One of the best books I’ve read in a long time. This novel focuses on a war that is underrepresented in media and in education, so I feel like I learned a lot about Vietnam through this. It also focuses on an extremely underrepresented group - women in the war. I loved the characters even if at times I thought Frankie was naive. Loved this book and will recommend to everyone.

Finished this a few days ago and not ready yet to write my review. So much in this book to digest. It will be popular with book groups as well as her many fans. Excellent HF about women who were often forgotten about or ignored. Five stars!

The Women by Kristin Hannah is beyond amazing. The books takes place during the Vietnam War and the years that follow.

Kristin Hannah weaves a tale that is not for the faint of heart. First don’t believe the lies. Women served in Vietnam. They were in the military. They served our Country. They were Nurses. This story is about Frances ‘Frankie’ McGrath who was raised in a wealthy area of California. Without giving anything away, Frankie enlists in the Army as a battlefield Nurse. She is stationed in the thick of it. There are bombs dropping, mutilated bodies that will be hastily put together and shipped out and those soldiers who were never coming home. Frankie becomes friends with her two roommates and luckily for all three of them it is a friendship that lasts their entire lives. These three women helped save so many lives as well as each other. They jumped in and helped the Doctors and finished the surgery while the Doctor went to start on a new patient. The stamina and skill of the Doctors and the Nurses are what made it possible for so many to come home. These women also held hands and stayed with those wounded soldiers who couldn’t even survive the operating room. They held their hands and let them know they weren’t alone on their journey from this life to the next.

I am ashamed to say that anyone who served in Vietnam did not get a heroes welcome. Unfortunately because so many American’s disagreed with the war, they shunned the returning military and treated them like they were garbage. The United States Government let them down in a big way, especially the women. Kristin Hannah explores this part with mastery. We get to feel so many emotions - the terror, the PTSD, the empathy, the hatred, the exhaustion, the inability to understand, and the strength of friendship.

I was in middle school during the Vietnam War. My father’s brother was serving. I remember my mom and I would record reel to reel tapes and send it off to him and he would do the same. I was very worried during the Vietnam War. I had several of those POW bracelets and I still have them to this day. Whether you remember the Vietnam War or just learned about it in your history class, this is a must read story. Ms. Hannah is a masterful story teller in every way. I can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next.

I would like to thank Kristin Hannah, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Women’s participation in the Vietnam war was essentially erased. Did you know women were even involved in that war? I didn’t. After reading the description, I was excited to read another hard-hitting historical fiction from Kristin Hannah about brave women. She delivered on that front, but I didn’t connect with this one as much as I did her other stories. The characters were not as moving and emotionally written this time, in my opinion, and that made it less gut-wrenching than her other works. I still recommend this, however, as the female participation in the Vietnam War is so overlooked and their heroism is important to read about. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my gifted copy!

I've always appreciated Kristin Hannah's work but this book went to a whole new level. I've certainly read books about the 1960's and I lived that time, albeit as a young girl, but I've never read a book that follows the lives of an Army nurse during and after the Vietnam War.

Hannah truly takes us into the evac hospitals that Frankie worked in. We experienced the trauma that the nurses endured while trying to save lives but also the downtime that enabled relationships to form. Frankie is the main character who is befriended right away In Country by Ethel and Barb who have more experience and can help Frankie learn not only the job but how to cope with issues of being a woman in a man's world.

After their discharges, these women continue to support and love each other. It is very clear that these female friendships are all that's keeping them sane at times. When Frankie attempts to get some help from the VA, she is told in no uncertain terms that women have nothing to deal with, "there were no women in Vietnam".

This is a very sad look at a time when vets were not treated well or appreciated. And as a woman, Frankie is doubly treated unkindly and misunderstood by all except her fellow nurse vets.

I highly recommend this thoughtful look at a time in our recent history. Keep the kleenex close!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

This is going to be a tough one to review, so I'll start with what I liked:

-LOVED the setting of Vietnam War and learned SO MUCH...esp surrounding how our Vets were treated when they returned home (and the absurd denial that women weren't there...and then downgrading their service bc they "weren't in combat"). This is a time in history that A LOT was going on - the protests, the fight for equality and civil rights, etc - and I really loved reading about this time period. In this aspect the book really shined!
-I do think it's a book I will continue to think about. I wavered btw 3 and 4 stars...I'll probably revise later, but for now, I'm more disappointed than wowed.

