Kristin Hannah has woven an incredible story set in a turbulent time in our history. At times it has the humor and camaraderie of MASH and also as emotionally challenged as Born on the Fourth of July. Very well researched and chronicled to bring you into the life of a combat nurse’s time serving in Vietnam and coping with returning home to a divided and unfriendly nation.

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martins Press for this advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Books don’t get any better than this. Kristin Hannah has done it again. She consistently writes the very best stories, and this one set during the Vietnam War does not disappoint. Honest, human, real and sympathetic, this is a story about the women in war, the nurses who were heroes to our wounded soldiers. A masterpiece! Highly recommended reading. Loved it!

Kristin Hannah does it again. A beautiful, emotional, poignant tale about strong women. Her historical fiction books are the best of her work.

When Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s brother goes to Vietnam, one of his friends says to her, “women can be heroes” and Frankie can’t shake the feeling that she could be doing something more with her nursing training.

Much to her parents’ dismay, Frankie enlists in the Army and quickly finds herself in Vietnam, which is nothing like she had imagined.

Through Frankie, we get a heart-wrenching view of what it was like in Vietnam, and what it was like coming home after. I couldn’t get Frankie’s experiences out of my thoughts for a long time after reading The Women - it was incredibly well written and honored the memory, sacrifice, pain, and experiences of so many.

Thank you to @netgalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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#thewomen #kristinhannah

I just finished reading an Advance Reader Copy of “The Women” by Kristin Hannah. It releases Feb 6, 2024. Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

A historical fiction novel about the women veterans who served in the Vietnam War. There were so many twists and turns I couldn’t figure out what to hope for and which “tidy bow ending” I wanted for the main character. The ending was not at all what I expected. Kristen Hannah deftly shows what war and combat-related PTSD looks like, sounds like, and feels like. Also, the grief associated with losing loved ones, and the difficult and messy familial relationships it leaves in its wake.

Because of the era this was set in, the use of drugs, smoking, drinking, and “free love” are depicted, sometimes, though not always, in a positive light.

What an emotional read for many of us the age of the book’s main character. It brings back memories and feelings of a time of confusion and unrest by using real names, places, events, songs, and clothing styles. The novel covers the horror of working in a medical unit assigned to a front line war zone, the perilous position of being female there, the idiocy of sending tens of thousands of under-trained young men to fight a losing battle, and some questionable decisions made by men in D.C. The second half of the story plays out once the main character returns home and is confronted with a public that doesn’t support what she endured. Many of the problems veterans face are also included, I.e. PTSD, addiction, suicide, loneliness, etc.

This novel was so consuming and well written that it was hard to put down. The author does an amazing job of pulling together so many facets of life of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, both in Vietnam and back in the States. The settings and atmosphere seem perfect and the characters live on the page.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC to read and review.

Wow, this book was inspiring and heartbreaking. It was so interesting to hear a story about the women who went to Vietnam as nurses.

I enjoyed following Frankie’s story. How she settled into life and work in Vietnam. How she developed lasting friendships and even love.

It was hard to hear about her homecoming. How she wasn’t given support because people didn’t believe women were in Vietnam. It is clear Frankie is dealing with PTSD. She tries to pull herself together but over the years she devolves until one event finally gets her the support she needs.

There were times I felt like some of the post war time could have been cut down, elements were a bit repetitive. But overall this book was beautiful.

Thank you to #StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for providing this #ARC Advance Reading Copy. Expected publication date is February 6, 2024 • 5 Stars

Frances “Frankie” McGrath is a young nursing student who joins the Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War. She experiences the grisly horrors of war, the challenges of being a woman in a male-dominated field, and the aftermath of returning to an ungrateful and divided country. Hannah presents us with a long-overdue tribute to the heroism, sacrifice, and forgotten role of women who served in that gruesome war.

