The Women (by Kristin Hannah)
When The Women by Kristin Hannah was released, I’ll admit I wasn’t immediately drawn to it. I love historical fiction, but most of the war novels I’ve read have been set in World War II and focused on European civilians rather than soldiers. Combat in Vietnam simply did not sound like a story I wanted to spend time with.
I had only ever heard great things about Hannah’s books. Friends and a neighbor praised The Women so highly—and so passionately—that they insisted I needed to read it. I became a fan of hers only recently, after reading Winter Garden, and I have since picked up a couple more of her novels that I still need to get to. I finally conceded that I would probably enjoy this one and added it to my list of books to read sooner rather than later. A summer Goodreads challenge gave me an extra nudge.
The Women follows Frankie McGrath, a young nursing student in California who impulsively enlists as an Army nurse in Vietnam after her brother ships out to serve. The novel traces her harrowing experiences on the front lines of the war and then follows her return home, where she faces a country unwilling to acknowledge the service and sacrifice of its female veterans. Grappling with trauma, addiction, and invisibility in a divided America, Frankie fights to reclaim her sense of self and find belonging among fellow veterans who understand what she's been through. The book is a tribute to the women who served in Vietnam and were largely erased from the historical narrative of the war.
Wow. I am so glad I read this book. There is something about it that is simply amazing. Hannah’s talent for storytelling is superb. Her writing does more than tell a story—she made me feel the story.
This is an emotionally heavy novel, and I shed tears throughout. I already knew something about the Vietnam War and the mess it left behind, but The Women taught me a great deal I did not know. It is historical fiction, yet it feels like an honest account of what it was like for the men and women who served. Hannah does not look away from the division in the country, the disrespect many soldiers faced when they came home, or the painful fact that women who served were so often not even acknowledged. That part is hard to read. It is heartbreaking.
Frankie, the protagonist, makes the cost of the war feel personal. The descriptions of Vietnam—the danger, the injuries, the deaths—are so vivid that it was easy to picture everything while listening to the audiobook. Hannah is just as unsparing about what came after: the PTSD, the lack of help, and the slide into drugs and alcohol as a way to escape. At the same time, she captures the deep bonds that formed among soldiers, nurses, and doctors. Those friendships are some of the strongest parts of the book.
It is a long novel, but it never felt boring. I was completely immersed in Frankie’s world and did not want to leave it, even through her most painful losses.
Julia Whelan’s narration is exceptional. She truly brought the story to life.
A powerful, moving novel about service, trauma, friendship, and the women who were too often forgotten.
My husband has become quite the cactus grower and collector. One afternoon at the greenhouse, we caught the Sand Dollar and Spider cacti blooming at the same time, and the colors of those blooms matched this book's cover beautifully—I had to capture it. You can read more about these cacti on his blog, here.
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