What didn't work for me:
-The book is basically 2 parts: Frankie in Vietnam and then Frankie's return to America. I think both are important, but I definitely preferred the time in Vietnam...and probably mostly because I felt like KH lost focus in Part 2. As mentioned above, there was A LOT going on at the time, and I can understand KH's desire to cover it all, but that also kept everything very surface level. She chose to mention every trauma known to a female soldier of Vietnam, and therefore, lost the emotional attachment I wished to have. The last 15% of the book picked up a ton of emotion and, I admit, I was crying my eyes out, but 15% can't save the entire second half of a 500 page book.
-This one sounds silly, but I guess I would have liked more women in a book titled and focused on "the women". Instead, KH spent a ridiculous amount of time focused on a toxic relationship. I would have loved more Barb and Ethyl instead of Rye. That fills like a huge missed oppotunity.
-I just really despised Frankie's parents. They were self-indulgent, selfish, and mean. I assume KH was driving home the point that these women were treated like crap by everyone upon their return, but the redemption came way too late for me.
-Unfortunately, the last thing that really irked me can't be talked about without spoilers, but KH used it not once but twice. Once, I could see and it would make a point...twice was eyeroll worthy.

I feel like I'm kind of split on KH at this point. She has potential to be amazing (The Nightingale and The Great Alone), and she can also be super disappointing (The Women and The Four Winds). With all the rave reviews, I felt she might have nailed this one, but I was ultimately left wishing for so much more.

This is a book that will stay with me forever. Kristen Hannah has a way of writing stories and characters that have you feeling so many things. Frankie and the ladies go through so much from love, hate, death, and just shear shock. There were fast part where my heart was racing with Frankie’s as she navigated going to war and what the entailed there and after. You get a glimpse into the strong female friendships made during this war and how they kept eachother going. The authors note goes into more of what inspired parts of the story, I definitely recommend sticking around and reading it!
This is hands down my favorite Kristen Hannah book so far!

Thank you to St.Martin’s Press and Netgalley for my gifted copy!

4.5 rounded up!

Another masterpiece of heartache and resiliency from Kristin Hannah. THE WOMEN truly broke my heart over and over again.

As with most KH books this is another important story that readers will likely not forget. I loved Frankie’s character so much. The complex relationships and the (realistic) non-linear portrayal of growth (and LIFE) were also favorites.

Found family, grief, trauma, love, recovery, light….the emotional impact will last a long time from this one. There was so much I learned about this period as well and I will definitely be recommending it.

I almost passed on reading this book. Why? Well, I'm tired of the rosy stories of women rushing off to war. Good thing I didn't pass because it definitely was not a rosy war story. Sure, there was romance (and it got a bit ridiculous at points - thus the missing star), but it was also crudely objective. Death, dismemberment, sexism, PTSD, war protests, the horrible way the soldiers/vets were treated when they came home. It was all there right on the page without any sugar coating. Sometimes I felt like the feminist hammer was thrown a bit too much, but that was the point of the book, right? "There were no women in Vietnam." And while I enjoyed Frances' story, I would have loved a bit more about the other characters. It was like a stage play where characters only appear when needed to prop up the main character. With all those pages, so much more could have been done to tell the powerful story of all those women who weren't in Vietnam. But, end result, this was the quickest 480 book I've ever read!

The Women dives into the life of a Vietnam War nurse who enters service hopeful and bright. The trauma she experiences there is echoed in the changes the nation is going through when she returns home. It’s a book of loss, betrayal, but also one of love and found family. As a nurse, I found the field hospital scenes very interesting. It reminded me of stories told to us by a nursing professor who was a Vietnam war nurse. Many of her experiences were echoed in this book. I do think the book could have been a bit shorter , as some parts in the middle seemed to drag on. Frankie was not always a likely character, but I was always rooting for her. Thanks to netgalley for the advanced copy!

I read The Nightingale. I loved it. So I was eager to read The Women. And I tried. I tried so very hard. But I cannot make it past the first 100 pages. I applaud the author for trying something different, but what is this book? Has she never heard of China Beach? I hate to say this but I have the feeling K. Hannah read a history book about Vietnam and decided that she could write a book about Vietnam. I want to like this book — I just can’t.

