In 1965, having grown up on Coronado Island in Southern California, Frankie is a “society girl” whose parents expect her to marry well and for her brother, Finley to join the military and have his picture displayed on their father’s “hero wall”. But Frankie, as a 20 year old graduate nurse, decides to defy her parents and joins the Army Medical Corps and requests to be sent to Vietnam. She is quickly initiated into a world of trauma and tragedy but develops deep friendships with her colleagues who help each other survive if possible. After serving two tours, Frankie’s nursing skills are excellent but she has lost lovers and friends and seen too much death. She returns to a home that she no longer recognizes. As with many Vietnam veterans, she is called names and spit on at the airport, her employer treats her as a new unskilled nurse and her parents are embarrassed by her military service. Over the next few years, Frankie struggles with her nightmares, flashbacks, multiple losses and addiction and when seeking help, she is told that women didn’t serve in Vietnam so treatment is unavailable.
This is a really powerful story and well written historical fiction based on facts and incidents that we rarely hear about. Frankie’s story is tragic from the perspective of her suffering, the attitude of her family and society at the time and being denied the help she needs. I found the book to be very informative and accurate in the description of events and the PTSD aftermath. The emotional ups and downs were difficult to read but the friendships developed by experiences in common were inspirational. The author accurately portrayed the experiences of veterans, especially in the Vietnam era and did an excellent job explaining how they can often only relate to people who have had the same experiences. A tough read but a really important book - highly recommend!

The Women is an intense, emotional, unflinching account of the horrors of the Vietnam War and its lasting effects on those who served especially the women. Frankie is one of the best female protagonists I’ve read about. I fell in love with her and all of the supporting characters who served with her. The scenes involving the wounded were sometimes hard to read but necessary to understand Frankie’s struggles with PTSD after the war. Kristin Hannah makes the reader feel like they are there with Frankie in wartime and in the aftermath. This book is a must read for any historical fiction fan that will stay with you long after the last page.

The Women deserves all the stars. I haven’t been able to read historical fiction in a while but Kristin Hannah always manages to pull me out of a rut. I had a book hangover after this book. I knew very little about the Vietnam War before reading and now want to learn more. Buy this book for all the fabulous women in your lives!

Thank you to Kristin Hannah, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kristin has done it again. A phenomenal historical fiction set in the 70s.
We read a lot of women nurses in the war, but I loved the fact this was set during theVietnam War. One thing that stood out was the common repetition of the phrase, there were no women in Vietnam. Kristen describes in great detail of these women hero’s and what they went through. They may not have been fighting with guns, but they fought for then men and their lives.
This is a must read!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC I’m exchange for an honest review.

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Erica Martirano at St. Martin's Press, and Kristin Hannah for an ARC of this book!**

"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

This book has everything that I love in historical fiction - interesting setting and time, strong female protagonists, and a story I haven't heard told yet. I highly recommend this to any fan of historical fiction, strong female characters, or even someone who wants to learn more about what it was like for Nurses and Doctors during the Vietnam War.

The Women by Kristin Hannah was an incredible walk into Vietnam. The stories, the friendships, the horrific sacrifices that were made were painted on the page with such vivid imagery. Loved the characters and learned so much as I read. Highly recommend.
Full review and links coming soon.

The Women was a moving, female-empowering book that had me captivated the entire time. This book had extremely strong female friendships that showed up for the main character time and time again. In many wars including the Vietnam war, the role of women is highly underrepresented and it was inspiring and shocking to see the perspective.

