I am so glad that Kristin Hannah decided to delve into the Vietnam War for her latest novel. This a time period that deserves more attention. I was riveted by the war scenes and loved Frankie's growth as an individual and a nurse while overseas. Many of her experiences were harrowing, and I thought Hannah did a fabulous job of putting the reader right there on the ground. I also really loved her depictions of the teamwork, camaraderie and emotional needs of those who served. The almost frenetic attempts to connect and escape from the everyday horrors affected me deeply. That said, I found the second half of the book, where Frankie comes home, less riveting. Her struggles were understandable and painful, but I felt some of the moments were didactic, which took me out of the story at times. The language was not as beautiful and lyrical as I've seen in other Hannah books. Nevertheless,s this is a worthwhile and important read.

This was a real page turner for me. I loved it!! I hated to stop and hated that it ended. I would love to see how it goes on for Frankie. I can also see this book being a great movie. I am most definitely going to be reading more of Kristin's books!!

Kristin Hannah is one of the best authors' of our time! If you have never read one of her novels, I highly encourage you to do so. From the first paragraph, Hannah has a way with capturing your attention with her exceptional writing skills.
This is a story of a young,sheltered, naive nursing student Frances "Frankie", that has always wanted to do what is right. Frankie is thrown into a world of the horrors of war, a nation that is divided, deceitful politics, and the heartache that befell many people during this time.
Just when you think that Kristin Hannah's last book was your favorite, the next story she writes brings it to another level.

Another hit from Kristin Hannah. Set in Vietnam, the reader follows the life of an Army nurse. She grows from an unexperienced surgical nurse to one that experiences things that Americans back home weren't being told about. A well told story about unsung heroes of war.

I love books that not only teach me something but are thought provoking and evoke emotion. This book fits that bill to a "T" and then some. I don't think it is possible for Kristin Hannah to write a bad book. As with her other books, The Women is well written, well thought out, and gripping. I was instantly absorbed in this book and had a hard time putting it down. I felt as if I were a fly on the wall, traveling to Vietnam with Frankie, and observing what life as a nurse was like during that time. The devastating injuries of the soldiers, the choices the medical staff had to make (who could be saved, who not to treat), the explosions, the living conditions, the lack of supplies and the relationships that were formed, left an impression on me.

Frances “Frankie” McGrath was raised Coronado Island, California by her conservative parents. In the beginning of the book, she is a twenty-year-old nursing student living at home with her conservative, country club member parents. After her older brother goes to Vietnam, Frankie recalls the words of one of his friends “Women can be heroes, too.” , Frankie joins the Army Nurse Corps and after training, she is sent to Vietnam to work as a nurse. What she sees and experiences is shocking, traumatizing, heartbreaking and ultimately life changing. When not treating the horrifically injured soldiers, Frankie has formed close bonds with her fellow nurses. Bonds that will also change her life. Upon coming home, Frankie is shocked by being spit on, yelled at, and told repeatedly that women were not in Vietnam.

I was shocked to learn that the Nurses who provide medical care to soldiers were not considered Veterans even though they signed up with the Army. That they could not go to the VA for help with PTSD. It was appalling and heartbreaking.

Besides the beautiful writing, I loved how Hannah showed the strength of female friendship. How the women supported each other and formed a family unit amongst themselves. This was one of the highlights for me. They lifted each other up, loved each other, accepted each other’s faults, celebrated their strengths, and when everyone else was letting them down, they knew they could count on each other.

This book also shows how PTSD affected nurses, doctors, and soldiers. How many self-medicated with drugs and alcohol. This book also depicts scenes of great bravery, political upheaval, war protests, the effects of PTSD, self-medication with drugs, friendships, family dynamics, sexism, and growth.

The characters are fully fleshed out and feel real. I felt for them, rooted for them, and cried with them.

Well written, gripping, shocking, and thought provoking.

Kristin Hannah does it again. This book was amazing. I love the way she writes and how developed her characters are. I could not put it down!

Thank you to Net Galley for providing an early copy of The Women by Krristin Hannah

I confess to having developed a compelling need to read Kristin Hannah's novels and will always be grateful for the opportunity to have an early look at her newest endeavor in order to share it with her many fans at the bookshop.

