In my humble opinion, focusing on one woman’s perspective and relegating the other characters to supporting roles, defeats the purpose of this novel. All three women, each with their distinct convictions and motivations, deserved to have their voices woven into the narrative. The perspectives of all three of these women from diverse backgrounds, each of whom embark on their respective journeys facing their own set of challenges, would have provided much-needed depth to the narrative.
Given the strong historical context and the premise of the novel, I’d expected to enjoy this novel more than I actually did. Overall, while l did not dislike The Women, I can’t help feeling a tad disappointed with certain aspects of the story. However, many have enjoyed this novel more and I would request you to read those reviews before deciding on whether to read this one.
Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The Women was published on February 06, 2024.
Connect with me! ✏ Instagram ✏ My Blog ✏ The StoryGraph
The Women by Kristin Hannah follows twenty-one-year-old Frances “Frankie” Grace McGrath, a sheltered young woman from an affluent family, who enlisted as a nurse during the Vietnam War. The narrative follows Frankie through the years of the war and the decades that follow.
There is a lot to like about this novel. The author writes with compassion and the narrative flows well. The fact that the author wanted to tell the story of the women who served in the Vietnam War, giving those whose contributions have been ignored a voice, renders this novel remarkable in its scope and intention. I loved how the author describes the camaraderie between friends and colleagues, their support for one another, the resilience, compassion and bravery of the women who served and the sacrifices they made. I also liked how the author incorporated the public outcry and protests back home - the mixed feelings about the war and those who served and the politics of the time - into the narrative. The author’s unflinching depiction of PTSD and how so many people could not find the help they needed to cope with the trauma they carried back home was heartbreaking was realistic and thought-provoking as were the descriptions of the horrors of war (some of which were more than a little difficult to read). Despite the story being set in years of the Vietnam War and its aftermath, the issues that she has raised are both crucial and relevant even in today’s world.
Unfortunately, there are a few issues that prevent me from giving this novel a higher rating. I was invested in Frankie’s journey and was eager to see how she evolved from a privileged young woman whose sheltered upbringing could not have prepared her for what she would have to endure. The weak character development, the focus on her love life, and the stereotypical and slightly disrespectful representation of the men (with whom she gets romantically involved) who serve their country did not make for pleasant reading and detracted from the overall experience. The ending was poignant, but again, the author’s choice to provide a “happy” (melodramatic) ending lessened the overall impact.
Both Ethel and Barb were well thought out characters ( in fact, I found them more interesting than Frankie). Though we do get to know their stories in segments interspersed throughout the novel, mostly through Frankie’s interactions with them, I feel the author has missed an opportunity to further enrich the narrative. In my humble opinion, focusing on one woman’s perspective and relegating the other characters to supporting roles, defeats the purpose of this novel. All three women, each with their distinct convictions and motivations, deserved to have their voices woven into the narrative. The perspectives of all three of these women from diverse backgrounds, each of whom embark on their respective journeys facing their own set of challenges, would have provided much-needed depth to the narrative.
Given the strong historical context and the premise of the novel, I’d expected to enjoy this novel more than I actually did. Overall, while l did not dislike The Women, I can’t help feeling a tad disappointed with certain aspects of the story. However, many have enjoyed this novel more and I would request you to read those reviews before deciding on whether to read this one.
Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for the digital review copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The Women was published on February 06, 2024.
Connect with me! ✏ Instagram ✏ My Blog ✏ The StoryGraph
December 9, 2023
Although "The Women" was not for this woman, I applaud the author for penning a book that showcases the role that female combat nurses played in the Vietnam War.
WHY WAS "THE WOMEN" NOT FOR THIS WOMAN?
1) The book's pacing (especially in the beginning) was slow and the book was waaaaaay too long.
IMHO, this 15-hour audiobook (471 pages!) easily could have been 10 hours.
2) I had trouble relating to the female protagonist. Every single guy she met fell in love with her. (Huh?)
Yes, I realize that there were few American females in Vietnam but I still felt that the author's portrayal of the book's protagonist was unrealistic.
I listened to the audiobook read by Julia Whelan who did an outstanding job with the narration.
Since this is an "outlier review", I urge everyone to read all of the 5-star reviews for this book.
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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