4.5 stars

“There were no women in Vietnam.” As Kristin Hannah states in the Author’s Note to her magnificent new novel The Women, this sentiment – that no women served in Vietnam, despite numerous first-hand accounts of women who were there as nurses, medical personnel, news correspondents, volunteers, etc. -- was the prevailing one during a time period that saw a country torn apart by a senseless war that should never have happened in the first place. As someone born in the late 1970s, long after the war was over, I of course had to rely on history books to learn about the Vietnam War – books that I realize now were mostly lacking in detailed information. In fact, the mentions of the Vietnam War were always so brief to the point that I had no idea how bad things actually got in America: that there had been a period of “collective amnesia” spurred on by the government where even the mere mention of “Vietnam” was taboo; that Vietnam vets were shamefully mistreated by both the government and ordinary citizens to the point that many had to go into hiding and were even afraid to mention they had served; and most frustratingly, that women’s efforts in the war were rarely (if ever) acknowledged and their experiences were largely discounted – in being constantly told that “there were no women in Vietnam,” they were rendered invisible, forcibly forgotten and “disappeared” from history. With this novel, Hannah brings these women’s experiences to the forefront and once again, delivers a heart-wrenching, emotional story that provides more depth of insight into aspects of American history than many history books are able to do.

The woman at the center of the story is Frances “Frankie” McGrath, a nursing student from a wealthy, conservative family, who decides to follow her brother’s footsteps when he ships out to serve in Vietnam in 1965. At the age of 21, inexperienced and with barely any training, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and arrives in Vietnam without the faintest idea what she would be up against. Surrounded by devastation and destruction everywhere she turns, Frankie comes face-to-face with the atrocities of war on a daily basis and learns to survive amongst the chaos. In Vietnam, she meets two other nurses – Barb and Ethel – and together, they endure horrific violence, death, loss, and heartbreak mingled with moments of incredible courage, bravery, and hope. In circumstances where both life and death hang by a thread, the deep friendships that Frankie forms with those whom she works untiringly side-by-side every day, along with a strong belief in the good they are doing for the war effort, carry her through the darkest of days. But when Frankie and her friends return home to a country deeply divided, where tensions run high and the overwhelming sentiment is to forget the war ever happened, the women realize that what they endured in Vietnam was only the beginning of a long battle for justice — for themselves as well as for those who sacrificed life and limb for a country that doesn’t want to recognize their existence.

I will be honest in saying that this was a difficult read for me, but also one that I couldn’t put down (I finished this one in two sittings, as I couldn’t stop myself from turning the pages, desperately wanting to find out what happens next). Hannah has proven time and time again that she definitely knows how to tell a gripping, atmospheric story with complex female characters who are deeply flawed, yet realistic and relatable in ways that you don’t see coming until you’re so immersed in their world that it’s too late to pull back. It wasn’t until I finished the book that, upon reflection, I realized that perhaps the book was a little longer than it needed to be and some scenes were a bit repetitive and maybe not really necessary. But overall, this was a well-thought-out, meticulously researched story, poignantly told in a way that, I felt, did justice to the history and complexity of the Vietnam War era. I especially appreciated Hannah’s Author Note where she talked about the decades-long process of how this novel came to be and I definitely feel she made the right choice to wait until she was ready to tackle this subject. In my opinion, she did a magnificent job!

Kristin Hannah has become one of my favorite historical fiction authors whose works are high on my “must-read” list (though admittedly, I still have many books in her extensive backlist that I need to get to at some point). While initially, I had felt bad about not getting to this one before publication date (I realize I missed it by a few days), I now know that I need not have worried, as Hannah’s work pretty much speaks for itself. I’m sure this will be one of the buzziest, most-read books of the year (and deservingly so in my opinion).

This was an amazing book! I loved it! What a rollercoaster of emotions. It's always tough to read about the Vietnam war with all the deaths. But to read about a female Army nurse in all the chaos was heart-rending. And then having to deal with PTSD when she got back home. The writing in this book was just flawless. The characters were realistic. This book is perfection and is easily one of my favorites.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Kristin Hannah for an ARC of The Women in exchange of an honest review.

