What can I say about this book? It just had the signature #kristinhannah feeling that I can't seem to get from any other author.

I'm typically not drawn to historical fiction unless it's a super interesting topic because, quite honestly, it usually puts me to sleep. Such is never the case with Kristin Hannah! Her books start strong, grip me right away, and never let go until the VERY. LAST. PAGE. This book just kept delivering plot twist after plot twist and never left me bored for even a second. Do not be intimidated by the length (480 pages), it reads so quickly and easily.

I was so emotionally invested in every single character, but Frankie McGrath is one to remember for sure. I cried and smiled and learned a lot and I don't know what more you can ask from a book.

This book tells the often ignored or untold story of THE WOMEN in the Vietnam War. With that naturally comes a lot of heavy topics such as PTSD, loss of loved ones, drug addiction, suicide, etc. I think KH handled extremely difficult subject matter very knowledgably and delicately. The vast amount of research she put into this story is blatantly obvious throughout the whole book.

I already know I'm going to need to do a re-read when the audio is out because it's narrated by Julia Whelan!

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press for the chance to read and review this book prior to release. This is available for purchase on Feb 6, 2024.

Kristin Hannah is one of my favorite authors and the historical elements of The Women was written so well and I learned so much. However, I was very annoyed with the main character, Frankie. Yes, she endured atrocities during her ANC service in Vietnam, but her lack of integrity was tiresome.

Thank you, NetGalley and St Martin’s Publishing for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Another great book, written by Kristin Hannah. Vietnam and the 60’s. The war, our men, but our forgotten women our nurses, who took care of our dying and wounded men. A young impressionable women,Frankie right out of nursing school who wants to be put up on her family’s wall of heroes, goes to Vietnam. Where she meets two other nurses, who get her thru this unimaginable time in our history, their friendships that still continues thru her return home her addition, her relationships with app the men in her life, and her parents.
Hannah writes, with descriptions that you will feel you are right there in Vietnam. With the helicopters, monsoons, the soldiers dying. . . And right back when she returns home to California and how they were greeted with People that spit on them and called them baby killers.
And then the fight to get the reconciliation that our “ women”, need to get, for their part in the war.
This book will be on the best books of 2023. I’m sure. I have read every book by Ms. Hannah. And I will continue to read every one she writes. Her research is one of the best.
And thank you for letting me read this first, just for giving my reviews. I wish I could give this a 10 or a 20.

The Women by Kristin Hannah is an emotion packed story of the women who served in the Viet Nam War and the challenges they faced when returning home. It's full of heartbreak, strength and courage - so many of those who served during this war came of age while "in country" and then, after returning home, had to deal with the trauma of what they experienced with no support or recognition of their service - the effects being lifelong.

Frankie's journey from her privileged life in Coronado, CA to the operating rooms in the jungles of Viet Nam and back home to a country who despised her service, and to a family who did not recognize or acknowledge her service, was a rollercoaster of a story that not only depicted the brutality of war and the mental impact upon those who served but which also established the importance of women's friendships and comradarie. The characters of this novel will stay with you long after the end of the story.

Also, the cover is stunning!

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this fantastic novel.

Kristin Hannah's The Women is astonishingly good. If it were not written by a woman known for women's fiction, it would be up for all kinds of prizes. She writes in the acknowledgements that this has been percolating since the late 1990s. It shows. I imagine it will be Hannah's magnum opus, the best book she ever writes in her life. Her portrayal of Vietnam, of military trauma nursing, of the world after Vietnam, rings completely true. I have rarely enjoyed a book so much. I recommend it to virtually anyone--there is much in here for men, despite the title.

KristinHannah has written a heart wrenching novel that drew me in from the first pages.Frankie is a character I will not forget,The setting Vietnam the characters nurses during the war tissues many tissues needed.

The Women by Kristin Hannah is an engaging and entertaining historical fiction that takes us back to the turbulent 1960s and the Vietnam war.

This was a very emotional, entertaining, addictive , and interesting historical fiction that at the same time was harrowing and difficult to read. Ms. Hannah did an excellent job representing a few of the vast array of women that were involved and affected by the Vietnam war.

There was action, suspense, emotion, turmoil, and a few surprises along the way. Everything that a reader can expect from Ms. Hannah’s works, will find that and more with her newest novel.

4/5 stars

Thank you NG and St Martin’s Press for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 2/6/23.