A teenager during the height of the Vietnam War, I identified immediately with the time and place of the novel. My family watched Walter Cronkite daily on the evening news as he reported the never-ending tragic news of a war fought so far away. I listened to all the songs that Hannah has included in The Women, and I was very aware of protests across the United States pleading for an end to the war. I knew young men who were sent to the combat.

Hannah has captured every aspect of both the personal and the national tragedy of involvement in Vietnam. Every single page resonates with the struggles of the time, and protagonist Frances (Frankie) McGrath is a character never to be forgotten. The supporting cast shines in every way, and the many unexpected twists and turns over the course of Frankie's young and troubled life both during and following her nursing service in Vietnam keep the reader invested in her plight. A tissue handy would not be a bad idea.

Part I of the novel finds Frankie totally immersed in the dangers but also the light moments of an army hospital in Vietnam. She is excellent at her job, forms strong friendships with two other army nurses,, falls in love and is never far from the death and destruction of the war. In her two tours of duty, Frankie will also find time to enjoy music, dancing and conversation with officers and the few women stationed in Vietnam.

Part II features Frankie's return to the United States where another kind of struggle awaits her. The American public has been condemning its involvement in Vietnam. Frankie and other veterans are the victims of the malice toward those who served. Frankie's own father denies she is actually an army veteran.

It will take the construction of the Vietnam Memorial several years later to bring Frankie out of the miasma that has been her life since returning from the war. While the memories never disappear, she has found a way to deal with them and also to help others.

I am looking forward to the publication of The Women and a chance to share it with visitors to the bookshop,

I must be in the minority for this book because i couldnt get into the story. It seemed to drag on with nothing really happening.

Another 5-star read for author Kristin Hannah. The Women is simply, or not simply, but thoroughly spectacular. You will cry at least twice, if not more. One of those cries is going to be slightly uncontrollable. This could definitely be her best work yet.

It takes place primarily during the transformative time of the 1960s, when women were pushing back against traditional roles, choosing to go to college, have careers, and using birth control to have protected sex *gasp* before marriage.

In The Women, Frances "Frankie" McGrath begins as a literal doe-eyed schoolgirl. Her older brother Finn is her hero and best friend. In her father's study is a "Hero's Wall" where the men in her family who have served their country are pride-of-place with a military photograph. The women represent the family on this Hero's Wall with their wedding portrait. When Finley ships off to Vietnam, Frankie is determined to follow him, believing wholeheartedly that women can be heroes too. When she returns, she will have her military service on the Hero's Wall in her father's study. She will make her family proud.

Frankie grows up a lot in Vietnam, and her time there is only the beginning. The real journey begins when she returns home.

It has been YEARS since I read a book this good.

Frankie McGrath is the best main characters ever written. She’s real and flawed; her growth from page 1 to the end is tremendous. She starts out as a naive nurse who volunteers to serve in Vietnam and is immediately met with a world no one could imagine. She becomes a veteran haunted by what she endured in Vietnam and the aftermath she comes home to.

The amount of research @kristinhannahauthor put into this is unbelievable. She held nothing back. It’s heartbreaking, triumphant, and is surely going to be a blockbuster. It’s only downfall is it ended.

Seriously, this book is that good. Preorder it so it drops into your lap on Feb 6. 5 stars is not nearly enough!

Huge thanks to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for an early copy in exchange for my honest opinion

#kristinhannah #netgalley #stmartinspress #historicalfiction #5starreview #thewomen

The women is a story about Frankie and women who served in Vietnam. Frankie McGrath enlists to be an army combat nurse shortly after her brother leaves for Vietnam. Once in Vietnam Frankie learns the harsh reality of what it's like to be in Vietnam and her new role as a nurse. Once she returns home the public is disgusted by her in uniform and her parents are embarrassed by her. No one wants to talk about her your in Vietnam because women didn't serve in the war. Rest of the story is about her struggle with PTSD, addiction and heartbreak. But the women always by her side were her friends from Vietnam to help her. I loved the story of her friendships with Ethel and Barb. This is my first Kristin Hannah, I've heard her other books are amazing and look forward to reading more from her. I did enjoy this book just found parts of it to be a little slow.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

The Women is is a remarkable work of fiction dedicated to the women who served in Viet Nam War. The author accurately depicts the sixties and the horrors of the war where so many lives were lost. Veterans returned injured and traumatized by their experiences without a heroes welcome. The women who served were not acknowledged and were not even considered veterans. The author has written a fictionalized account that incorporates the lives of some of these women through the war and afterwards as they struggle to join society once again. The writing is incredible as the war comes back into focus. #TheWomen #KristinHannah #NetGalley

I would give this book a thousand stars if I could ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kristin Hannah can do no wrong. This book was EVERYTHING— harrowing, real, important, powerful, and downright incredible. Get ready to be transported to the mid-1960s in Vietnam!

