I swear Kristin Hannah hates happiness. The first half of this book takes place in Vietnam and the second half after Frankie gets home. I didn’t know a lot about Vietnam so I loved learning about it. Surprisingly, the events after she gets home were sadder and harder to read than the tragedies occurring in Vietnam. Maybe a little reflective of how the war affected the vets.

Before Frankie gets to Vietnam she is hard to connect with. As she grows and changes and learns to confront the trauma of war, I grew to love her. In Vietnam I was right there with her bracing for trauma and learning about the war. And then it kept getting worse and the hits never stopped coming. When she gets home she gets wrecked (something I’ve come to expect from Hannah).

I’m begging Kristin Hannah for a happier ending in her next historical fiction. I know that real life doesn’t always have happy endings but this is a novel and I need a little more joy to keep reading her books.

It was informative, traumatic, and sad. But it did have a happier ending than four winds.

⭐️Book Review⭐️

Thank-you to #netgalley and the publisher for the #AdvanceReview#Copy

Release Date: February 2024
Genre: Historical Fiction

Set during the years of the Vietnam War, nursing student, Frankie, makes a rash decision to follow her brother and joins the army Nurse Corps. Frankie serves two tours and during her time in Vietnam, holds a dying baby, carries many men’s limbs, and falls in love. When she returns to her home of Coronado Island, she doesn’t find the sweet-loving, homecoming she imaged because her parents don’t agree with their country being in this war and are ashamed of her serving her time. Frankie must learn to navigate a politically divided America, suffering, and being told repeatedly that women didn’t go to Vietnam. The organizations offering assistance to veterans only recognize the men who fought, discounting the turmoil, bombings, and deaths that the nurses, too, endured.

I loved this book so much. It is a heavy hitter with themes of PTSD, emotional abandonment, depression, and addiction. This story highlights discrimination against women and the heavy weight women carry in society. Frankie grew up a good, conservative girl and her story shows us that even the best of the best can make ill-decisions.

For a long time the only thing Frankie has is the friendship of her two best friends whom were also nurses during her time in Vietnam. Will those female bonds be enough to pull Frankie out of despair or will she forever remain a prisoner of war, stuck, unable to move forward and away from the haunting memories.

I’d rate this 6/5 if I could. It’s that good!

My knowledge of the Vietnam War has been based on the TV show M*A*S*H, my teenage impressions and stories told (or lack of) by vets. Kristin Hannah's novel vividly recreates the complicated war from the view of the medical staff, notably through Frances, a young nurse who voluntarily enlisted. I sympathized (and cried) for the horrors and nightmares facing our soldiers thanks to Hannah's thorough research and skillful writing. Most of our nation, including me, has been ignorant and scared of the truth and reality of this long war. Frances conveyed the hope, patriotism, heartache, pain and loneliness both during and upon the return home. This emotionally stirring story helped me understand a horrible war.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher St.Martins Press for an advance copy of this historical fiction novel about one of the worst times in American history and the sacrifice women made that has been unfairly ignored by writers and history.

I have long been interested in history though I have long been guilty of not looking deeper than the books I was reading. For years I have read military books, and though there are were some occasional mentions of women in the war zone, most of time they were written as victims or civilian casualties. Even now it bothers me that I did not question the narrative, though there were mentions if I had looked. Heck the show MASH showed women with rank serving in the military, and yet, I never read deeper. Recently there have been more books coming out, in fact graphic novels also which really shine a light on the problems women serving have had. And of course there have been novels, but The Women by Kristin Hannah is something quite special. A story about woman coming of age in a world going through convulsions, moving from the controlled world of the suburbs, to an ugly war, and and uglier peace.

Frances "Frankie" McGrath has lived the life that many today would like to go back too, though a lot of it was based on lies. Frankie lives a sheltered life, her conservative parents keeping her close, grooming her for marriage and grandkids, and a life of being supportive to her husband. However a chance hearing of a phrase "Women can be heroes, too" resounds in her soul, and as it is 1965 a little rebellion begins to grow. Her brother is shipping off to Vietnam, and without permission Frankie joins the Army Nurse Corps, for adventure, and to be near him. What she finds in Vietnam breaks her heart. A country ravaged by war, fought by people who don't want to be there, or even know why. As Frankie finds herself trying to bring broken parts of men back to life, parts of her start to go numb. Returning to the world, Frankie finds she has a hard time readjusting, depending on pills, and alcohol dealing with a world that doesn't understand what she has seen.