#Bookstagram #TheWomen #KristinHannah

This book is thoroughly engrossing! From Frankie's being dropped woefully unprepared into the Vietnam war and its horrors to her shock at her reception when she returned to the States to her struggles to readapt to society I was fully engaged.
One of the best things about this book is its portrayal of the depths that a true friendship can achieve and the many ways that love can see us through dark times.
It is heartbreaking that we treated veterans of that war so shamefully. Then and now we need to do better to support the men and women who continue to suffer due to their service in the military.
Following Frankie through her many ups and downs was quite a journey! This is definitely a book that transports you to another time and place.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book for review.

“There were no women in Vietnam,” was what Frankie (Francis) heard when she returned from serving two tours in Vietnam as a surgical nurse in an evac’ hospital and later in a MASH hospital. The friends she made and the trauma she survived impacted the rest of her life. The Women, by Kristen Hannah, follows Frankie as she tried to get her life back together when no one wanted to hear what she needed to tell.

Those of us who grew up listening to the reporters from Vietnam on the evening news know of the turmoil in our nation during those years. Assignations, riots, burning of draft cards and bras were constants. Returning vets were spat upon, treated with disdain, and did not receive the help they needed. This is not an easy book to read, but it shines a light on a piece of our history that should never be forgotten or repeated. Thank you Kristen Hannah for reminding us that every man and woman who served our nation is worthy of respect.

Kristin Hannah is a force, and she is going to wow the world with this one. I predict very big things for this story of the women in Vietnam. Historical fiction isn’t usually my jam, as you may know by now, but war stories are an important part of our shared history, and I applaud any writer who tackles them.

In her prologue, Hannah mentions she’s been thinking about writing a Vietnam story for a long time, but she hasn’t been ready to tackle the subject as a writer until now. For this reader, it was worth the wait. Hannah tells the devastating story of Frankie, a nurse in Vietnam, and how serving in that war impacted her life for years to come. As I’ve come to learn, many Americans never knew there were women serving in Vietnam, and when they came back to the U.S., they were often shut out from support services designed for veterans.

Hannah is such a talented writer and storyteller - I will be shocked if this book is anything but an epic success. I was lucky enough to receive both digital and audio editions, so I got to listen and read eat the same time. Both are phenomenal.

Thanks to @netgalley, @stmartinspress, and @macmillanaudio for the advanced copies, both digital and audio. The Women will be out February 6 - would make a great pre-order!

“𝐖𝐞’𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬.”

Like a chef with an onion, Hannah deftly peels back the heart of America in the 60s as it navigates the Vietnam Years.

To many, the lure of Vietnam was fuelled by their father’s and uncles’ patriotic service in WW2, a sense of adventure, and a desire to help or make a difference. It was no different for twenty-year-old Frances Grace McGrath from Coronado Island, California. Emboldened by a suggestion that women can be heroes, Frankie enlists in the Army Nurse Corps without her parents’ consent.

“Frankie joined the ANC to find her brother and found herself instead.”

Sixty miles from Saigon, in a four-hundred-bed evac hospital on the coast of Vietnam, Frankie forges lifelines with a surgical nurse from Georgia, Barb Johnson, and an ER nurse from Virginia, Ethel Flint. It’s these 𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙠𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙛𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙨 that carry Frankie through her wartime experience and become a buoyant force when she returns stateside.

I loved part one with its focus on the character development and the gritty side of war, but it was part two that spoke to me and moved me.

Hannah explores what a blessing and a curse it was for those in military service. She highlights the elevated authority and autonomy nurses experienced in Vietnam versus the restrictions placed on them as a civilian nurse pre and post-Vietnam. She acknowledges the different strategies used for coping with the burdens of war and the difficult transition most had when they returned home. Not only did they miss the intensity of the wartime experience, but nurses like Frankie were shocked to discover that America was ill-equipped to meet the needs of female Vietnam vets. Not only that, the women had lost who they were and who they wanted to be.

“We were there.”

Come hear their story.

I learned about Agent Orange, MASCAL, ao dais, turtles, Donut Dollies, Gold Star Mothers, and why nurses wore socks and underwear to bed and were repeatedly asking for tampons to be sent despite the PX carrying them.