Frances (Frankie) McGrath is a 20 year old young woman who makes a very brave decision to enlist in the Army as a nurse. This decision comes after her older brother, Finley, is off to war and his best friend asks a question— why can’t women be heroes too?
Her father has a wall of heroes on the wall and Frankie wants to make her family proud and serve her country. After she finds out some very tragic news, Frankie is unsure but she embarks on a transformational journey that changes her life forever.

She is quite literally thrown into life in Vietnam. Living quarters are hardly livable, there’s chaos everywhere she turns and she’s exhausted 24/7. She’s very young, naive and inexperienced so as you can imagine, she really struggles to find her way while dealing with so much death and despair.

She meets Barb and Ethel and these two become her lifelines while in-country. They relied on each other through it all. I LOVED their friendships and how Hannah placed so much importance on it. I felt like I knew them, too! She becomes an incredible nurse, even being transferred to an even busier site and really hones her nursing skills but also empathy for every soldier that came through.

This novel takes you for a ride through near 20 years. Frankie’s time in Vietnam and life afterwards. She really struggled coming home. She was spit on, yelled at, and was told countless times “there were no women in Vietnam”. She tried to assimilate back into life but at night, she would be caught in the throes of nightmares and PTSD. People didn’t want to discuss the war, and her family acted embarrassed and ashamed of her.

Kristin Hannah did a wonderful job portraying Frankie’s anger, addition problems, and heartbreaking losses of important people on her life. It felt so REAL! The imagery was impeccable. You can FEEL the rawness of everything Frankie was experiencing! She is such an unforgettable character that will have a grip on my heart forever. I truly admired her bravery and resiliency!

After reading this novel, I have so much appreciation for Kristin Hannah. Her research into the war is crazy. I learned so many things that I had never heard of before. This only adds to how real this book is. While these characters are fictional, I kept wanting to go Google Frankie McGrath to learn more about her. That’s how real it felt! We must never forget the WOMEN who laid their life on the line to protect, serve and sacrifice for their country. They deserve the utmost respect, just as the soldiers do.

Please add this novel to your TBR. Go preorder NOW. Whatever you do, you have to read this book. I don’t think I will ever recover 😭

This did not disappoint. I could not put it down.
It really captures that time in history, As a woman, I envy that bond these three women had. I think it is one of her best books.

Kristin Hannah's new novel, The Women, is the story of Frankie, a young woman who joins the Army Nurse Corps in Vietnam. The book's first half is about her time in Vietnam and the second half is the story of being a female Vietnam Veteran. Kristin Hannah wrote a beautiful story as a tribute to these forgotten women. I'll be honest, I shed many tears reading this novel. I won't go into details of the storyline but using real places, events, and people makes this novel unputdownable. I was lucky to receive an ARC of The Women but highly recommend historical fiction readers pre-order this book. If you loved Kristin Hannah's The Nightingale, you will want to read The Women.

Kristin Hannah does it again! This story about a time when women were in the midst of a revolution and the United States was being torn apart. Hannah did an amazing job painting the picture of a turbulent time. I don't know much about the women of the war in Vietnam but I am fascinated and want to learn more about these women who sacrificed so much and weren't acknowledged until too many years later. Be prepared to cry. More than once I found myself unable to hold back tears. I am sure I got more than my share of stares at the airport.

This book was truly one of the best I have had the pleasure of reading in a long time. From the start, Frankie's story compelled me to keep reading. Frankie and her brother were born privileged. Frankie goes to nursing school with the knowledge it is just until she meets and marries a man and raises her own family. It's 1965 and the world is rapidly changing - The Vietnam War is gaining headlines, and more and more men are being sent to fight. Frankie wants to make her father proud - she wants to be on the family wall of heroes, and join all the men hanging on that wall she has seen all her life. In an offhand remark, a friend of her brother's tells her that nurses can be heroes, too. Frankie joins the army as a nurse and is sent to Vietnam - against her parents wishes.