Kristin Hannah has a real skill in creating the characters that she writes, giving them full lives before we meet them, changing them in ways that make sense. Hannah does her research making medical and military and even historical terms seems to fit the dialogue and the time. In some spots Frankie's story almost seems like a diary, for the realism and the soul sharing that is present on the page. The characters are real not stock or creating to fit a scene and go away. Everything is necessary for the story, and what a powerful story. Looking over the oeuvre of Hannah one might not think that the writer of Firefly Lane or True Colors, could writer something like The Women, but all these works might have lead up to this. I can't imagine what Hannah's next work might be, but I really can't wait to read it.

Not a beach read, this is a book that leaves memories and tears on the reader, a story about growing up and finding that the world really is an awful place, and yet, there are moments, and people, even in the worst of times, that make us happy to be here. Fans will love this, and new readers will have a new writer to binge.

This book is intense. Many of us remember the Vietnam War just a few decades ago with all the fear and ugliness that resulted. Kristin Hannah takes us back with a gruesome replay. She gives us an inside glimpse of what it was like for women nurses to serve in the middle of someone’s worst nightmare.

It starts with a the big Fourth of July party in 1966. The proud parents, Bette and Connor McGrath, are celebrating their son’s graduation from the Naval Academy. Finley will soon be leaving to serve in Vietnam along with his best friend, Rye. Their younger daughter, Frankie, is once again admiring her father’s wall of family heroes in his office. When Finley returns, his photo will be on the wall. Frankie can only wish she would also be admired. Her parents just want her to get married and have kids. Her dad said, maybe he could someday put her wedding photo there.

Fin tells his sister he will be back soon as he has a “cushy” assignment on a ship. She hates to see him leave as they are close. Now, Frankie wants to be the hero in the family and without her parent’s approval, she joins the U.S. Army as a nurse. And then, the family is shocked with bad news. Finley was killed in action. The family is horrified.

Like the other women serving in Vietnam, Frankie soon realizes that she doesn’t belong in this terrifying place. She hears explosions and sees her tiny room consisting of a small uncomfortable cot with rats crawling around. How will she ever survive? She has no idea what will happen when she is amongst those needing immediate help with severe burns, broken ribs and parts of their bodies hanging loose or missing. And there is so much more.

This is an exceptional book that goes into depth about what it would be like to be in this foreign country trying to support the war. Kristin Hannah paints an excellent description with her powerful words. You could feel the fear through the harsh reality. She tells it like it is and this is one story that brings tears to your eyes. The reader gets emotionally drawn into Frankie’s life and it’s difficult once you’re there to put the book down.

There are several layers of people involved: news reporters, protestors, politicians, those that served barely out of high school and the lucky ones that were excused. This story was well researched providing the reader with an accurate description of what this war was all about. For those interested in wanting to know more, there is a reading list at the end.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of February 6, 2024.

Wow, Kristin Hannah - you did it again. I loved this book. Frankie, Barb, Ethel, Mom, Dad, Finley, Jamie, Rye, Henry - they will stay with me for a long time. You learn about Vietnam growing up in school but this truly is a special story and one that should be shared - about the Women who served and kept so many alive during a truly awful war.

You meet a young Frances McGrath and learn that she comes from a navy family. She meets a boy who inspires her to join the cause and make a difference. From there her story unfolds. There is a lot of pain and sadness but there is also laughter and love. There is regret and understanding.

Highly recommend this book - Kristin Hannah just has a way with words.

KH does it again in her latest novel! She broke my heart over and over, and then showed me healing was possible. This young naive girl goes through hell! Even though I definitely wasn't in Vietnam her struggles were very relatable! Falling in love with the wrong guys in a time of turmoil & trying like hell to hold on to something that even remotely feels real! Whoa! TW-suicide attempt! KH does it in such a way that I didn't even realize what was happening!
5 Stars & more!
There's a reason she's my favorite!

Kristin Hannah has done it again! This is an excellent book. She is on the top of my list of favorite authors and I am already looking forward to her next book. I lived a 45 minute drive from Kent State University and remember well the turbulence of that time. Frankie and The Women who also served their country in Vietnam deserved to be recognized.

This book is a rollercoaster of emotion. I enjoyed it but around the halfway point, I felt so invested in the characters and my heart really broke for Frankie.

Frankie is from an upper class family that has it all, when her brother heads to Vietnam at the beginning of the war, they are all so proud of him. As a nurse, Frankie feels called to help the war too, and finds that the Army is the only branch that will take her with so little experience.

When her brother dies in combat days after she has signed her paperwork, she is heartbroken. With no trace of his remains, Frankie is lost. Her brother, her best friend, has been reduced to another man's boot in a coffin. His life snuffed out. Frankie knows she wants to help, and heads to Vietnam as a nurse.