Another beautiful novel by Kristin Hannah. I was again swept up in the story and I highly recommend for any of her previous readers or for book clubs.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. #sponsored

A tribute to the power of friendship and the bond developed in the harsh medical world of the Vietnam War forms the backdrop to Kristen Hannah’s novel The Women. Young, idealistic Frankie McGrath signs up to be an army nurse at the beginning of a war which will soon become unpopular in the United States. Totally unprepared for working as a surgical nurse, Frankie learns how to survive in the chaos of war and surgery. Her nursing team becomes her lifeline as she navigates the surgical hospitals, doctors, soldiers, family, and life back home in America. Delving into the sacrifices and traumas endured in the war and those endured upon returning to a country angry over that war, the writing evokes the times of the 1960’s and 1970’s reflecting the thinking, the pop culture, and the changing dynamics of political activism. A fascinating, emotionally difficult, but powerful book on the Vietnam War and the aftermath, focusing on the strength of women. Highly recommended!

This book ripped my heart out. I don’t cry when I read books but this had me practically sobbing. This was a powerful book and unique. I haven’t heard of many books set during Vietnam and especially not ones geared towards women. As a nurse and woman that has had many family serve our military, and had my own grandfather serve in Vietnam, this book hit home. Don’t skip this book. This is Hannah at her very best.

4.5 Stars. Frankie McGrath lived a sheltered life in an upper-middle-class home. Her parents felt that a woman's future should involve marriage and raising children. Her father had a wall of photos honouring male family members who had participated in various wars. This was his Wall of Heroes. At a gathering for her beloved brother, who was departing for Vietnam, her brother's friend told Frankie that women could be heroes, too. Her brother died in Vietnam, leaving the family shattered by grief. After training as a nurse, Frankie enlists in the Army Nurse Corps to go to the war zone and work with war casualties, save lives, and provide comfort for the dying. Her father is hostile regarding her choice, and her mother disapproves and worries about her safety.

When Frankie arrives in Vietnam, she realizes how unprepared she is for the chaos and carnage. She pushes through these doubts and concerns and becomes a much-admired and competent nurse, even performing surgeries. The sights, sounds, smells, gory injuries and deaths vividly immerse the readers in the place and time, with references to the music, culture, political division, assassinations, and turmoil back home. She faced fears, sorrow, heartbreak, exhaustion, anger and frustrations. Two close friends from the nursing unit helped give her emotional support when she became overwhelmed, and she bravely carried on her medical duties. The horrors she witnessed while working in the field hospital are compounded after she arrives home.

Her parents offer no acknowledgement or appreciation for a job well done. The public has essentially turned against the ongoing war and is far from welcoming returning veterans. Demonstrations and riots ensue, and Frankie is now hardened and disillusioned from her experiences. She suffers from PTSD and is abusing drugs and alcohol. Her two good friends are always willing to fly to Frankie and try to relieve her distress. Knowing she needs more psychological help, she is unable to receive support from Veterans Affairs, being told she was not involved in combat and there were no women in Vietnam.

I lived in Canada for half of the war. There was no direct participation as it was classified as a civil war. We received many draft dodgers from the USA. I was in Australia for half the war, and men were drafted for combat. I recall daily newscasts saying that winning the war was necessary to save the surrounding countries from the scourge of communism, the 'domino effect.' The news reported continuous success over the enemy, not the horrors of bombed villages or native civilian casualties. Napalm, Agent Orange, and intrusion into Cambodia were barely mentioned. Besides anti-war protests, it was a time of civil-rights demonstrations, with a country badly divided.

I was engrossed by the powerful depiction of women's role in the war and the lack of acknowledgement for their efforts. The picture of the hospital, with the sound of helicopters continuously bringing in the injured and dying and the research that went into the book should be applauded. The war's aftermath and the treatment of the veterans were disheartening, and the lack of help for the emotional wounds of the women was startingly absent. This was a vivid account of the era's history, highly emotional and informative. I wouldn't say I liked the sentimental soap opera of Frankie's romantic involvements. It seemed unrealistic that every man she met immediately fell in love with her, and these attachments often ended with tragic reports. The situation would worsen when everything appeared to be settling down for her.

I kept reading, wanting to know what the outcome would be for Frankie and other forgotten women. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this compelling ARC, which will be published on February 6.