Quotes that gave me pause:

🤔“How could all this death and destruction be the way to stop communism?”
🤔“War was full of goodbyes, and most of them never really happened; you were always too early or too late.”

🤔Ethel’s warning to Frankie, “The men here, they lie and they die.”

I don’t think I’ll ever drive past the dilapidated Coco Palms Resort in Kauai again without thinking of this book.

It’s been a long time since a book has rendered me useless … Hannah will crack the shell of most readers, rocking them to their core and making them FEEL. Hannah writes to evoke empathy through transportation and she’s both competent and reliable.

Centered around painful goodbyes, lack of time with loved ones, making momentous choices before we have an idea of the consequences and spotlighting the intense bonds forged during wartime, this is Hannah at the top of her game and a book you’ll need on your reading list.

I was gifted this advance copy by St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

My love for Kristin Hannah's writing is what made me read The Women, Vietnam is not a place I visit in my HF reading. I am very glad I read this book, it was an eye-opener to say the least.

Frankie is a naïve 20-year-old raised with privilege, an impulsive decision sent her to nursing school and then she enlisted in the army. The author didn’t hold back on what transpired in the war, from the brutal conditions, the violence as well as the friendships that develop.

I was very thankful that the publisher gave me a digital arc along with the audio book. I found myself listening to the audio following along on my Kindle - it wasn't the type of story that I multitasked with but sat and absorbed it. The story was compelling and gripping.

I'll confess that there were times I have visions of Mash (the tv series) in my brain, but with more primitive conditions. It’s after Frankie comes home that the story becomes more heartbreaking and emotional. It’s during a time when PTSD was not really a thing and the fact that nurses were not considered Vietnam vets, making any type of help unavailable to her.

I’m also thankful also that my copy included the author notes with the authors inspiration, her numerous sources, and her strong desire to get this story out.

The Women is a well written strong historical story, it is a story of friendship, heartache and family along with addiction and longing. I think Kristin Hannah’s best book to date. One that will stay with me for a long while.

My thanks to St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for advanced copies. The Women releases on Feb 6, 2024.

An easy 5 star review from me! Kristin Hannah made the Vietnam War and the angst of so many come alive for me.

I am fascinated by the music, the vibe, the generation of the 60's; The Women captured the feelings of a generation perfectly. It also highlighted the fact that there were women actively participating in the Vietnam War, heroes in their own right.

The female friendships in this book were so real. I fully intend to read this book again to savor the words, the feelings and the history. I will recommend this amazing novel to anyone who will listen.

Reading Kristin Hannah is literal magic. She's an excellent storyteller and really knows how to get the reader to feel empathy for the characters she creates.

I didn't feel that way this time around. And I've loved every single KH book I've read. Frankly, I was in a deep reading slump after being devastated by a book I HATED. And I know for fact that that book I hated influenced my opinion of this book. Now with that being said, I can't rate this book based on a star scale. (I am forced to rate the book here but please know this rating is rather arbitrary for myself here).

The Women is classic Kristin Hannah. I love the historical fiction. I love the strong female characters she creates. It is a struggle to be a woman, but it is rewarding. The Women is a reflection of the women that "weren't in the Vietnam war". Spoiler alert: they were in the Vietnam war and they were influential. The Women is more than just the story of one woman, it's a collection of multiple experiences, trauma, and disbelief.

The Women is painfully real. It exposes to the reader PTSD before PTSD was a thing. It exposes trauma before our society fully understood mental health. This book can be triggering to some, but understanding to others. Kristin Hannah represents one story that was so real for so many. Welcome to the Vietnam war. Welcome to loss. Welcome to a story of people not believing your truth.

Thank you netgalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. It's been a dream to read one of my favorite authors so early.

4.5 rounded to 5.