When she arrives, things are not at all what she expected. Dead and dying men are coming in all the time, they are understaffed and need more nurses and doctors badly. She bunks with two fellow female nurses, Barb and Ethel, and they take her under their wing and help her along. She is a quick learner and advanced to a combat nurse, constantly seeing death and horrific injuries.

When Frankie finally returns home, she has lost so much and seen so much death. She doesn't know how to live like the war never happened and the US public spits on vets and outwardly shames them. When she tries to ask for help for her flashbacks and nightmares, she is told "there weren't any women in 'Nam".

Kristin Hannah deftly describes PTSD and the struggles soldiers face returning home. I haven't read any books about Vietnam before, but this made me really think about our soldiers during wartime and what it feels like to come home. To see that life went on as normal while you fought to survive every day. It was an impactful read.

I will definitely be picking up some of the books the author used to research and write this one. ❤️

Thanks to netgalley for an eARC to review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Marin’s Press for allowing me an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For years I’ve heard of Kristin Hannah, and her masterpieces like Firefly Lane and The Nightingale. I’ve read neither. I’m glad I started with this one first. The Women tells the story of the Vietnam War from a different perspective - the nurses. We follow this bubble-wrapped young woman named Frankie as she joins the military to be with her brother. We see her fight through her tours in Vietnam, witness through her eyes all the horrors she was tasked with trying to fix. And we see what happens when she returns home expecting to be seen as a hero, but instead, being ignored, ridiculed, and neglected. The choices Frankie makes after she returns continue to spiral out of control, and when she hits rock bottom, her fellow Women are there to pick her up and get her the help she needs.

I think the whole world needs to know. Women were in Vietnam. Eight died there. Remember the fallen:
Captain Elanor Grace Alexander
2nd Lieutenant Pamela Dorothy Donovan
2nd Lieutenant Carol Ann Elizabeth Drazba
Lieutenant Colonel Annie Ruth Graham
2nd Lieutenant Elizabeth Ann Jones
1st Lieutenant Sharon Ann Lane
1st Lieutenant Hedwig Diane Orlowski
Air Force Captain Mary Therese Klinker

We. Were. There.

Loved #The Women! As a registered nurse and child of the 70’s thank you #KristinHannah for writings this emotional story of Frankie McGrath. Fresh out of nursing school Frankie joins the Army to make her father proud and to serve her country in the Vietnam War. Through her experience she finds purpose, lasting friendship, and love while also dealing with loss, psychological trauma, and grief. When she returns home from war to a world that has little regard for Vietnam service men and even less for service women she fights to regain control of her life despite several events that continue to derail her efforts. In the end, Frankie overcomes betrayal, learns to forgive those closest to her, finds herself and even hope for her future. I would recommend this book to readers interested in epic stories, strong heroines, historical fiction, family dramas, and love stories. This is an honest review of an ARC graciously provided by #NetGalley and #St.Martin’sPress.

3.5⭐ I love Kristin Hannah's historical fiction, so I was beyond thrilled to hear she was writing a novel about a Vietnam War nurse!

Frankie's experiences going from a sheltered and naive young girl to an experienced combat nurse were inspiring. I loved the female friendships she made and how the women took care of each other.

The pacing felt off in the beginning because there was hardly any background and almost no time to connect to the characters at all before big tragic things started happening. It felt like some rushed scenes were thrown together to kick off the story, and I wish more time had been given to show Frankie's closeness with Finley and her motivation for joining the Army.

The second half of the novel was easier to get into because by then I felt invested in the characters. I did struggle with it for the same reasons I struggled with The Four Winds- It's just so depressing. I understand that the things that happen in the story are things that many Vietnam veterans have faced, but Kristin Hannah has a way of kicking characters when they're already down and it can be a lot. 😭 The ending was hopeful, though, so I'm glad that I finished it.

Overall, I think The Women tells an important story, and I hope it will inspire more authors to write about this part of our history.

Kristin Hannah has done it again. telling the stories of women who show the utmost courage and determination. Yes this is a military novel, but Frankie teaches us that trauma can come from any experience and that we must persevere and find a way to accept the reality we have been given.

New novel by Kristin Hannah but the same level of perfection. The writing is so beautiful and her protagonists are just the best characters works! Amazing!

I am not a fan of Kristin Hannah. This is only the second book of hers that I finished. This is one of the best stories I have read. I grew up during the Vietnam War. It was on the news every night. I, too, was in elementary and middle school. This book just made that war even more real. Frankie is naive and star struck at the beginning. Her journey through the war and her struggles upon her return were so real. Loved her love/ hate relationship with her parents. Barb and Ethyl are the kind of lifelong friends you never want to lose My only complaint is the “happy” ending. No spoilers. All of that seemed a little unrealistic.