This book truly takes you on a journey. First, from a sheltered life in Southern California to the battlefields of Vietnam, then back to the U.S. as an Army nurse returns home to a country ashamed of her actions, and even fellow veterans who deny her presence there. She’s left to battle her demons alone, and without support.

There is so much in these pages. There’s so much eye-opening information, so many powerful feelings: anger, grief, frustration, love and pride. I wanted to shake people as Frankie tried to get help and was denied because ‘there weren’t women in ‘Nam,’ I wanted to hug her when she so desperately needed someone to talk to, I wanted to celebrate her when she got glimpses of how strong she truly was. Like any Hannah book, I felt deeply as I read Frankie’s entire journey.

Overall, I think this is a very strong piece of historical fiction covering a topic we don’t see often enough in popular books. Unlike many of her more plot-based books, I would almost describe this as a more character-driven novel— it’s a very intense telling of one person’s experience. As far as Hannah’s previous works, I think this is most like Home Front.

Possibly one of the most powerful (and important books) I have ever read. Real. Honest. Important. This story grabs you at the get-go and doesn't let up until the last sentence. If you grew up while this was happening, your body will vividly remember what you felt and experienced. Historically accurate and brutally honest but a wonderful, wonderful read. I was shaken, entertained, and whipped back and forth between the present and the early 1970s over and over. An amazing read.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
Kristin Hannah has the gift of immersing readers into a new place and time period! This is true for @kristinhannahauthor newest novel, The Women, where we are instantly immersed into the Vietnam war.

KH did thorough research and it showed. The Vietnam war is more recent so I think many readers have had someone close to them serve or know something about the Vietnam war. My dad served in the Vietnam war and the whole book made my heartache. I grew up in San Diego and I spent my childhood at Coronado, like the protagonist, so my emotions got the best of me and I was 🥹 through most of the book.

KH illuminates the harsh reality of the Vietnam War, with a focus on the often overlooked women who served during that era. Frankie's (the protagonist) journey is a captivating exploration of her young adulthood, serving her county as a Nurse in the war, and what it was like for her to come home from a war that most people did not support.

LOVED!

Thank you St. Martins Press, Netgalley, and Kristin Hannah for the ARC of The Women. This book was simply amazing. I have read so many of Kristin’s books, and I can say that this one is by far my favorite and will stay with me for a long time. It has everything and then some in it…love, friendship, loss. I could picture everything as I was reading it. My journey through The Women had me happy, sad, smiling, gut wrenching, and everything in between. I feel like I got to know all these wonderful characters and am now sad that this journey has ended. Thank you, Kristin, for all the feels.

Ooof. This book is going to stick with me for quite some time. Kristin Hannah tells the story of Frankie, a well-to-do, well-bred, genteel woman who chooses to enlist and serve as a nurse in the jungles of Vietnam. The action and storyline as well as the historical details hooked me in the first part of the book and the humanity and heartache stuck with me to the end. It doesn’t end the way you think it will, but I enjoyed every minute of this book.

Kristin Hannah has done it again. She has taken a little known aspect of Vietnam and developed strong and complex characters that struggle and grow along the way.
Could not put the book down because I needed to know how the nurses persevered through Vietnam.

What an amazing book. Hannah has been hitting the high notes since writing The Nightingale, and this surpasses even that. The Vietnam war killed so many Americans and tilted our world on its axis. This novel nails the experience of our veterans, both men and women, who bravely served in a war unlike any before it. I was left in tears, but far better for having read this beautiful novel. So we’ll researched and rendered. A true best book of the year.

Growing up in the late 70's/early 80's, with parents who were about 20 years old and newly married in 1965, I knew what Vietnam was about, and I always wanted to learn more about it. My father served in The Air Force during Vietnam. For some reason, my heart just latched onto the stories my mom told me, and I always felt a strong urge to just connect to that era, and to those who served. I was so anxious and excited to read The Women because I had been waiting for a book like this. One thing I can say first and foremost in my review is that the reader can tell Kristin Hannah did significant, and I am sure tedious and heartbreaking research. I learned so much from reading this. So much about how our own country hid so many things from the men who were losing their lives for it, and hiding so much from the American people. Reading about our main character, Frankie's experiences as a young woman, barely out of her teens, wanting to help the war effort by becoming a nurse in Vietnam, and how inexperienced she was was very eye opening and haunting. The things the nurses saw and endured, I just could never imagine encountering, or how one would live with the memories of it all. Hannah did a superb job detailing Frankie's life as a nurse in Vietnam, her losses both in friendship and love, the descriptive details of the US camps/life on duty, as well as her next journey, when she came home, having to heal. I think this is a very important book for people to read. One thing that will stick with me, words that Frankie heard, even from her fellow vets once home...."There were no women serving in Vietnam". Although this book seemed to drag just a little at times for me, and was hard to take in at times, I am glad I read it. I expected it to be on par with The Nightingale for me. It wasn't, but due to the subject matter, research, and what this story represents, I cannot give it lower than a 4 star rating. I think anyone that reads this will be humbled and be led to take some time to appreciate our veterans service in Vietnam.