Life, for Frankie, changes forever. She lives the horrors of being a combat nurse and experience unimaginable horrors and heartaches. She survives, though, and upon her return home, like so many braves souls who did their tours and came home, she is greeted with heartache and disdainful anger. Her life become a series of sad events and poor choices. She is continually told "there are no women in Vietnam" and if there was little help or hope provided for male combat veterans, there is none for women. She is lost in a world she no longer knows where her place is.

Heart breaking, tragic, sad, yet hopeful, I would not help but admire her courage and determination. It's a beautiful story, and I am so very glad I was given the opportunity to read it. It is definitely thought provoking and worth every minute of reading.

This is a really good book, having read previous KH books, I was expecting it to be good and I was not disappointed. Frances "Frankie" McGrath lives with her family on Coronado Island, her brother has enlisted and the family is celebrating and saying goodbye. Frankie sneaks into the study where there is a Hero Wall, pictures of previous members of her family that had served in previous wars. A friend of her brother's, Rye, tells her that women can be heroes as well (all the pictures are of men), which compels Frankie to enlist not long after. She very quickly finds herself in Vietnam, experiencing nothing like what happens in the USA, but she adapts because she wants to succeed and soon becomes a talented combat nurse, able to glance at a patient and determine where he should be placed in priority, not always pleasant. She becomes close friends with a surgeon Jamie, who would like to be a lot closer, but Frankie is a good girl, saving herself, and Jamie is married. Frankie sees a lot of things that would put most people off war, and she does become disenchanted, but still signs up for another tour before going back to the States, Her return is not a happy one, her parents are upset with her for even going and the country is upset with anyone coming back, spitting on them and calling them nasty names. Frankie has PTSD, though it wasn't called that at that time, and she becomes addicted to pills, booze, cigarettes, though she does not become promiscuous. This is a really good book and there are some real heart wrenching scenes, but I would very much recommend. Thanks to #Netgalley and #St Martins Press for the ARC.

Kristan Hannah’s new book, The Women, is a fascinating, gritty look at a part of history many people shy away from – the Vietnam War. Specifically, the book follows the journey of nurse Frankie McGrath, a naïve young woman who feels compelled to do what she can to help the men fighting in Vietnam. I was impressed by Hannah's ability to bring the challenging scenes of this particular part of history to life. Her research is evident, as she provides a wealth of information on the women who served during this time. I definitely learned things I didn’t know.

While I appreciated the strong female relationships depicted in the book, I wasn't a fan of any of Frankie's love interests. Overall, the writing was good, and Kristin Hannah never fails to produce an engaging read. Fans of Kristin Hannah's work will likely enjoy this novel, but it didn't resonate with me as much as some of her other books. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Writing: 4.5/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 4/5

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on February 6th, 2024.

In 1966, freshly minted nurse Frances “Frankie” McGrath joins the Army to be sent to Vietnam in order to be in country with her brother and earn a spot of the family’s “wall of heroes.” The story follows Frankie through nursing on the front lines, returning two years later to a country that (literally) spits on her for her service, and her reliance on alcohol and pills to get through the day. She has a need to be recognized as a veteran when everyone knows there were “no women in Vietnam.” Her life is heavily influenced by the trends of the day: the wide availability of “mother’s little helpers,” the burgeoning awareness of PTSD, and the shocking lies about the War that start coming to light.

The writing is good, and the characters are appealing and have depth. I thought she captured the times and various scenarios well — front line nursing environment (far worse than on MASH!), the reception she received back in Coronado (island community outside San Diego) when she got home, the Veterans administration, and others. I loved the friendships she depicted. Hannah is overly dramatic for my taste — though I think that is exactly why she is such a popular author.   For me the story has plenty of innate drama without loading it down with coincidences and a focus of every possible “bad thing” happening to one person. However, I thought the book did a credible job of explaining exactly how a young, well-off woman *could* form this track through life and how she could finally turn things around.  I also couldn’t stop reading so the writing was certainly effective!

The author’s stated goal was to bring to light the (whole) story of the women who were in the Vietnam War and she did that admirably. A very good piece of historical fiction with detailed and accurate surroundings and fully embedded characters.