My first five-star read of 2024, and I am admittedly (and weirdly proudly) stingy with that fifth star. As soon as I saw that it was on the horizon I knew I had to read it. And when I started seeing reviews pop up on social media, the vast majority were so good that I began to worry I'd be disappointed after so much hype, so I tried to ignore them and make sure I listened ASAP. I was not disappointed. With this book Kristin Hannah broke my heart, made me angry and nostalgic, she made me feel, and made me remember. I loved the main character, Frankie McGrath, with all her strengths and faults, and I loved the two women who helped her survive and eventually thrive, not only in the early months of her service in Vietnam, but in the difficult years after she returned home to a world she had difficulty understanding. So much of it isn't easy to read/hear - but it's most definitely important.
A little personal background that no doubt informs my feelings & opinions: The time period covered was my own "coming of age" era. Frankie McGrath, the woman whose journey represents all those women who served at that time, is only about 7 years older than me. But those seven years were important ones at the time. The year the POWs were released, 1973, was the year my husband graduated from college and received an Air Force commission, the year we married, the year he began his 24-year career as an Air Force pilot. We both wore POW bracelets in college and I still remember the name on my bracelet. In the early years of my husband's career, he served with several former POWs, as well as many other pilots who'd served in the war. I got to know their wives, as well as some nurses who'd no doubt served there. And yes, we heard some stories. So when Hannah says she did serious research, I believe her. It rings true for me.
My thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

Wow! One needs to collect themselves after reading this emotional roller coaster ride of a story. I was in middle school at the time of the Vietnam War and remembered watching the news and the death counts. Still to this day I think of my childhood friend whose brother never came home. My tears were flowing so many times for the loss of so many young men and women. Once again Kristin Hannah and her gift of weaving a story based on real life has written a must definitely read book.
The story surrounds Frankie as young woman wanting to help make a change in the world and enlists in the Army fresh out of nursing school. She volunteers for Vietnam where her brother and best friend already has lost his life. Totally shocked and not prepared for the hardships and madness of war, she learns and grows into a take charge woman in the OR. Finds her true calling and meets her 2 BBFs. After two tours of duty coming home wasn’t what she expected.
There are two parts of the story, her time in Vietnam and her return home to the unwelcome reception she received, along with all the veterans. Her struggles to fit in again when her country doesn’t support or believe in the war. I could write so much, but just read it! Thank you NetGalley for this eARC. I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an Advance Reader Copy of this story. #NetGalley #TheWomen #KristenHannah

Frankie McGrath comes from a proud Navy family where the men always serve their country. When her brother goes to war, she decides to do her part as a nurse. What she discovers in Vietnam, and after she comes home, breaks her heart, but it will change who she is.

This is Hannah at her finest: strong women, trauma, and significant historical moments. I loved every moment of reading this book.

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘻𝘺, 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤, 𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯."

I'm sure you've read lots of glowing reviews of 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗠𝗘𝗡 and it's every bit as good as people say.

The novel centers on Frankie McGrath, a privileged and naive 20-year-old who enlists as an Army nurse in Vietnam, how it changes her, and what life is like when she returns home to a country that not only wants to forget the war happened but also refuses to acknowledge the heroic contributions of the women who served.

I tore through the 480 pages, not able to get enough of Frankie's story even when it was breaking my heart. The way Kristin Hannah immerses the reader in the time, the places and her characters' experiences is unparalleled. This is not a book I'll soon forget, and one I encourage everyone to read.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the copy to review.

The women is another outstanding book by Kristin Hannah. As a nurse myself, I loved following along in Frankies footsteps as an Army nurse serving in Vietnam. The history that the author details makes you feel as though you are right there along side the characters. Easily going to be one of my top books of 2024.

This book is an excellent read! It deals with the nurses that served during the Vietnam War. It's a well-researched book that is full of emotions and will stay with you long after you turn the last page. This book deserves more than 5 stars!
I received a complimentary copy from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley and was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are my own.