I received this book as a ARC from NetGalley - this was my first book that I have read set during the Vietnam War and I hope historical fiction authors use this time frame to write more.

I cannot say enough about how good this book was - Kristin Hannah did it again - characters you feel in love with, rooted for and wanted to hug. This book taught me so much about the women that served our country and those that served in Vietnam and were not welcomed home as they should have been.

Everyone should add this to their must reads list and tell everyone they know to read it!

I personally did not enjoy the writing style in her previous books, and it carries through to this one. I stopped reading at the end of chapter 1. However, her books are well-loved in our libraries, and due to the consistency in style and general feel, I feel like this one will be enjoyed as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press.

Kristin Hannah is one of my all time favorite authors. Her storytelling is superb so when I got an advanced copy of her latest novel, The Women, I was beyond excited! I love that the setting is the Vietnam War and I applaud Ms. Hannah for choosing this era as it is definitely the forgotten war and so few books are written about it. What I loved even more was that she focused on the women who volunteered to go to Vietnam as nurses and how unprepared they were by the government for the horrors that were part of that war. The amount of research she put into this book was amazing! I was stunned to learn that the women nurses were not even recognized by our government as being part of the Vietnam war!
The story itself is riveting (as are most of her stories) and I found myself unable to put it down. I read it in a record two days! The story revolves around Frankie McGrath who volunteers to go to Vietnam as a nurse when her brother is killed over there. The first half of the book focuses on her experiences as a field nurse and the friendships she forges among the medical staff as well as the horrors she encounters. The second half deals with her return to the United States and the less than welcoming reaction she gets from others as well as the PTSD she experiences that she finds difficult to get help for. Not only did I find this book to be an excellent story, but I also came away with such empathy and respect for the veterans of the Vietnam War, especially the women!
Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

There were women in Vietnam, and if this idea is startling or new, read this book. As a reader, I have spent many years reading WWII based books, never one told from Vietnam, much less from a woman’s perspective. This book not only addressed the atrocities of war, but also touched on what it was like being a returning veteran, mental health, addiction, shame, rejection by family and country, loss of love, loss of self, and most importantly, steps towards healing and acceptance. This book should be read by everyone, men and women alike. While I am not a nurse in war, I am a nurse who appreciates a story being told about how as healthcare workers we feel grief for people we don’t know and carry that grief with us always. The thought of living that reality during a war weighs heavy on my soul - a picture and feeling made very clear with this story.
I felt every emotion during this story. Once the veterans return home, be prepared to feel everything strongly. My heart was pulled in every direction possible.
This is an outstanding piece of literary work. This will be ranked up there with The Nightingale, The Great Alone, and The Four Winds. I will be forever grateful to NetGalley, Kristin Hannah for giving me the chance to read this early. I will read it again and recommend it to all I know.

Synopsis (from Netgalley, the provider of the book for me to review.)
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The missing. The forgotten. The brave… The women.-

From master storyteller Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds, comes the story of a turbulent, transformative era in America: the 1960s. The Women is that rarest of novels—at once an intimate portrait of a woman coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided by war and broken by politics, of a generation both fueled by dreams and lost on the battlefield.
“Women can be heroes, too.”

When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on the story of all women who put themselves in harm’s way to help others. Women whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has all too often been forgotten. A novel of searing insight and lyric beauty, The Women is a profoundly emotional, richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose extraordinary idealism and courage under fire define a generation.

Another excellent book from Miss Hannah has hit the shelves!! This one hit deep – it makes me think of China Beach, an excellent 1980s tv series that shows the life of women and nurses in the Vietnam War. Frankie is an amazing person to spend time with and the trauma and horrors of war will be triggering for some who are antiwar or who have memories of growing up during the Blitz (yes, I do have a great number of 80yo+ patrons) or those who helped draft dodgers come here to Canada. Going from an idyllic life on a magical California island to the horrors of war was worth the trip and I will recommend this book far and wide to friends, patrons, and book clubs.

#shortbutsweetreviews