The Vietnam War is still something many people don't like to talk about. There's a discomfort there, a veil of despair and shame that is never fully drawn back the way it could be. It's like witnessing a haunted hush that falls over a large clamorous crowd generation after generation, with memories trapped behind eyes in cages, with words dying on tongues and then eroding into silence to become lost stories of sacrifice, heroism, and suffering that never make it into the history book pages. As a result of that, there is still so much we don't know or understand about that time. About the people who were affected. There are still so many veterans - soldiers, nurses, and doctors alike - who were or have been all but forgotten.

This book gives voice to some of them. The Forgotten.

I think partly what makes The Women such a powerful read is that Kristin Hannah does not shy away from peeling back the veil around Vietnam. Or around the women who served in Vietnam, BECAUSE THEY WERE THERE, TOO. In fact, she makes it a point to thrust readers directly into the heart of turbulence right alongside her characters, especially Frankie, her protagonist. By doing that, she makes this both an intimate coming of age story about an idealistic young woman turned Army nurse turned disillusioned war veteran as well as a searing commentary on how women's service and commitment to their country has long gone unacknowledged.

I haven't been moved by something this much in a long time. The story is evocative, insightful; it's a kaleidoscope of politically divisive, culturally explosive, war-torn color, and I couldn't help but marvel at its ability to reveal the real Vietnam with all its mucky tangibility and soft, aching, hopeful pulses of humanity.

Frankie's journey is painfully realistic, not just because her youthful idealism is blighted by the atrocities of war but also because she struggles to assimilate when she returns home, battling shame from her parents, anger from her fellow Americans, and PTSD with little to no recourse. She's a courageous and resilient character, though. Understandably flawed. You feel for her, you cry with her, you find a way to survive with her.

The Women is a lyrical and emotional tour-de-force, for sure! One of my favorite reads of the year. I won't be surprised if (or when) it's one of the biggest books of 2024.

I'm incredibly grateful to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my review.

1960's America, men were being sent to a losing war in Vietnam, including Frances (Frankie) Mcgrath's beloved brother, Finley, another in a line of Mcgrath men who had served their country and whose pictures are part of the "hero wall" in their home. When she is told that "women can be heroes too" she decides that she will also, one day, be on that wall. She decides to join her brother in Vietnam as a nurse. She is completely unprepared for the chaos and destruction she walks into. We are right beside her through all the experiences and as she grows and changes. The readers go through every moment and emotion with her and in the end, we are just as changed as she is.

If I see that Kristin Hannah is the author, I don't even question what the book is about, it is immediately on my "to read asap" list! This is one more in a growing list of favorite books by her.
The Vietnam War ended a few years before I was born, I never recall really learning much about it in school, possibly the residual shame still existed and therefore wasn't included in the curriculum. I love historical fiction books, however I had never read anything about this war. There is an abundance of books on WWII and other wars, but never Vietnam. All I really knew was that many Vietnam veterans were addicts and even homeless, but nobody could/would explain why.
Frankie's homecoming is just about all the explanation you need for the trauma of Vietnam vets. To go through what they did, and get that kind of "welcome". Wow. No words, just anger. "Americans" from that time should be absolutely ashamed.
Kristin Hannah has a talent for taking history and bringing it alive in such a way, that you are left so strongly affected. She takes the untold stories of women who were unseen and unheard and gives them a voice.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for giving me the opportunity to read this upcoming novel from one of my favorite authors.

✨Available Feb 6, 2024✨

Wow. Just wow. A beautifully written and incredibly powerful story. I laughed. I cried. I was captured by the story of these women.

I could not tear myself away from this book. It was heartbreaking, inspiring, powerful and I loved it.

“The women had a story to tell, even if the world wasn’t quite ready to hear it, and their story began with three simple words. We were there.”

Thank you to the Kristin Hannah, NetGalley, and St. Martin’s Press for a free copy of the ebook in exchange for my honest review.

Holy moly…I don’t even know where to start. I did not want to put this book down, and when I did I couldn’t stop thinking about it. This might just be my new favorite Kristin Hannah novel.

I don’t know how she does it, but I feel like my heart was just torn out, ripped into a million pieces, and put back together again. I can’t fathom the amount of research that went into this novel, but I have a whole new understanding for the Vietnam War and the (often invisible) women who served in it. Now please, everyone, go read The Women (when it comes out on 2/6/24).

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received a free copy of, The Women, by Kristin Hannah, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Vietnam War is not a war that is talked about, soldiers, were not welcomed back, like other war hero's, and they seen so much. 20 year old Frankie is a nursing student who goes off to the war, after her brother Fin signs up. The PTSD these brave men and women go through is no joke.