As a Kristin Hannah fan, I knew I would not be disappointed by The Women - this book may be her best yet. Hannah did an amazing job of weaving together an addictive story of these characters while teaching readers about the truth and horrors of a time in history that has often been forgotten. This book focuses mainly on the main character Frances "Frankie" McGrath, the stories of nurses serving in the Vietnam War and the challenges of re-entry into civilian life upon arriving home from their service.

The characters were incredibly developed and I fell in love with them right away. I enjoyed getting to witness the relationship between Frankie, Barb and Ethel - a lot of lessons to be learned from their friendship and loyalty. I devoured this book in 3 days and wish there was more to read. There were audible gasps of disappointment, shock and happiness along the way. A perfect blend of history, friendship and love of many kinds.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The women by Kristin Hannah is a historical novel about the nurses in viet nam. Specifically Frankie, who enlists to make her dad proud and serve alongside her brother. It’s also about love, ptsd, and friendship. I think the most interesting stuff happens in the second half, after she returns home. Another winner from Kristin Hannah!

Women can be heroes and Kristin is mine.

I was beyond ecstatic when I was approved for an advance reader copy of The Women. I had faith that I would love this story no matter the topic. I was swept away. Amazing.

We follow Frances McGrath who joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows in her brother’s path to serve in the Vietnam War. Frankie’s peaceful and sheltered life in Coronado Island, plus lack of experience as a nurse, was glaringly obvious as she navigated all there was, in a hospital, in the middle of a war.

Surprising herself, Frankie found ways of coping and flourished as a nurse, creating life long friendships and found love in many. Those few years in Vietnam were transformative for Frances.
She persevered and returned home to tell the tale, that no one wanted to believe or hear.

Women did not serve in the war. It was disheartening to be on Frances’ journey who was trying to find her way and heal. With no resources within her reach and her family with their heads in the sand, she really struggled. Thank god for real friends.

Books like this is why we love reading. It takes us on a journey. We learn something from another time, another place, that we would not otherwise be able to do. Combined with conveying the important roles that women play in these stories - a nurse who served in the Vietnam War - we are provided with insight on the impact of these world events on them personally. These aspects shaped what is common place for us today. Access to mental health treatments for post traumatic stress disorders is forefront of this story. It was hard to read, and yet I could not put this down.

Thank you for that ending. I have to say… I knew it!

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an e-ARC of this via Netgalley.

OH MY GOSH, is there a Kristin Hannah book that hasn’t gutted me?!? Normally, my historical fiction takes me to WW2, so I loved this was all about women in Vietnam. I’m embarrassed to say how little I knew about Vietnam, and this was just so heartbreaking and felt so real and raw. It was incredible!

This was a phenomenal book that I would consider essential reading for everyone. We follow nurse Frankie McGrath over a 15 year period and experience the war in Vietnam through her eyes. We also see the way different groups of people were welcomed home after their service--the combat soldiers, the POWs, and the nurses. I think our government and society still has a lot to answer for in this regard. But that is why a book like this is so important, because the women's stories need to be told too. I realize now how fortunate I was to be able to read an advanced copy of this book and highly, highly recommend it for all. Just know that it is not a happy story. There is a lot of trauma and many emotions will be brought to the surface, but these are feelings we need to feel so that history is not forgotten. Remembering it is the only way to learn from it.

Frankie is a young white woman from a well to do family in CA. The only expectation for her is that she marry well and have children. The expectation for her older brother is that he serve his country like all of the men in their family whom their father reveres with an honor wall in their family home. This is despite the fact that he never served himself. When her brother is sent to Vietnam, Frankie follows him there. She studied nursing in college and knows she can help. Only the Army will send her immediately, so she enlists without a second thought. The first part of the book tells of Frankie’s horrific time in Vietnam and the second part tells of her homecoming and readjustment to life. The America she returns to is not the same America she left.

Admittedly, I should know more about Vietnam. I was born 11 months before it ended and my limited knowledge is embarrassingly from movies and TV. This book made me want to learn more, especially about the women who served. Frankie is told repeatedly after her service, “There were no women in Vietnam.” I found this baffling and maddening.