"The Women had a story to tell, even if the world wasn't quite reading to heart it, and their story began with three simple words- we were there."

how in the world does Kristin Hannah always manage to rip my heart out while I read her books?! I loved this one so much. I had never read a book about the Vietnam war before, and it broke my heart hearing about the things that happened over there and how we are still struggling now in 2023 to do the right thing when it comes to war and innocent people (soldiers included) dying at the hands of greedy, power-hungry governments.

I loved the characters in this book!! Frankie, Barb and Ethel were the most perfect, strong women this book needed. I loved how they all dealt with the war differently (and painfully) but were always there for each other at the drop of a hat. They all went through so much, but Frankie, poor girls seemed like she could never catch a break. I loved how she turned her pain and struggles into something amazing in the end. Really amazing story.

The middle was a little slow, but the beginning and the end were amazing, heartbreaking, inspiring, and just perfect in true Kristin Hannah fashion. Highly recommend (with a tissue box of course)!!

Triggers: war, PTSD, death, miscarriage, attempted suicide, addiction.

The Women by Kristin Hannah is the best book I have read this year. Set initially during the Vietnam War, Hannah takes us to the front lines and what it was like for the women at war, the bonds that are formed, and how friendship can save you.
Not since The Nightingale have I loved a book so much. The depth of character, and the description of everything Frankie endures and survives, it feels like the reader is with her on her unbelievable, gut-wrenching journey. I knew this story would gut me and it did, but it was magical, educational and such an amazing journey. I highly recommend it.

I couldn’t put this book down - it was phenomenal. The Nightingale is one of my favorite books, and this one is right up there with it. For context, The Great Alone was a big miss for me (the second half was too emotionally manipulative), and The Four Winds was good but not great. But this one. Oh dear. This was simultaneously an intimate and heartrending portrait of one woman’s experience of the Vietnam War and a sweeping historical survey of the women who went to war and those left behind. Our main character, Frankie, is a flawed but enormously likeable heroine, and I especially loved the evolution of her friendships with her fellow nurses. I also really enjoyed learning about this time in history, which I’m ashamed to admit is not one I’m well-versed in. Even at 480 pages, I didn’t want the chapters to end, and somehow wanted this to be even longer. One of my favorite reads of the year and sure to be a huge hit in 2024.

Kristin Hannah is back! Let me start off by saying I loved this book. Hannah is a master storyteller and this book did not disappoint.

The Women follows the story of Frankie McGrath, a US Army Nurse stationed in an evacuation hospital in Vietnam during the US involvement in the Vietnam War. The first half of the book details Frankie’s experiences as a nurse during the war and the absolute turmoil and trauma she goes through every single day trying to help save the lives of US soldiers and Vietnamese civilians who have been decimated by the conflict. Some of the events described in the book are quite graphic, but the Vietnam War was devastating for all involved. The second half of the book describes Frankie’s return to the US and the subsequent discrimination and PTSD she experiences as the result of the US public’s response to the war efforts and her erasure as a female who served in Vietnam (yes, women served in Vietnam…). While the story centers around Frankie’s experiences, it talks a lot about women’s participation in the Vietnam War, service members returning home from Vietnam and the barriers they faced reintegrating into American society, the political climate surrounding the US’ involvement in Vietnam, the “Summer of Love”, and mental health and PTSD.

This story was impeccably researched, I can’t begin to imagine the extent of the research involved to cover a topic with such little public awareness. Kristin Hannah has such a beautiful writing style too, I really felt every single emotion Frankie went through in the book, her character seemed to leap off the page for me. I’ll say, don’t get caught up in the love story plot, this book is about so much more than that. I actually preferred the relationship between Frankie and her fellow ‘Nam nurses, Ethel and Barb. Truly the definition of “ride or die”.

For fans of Kristin Hannah, this is a MUST read. For fans of historical fiction, women’s fiction, American politics, the 60-70s, I implore you to put it on your list. Such an important story told from a perspective that is often hidden and silenced in the history of the Vietnam War.

A powerhouse of a novel, set during the tumultuous times of Vietnam war, and presenting the unfamiliar perspective of the women that went through it. Absorbing and all consuming!