The first half of this book was so engrossing, I didn’t want to put it down. Frankie grows up fast in Vietnam and you admire her for her bravery and her desire to help people. You could easily see this as a movie because the writing was so vivid. The details about Vietnam as a country, where she is stationed, and the injuries and surgeries were extremely detailed. I have no doubt an incredible amount of research went into this book.

The second half was very different from the first. I often found myself frustrated with Frankie while also feeling sympathy for her. Not much of her life after Vietnam is pleasant and that’s saying a lot considering she was in the middle of a war. I waffled between a 4 and 5 stars because of the second half, but the ending made me cry and made up for the other parts I did not enjoy as much.

Many thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for the ARC.

What could I possibly write to express the depth, layers, emotions and of course heartache in 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 (Pub 2/5). Anytime I try to write a a review for one of Kirstin Hannah’s books I find it impossible, so instead of my normal format I’m keeping this short and sweet.

Man does Kristin Hannah know how to wreck me! What a truly phenomenal story based on real history, events and people that needed to be told 1,000 times over. It was intense, eye opening, heart wrenching, layered, and very emotional. So I’m glad I was prepared with a box of Kleenex because Hannah gets me every single time, and by the end, I am ugly crying (and then crying again while reading her acknowledgments). This will be a story I never forget and one that everyone absolutely must read.

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for this gifted copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

The Women by Kristin Hannah is an exceptional portrait of a nurse serving "in country" during the Vietnam War and then returning home. This is a very highly recommended, emotionally charged historical fiction novel which will certainly be one of the best books of the year. This would be an excellent choice for book clubs and will certainly result in thought-provoking discussions.

After nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears the words "Women can be heroes too," while looking at her father's wall of heroes featuring pictures of the men in their family who served their country during a party for her brother Finley who is leaving to serve his country in Vietnam. After she gets her RN she follows the lead of her older brother, and joins the Army Nurse Corps and begins basic training in 1966. Once she arrives in Vietnam, she is overwhelmed by the smells, sights and chaos, but is shown support and the ropes by fellow nurses Ethel and Barb. She quickly steps up and adapts to the responsibilities of a surgical nurse dealing with horrific injuries under extreme conditions.

After serving two years, Frankie comes home and faces a different kind of battle. Her father is ashamed of her service, the country does not recognize nurses who served and sacrificed as veterans, and the country is in turmoil. The only help and support she can find for her PTSD are from Ethel and Barb who understand what she is going through mentally and help her adapt to civilian life in a changed country.

The writing is phenomenal and manages to create an emotionally charged, realistic, and vivid portrait of Frankie's service and her struggles. I was completely immersed in The Women from start to finish. Part of my complete captivation with the narrative was based on my memories from that time period. I was young, but have vivid memories of events from the sixties and certainly more from the seventies. Hannah managed to create a complete portrait of the women and the times (including clothing).

The experiences the characters experience is heart-breaking. Frankie is a completely fully-realized realistic character who garnered my compassion and empathy. Her treatment when coming back from war to work in a hospital is eye-opening and in many ways disgusting.

This is the best kind of historical fiction as it takes a long sweeping view covering years of a character's life as society, information, and point-of-views constantly change around the characters. It covers an era and a turbulent time. The narrative is broken into two parts. The first deals mainly with the war and the second with trying to reenter civilian life after the war.

The Women by Kristin Hannah is a must read novel. I expect it to be on many lists for the best novels of 2024. Thanks to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.
The review will be published on Edelweiss, BookBrowse, X, Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

The Women is so much more than I expected—a modern day classic. Written from the perspective of Frankie, a nurse in Vietnam the reader gets a look at the gritty side of war and its aftermath. This historical epic is a must have for every home library.

After her brother dies in action Frankie arrives in Vietnam with no idea what to expect. Her eyes are soon opened to the horror of war and the fortitude it takes to make it just one more day in the face of suffering and death.

Bonds are forged through shared experiences, brokenness, and hope. The writing was so real I shared in the fear, angst, anger and triumph right along with the characters. This book gives a look at the women who were unsung heroes and is definitely worth the investment. I highly recommend it.

I received a copy courtesy of St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. This is my honest opinion of the book.