This is one of the best books that I have ever read. I said it. I will remember this book. It will follow me everywhere I go. It was phenomenal. The Women was written with such grace and thoughtfulness. I just could not put this one down and it touched me in ways I’ve never felt while reading - I mean I cried a lot.. I am not an emotional reader, but this one got me. The relationships, the connection I felt to Frankie, the history and research.. it was all so well done and tied together so nicely in the novel. This is one of those books that you’ll feel lost after finishing and not sure what to pick up next because nothing else can compare.

Read it. Don’t miss out. Bring a whole box of tissues. & if you can read it with a friend I highly recommend because you’re going to want to talk about it.

4.5 Stars. I really enjoyed this book, Kristin Hannah does Historical Fiction to perfection. The Vietnam War was not something I knew a ton about, and this book gave me such a clear picture of what it was like for soldiers to return, as well as how difficult it was for women in particular. It is wild to me that women weren't even thought to be in the war at all, and the treatment the main character received on her return. The deep dive into mental health and all the unknowns about mental health was fascinating as well. I'm so thankful that we have made the advances we have in this field, for myself and for soldiers.
I will read anything Kristin Hannah publishes and I'm so glad to say this one didn't miss the mark.

This is the best book that Kristin Hannah has written so far. Following Vietnam War nurse, Frankie, we are joining her through the war medical tent to her return to the USA and the disappointment of the politics of the time.
Women were there but no one thought they were.

Bravo!!! I love every one of her books.

The Women unfolds during the early days of the Vietnam War, when the country still believed victory was imminent and the front was not extremely dangerous. Frankie's father prides himself on his family's military contributions and Frankie, a newly graduated nurse, wants to make her family proud while honoring her brother's legacy. With barely any experience, only the Army will take novice nurses and Frankie promptly enlists. Naive to the horrors of what is occurring in Vietnam, she defies her parents and is soon facing the all-too real horrors of a winless war. Two other young nurses take Frankie under their wings and together they save lives, mourn the losses and face incredible danger. The realities of what Frankie endures impact her profoundly and in a way many won't understand for years as the effects of PTSD were just being understood. Told with Kristin Hannah's trademark style The Women will both smash and heal your heart. Hannah has captured Vietnam and the US sentiment accurately and poignantly while underscoring how the women of Vietnam were as integral as the soldiers fighting. This is her best work since The Nightingale.

[4.5 Stars]

I ate this one up. Kristin Hannah is an auto buy author for me. I love the research she so deftly envelopes her books in. I feel like I learn so much more about a point in time that I didn't know enough about. In this case, it's Vietnam and the women who served silently. A nation who pushed soldiers to serve and then turned their backs on them when they came home. A system that shunned these men and women, that didn't give them the resources they needed and deserved for putting their lives on the line for the country that failed them.

Frankie McGrath is our protagonist, who comes from a military family and goes to 'Nam as a nurse with limited experience. She finds herself putting bodies back together and closing wounds, while dodging bombs in monsoon weather. I loved the girls that got her through it - Ethel & Barb. She comes home and what faces her back in Coronado Island is almost even worse then the mess she lived through in Vietnam. I appreciated that Hannah highlighted the post war effort and commentary. I wasn't expecting for so much of what Frankie went through to hit so close to home for me. In a weird way, I completely related to how Frankie felt with her family and their reactions to her serving her country. I found myself completely wrapped up in Frankie's inner processing of everything. The need to run away and through herself into the wind of a horse's mane.

I couldn't put this one down, and outside of a few minor quibbles I had with the last 20% of the book, this is one I won't soon forget.

I loved this book. Frankie’s story was so captivating. I didn’t want to put the book down. It was very interesting to read this book & consider it against what’s currently going on in the world today.

Synopsis

Frankie grew up with the backdrop of the “hero’s wall” of portraits of her esteemed forefathers in the regalia of their service to their country prominently displayed in her family home. When she went off to be a nurse in Vietnam, she fully expected to return home and see her portrait on that wall. Why was her service not worthy of a place of honor? Why did she not return to the same fanfare as her ancestors?

My Overall Thoughts

I didn’t really learn anything I didn’t already know about the Vietnam era, but the things I already knew was made real. I had read in books and heard my father tell me how poorly vets were treated when then returned, but it was just something I knew. This book made me FEEL it. The anger. The hurt. The outrage. The confusion. All of it. I can’t even to pretend to know how they really felt, but I have the empathy now. That is what Hannah gives me. She knows just how to evoke all those raw emotions. As soon as I started to get comfortable or at least complacent she would wrench me in another direction. This book just felt like a marathon. I was exhausted after reading it, but felt like a better person for it.

Potentially Offensive Content

language
adult situations
sex
graphic violence
mental illness
drug and alcohol abuse

What I Loved

No one can make you feel all the emotions like Kristin Hannah.

I Would Recommend This Book To

anyone who loves reading great period fiction that really puts you in the setting. This is not a light read. You need the time to be really invested.

Another gem by Hannah....even though it is focused on a very difficult topic, it was a story that needed to be told. Hannah expertly weaves history in with fictions and share about the Vietnam war and its aftermath

Kristin Hannah never disappoints. Loved this book and learned so much about Vietnam and the women who served.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I received a Digital ARC from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I do not think I can write a review that will do this novel justice. i felt like I was in Vietnam with Frankie. Frankie, her fellow nurses, her family, and friends will stay with me.

I was surprisingly disappointed with this one! I started reading it as a digital ARC but because I was feeling no emotional connection AT ALL (somebody was shot and... it was supposed to be sad.... and I just... didn't care???) I had to put it down at 30% and wait for the audio book to be released to finish it.

The audio book DID HELP and made it better for me. It helped me actually feel an emotional connection to the characters and story line. Plus, I think the back half of the book was just more interesting of a story, but it took 200+ pages to get there which I struggled with.

The Women is easily Kristin Hannah's best - historical fiction centered on the women who served as nurses in the Vietnam War. Although it was a little unbelievable at times, the book still packs a big emotional punch and makes you care about all of the women who were forgotten through the years.

I’ve read a number of Kristin Hannah’s novels and she has yet to disappoint me. I work in a book store and I’ve been recommending this book like crazy the entire time I’ve been reading it. It had me hooked from page 1. Growing up I don’t remember learning very much about the Vietnam war so my knowledge was pretty limited. This novel made me want to research and learn every thing I could about this time in history. Reading The Women made me feel like I was transported through time and witnessing everything firsthand.
If you like historical fiction, and honestly even if you don’t, definitely pick up The Women by Kristin Hannah.

Amazing! Hannah does it again! I liked it as much, if not more than her others. I learned so much about Vietnam and my heart broke for the characters in this book.. such compelling storytelling.

Just when I think I couldn't fall in love more with another Kristin Hannah book, I read this one. I was transported on the journey with the main character from home to Vietnam and all the places she traveled. I was invested in the character and her growth into womanhood. This story touched me so deeply that I plan to read more non fiction books on this topic. Women were in Vietnam, so sad to see the way they were treated through the writing of KH. She knows how to take your heart apart and put it back together in a beautiful way with her writing. Though she leaves her mark on the end. I highly recommend this book! Thank you netgalley and publishers for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

What an emotional rollercoaster this book is! Kristin Hannah did a wonderful job of showcasing the women who were in the Vietnam War. This book does not sugarcoat how it was over there or coming back; instead, it puts a spotlight on it. This book is hard to read or listen to, but well worth the read. I listened to this book on audio, and the vivid details that you hear make you feel like you are in Vietnam.

HOLY COW!!! This book is LONG af, but i finished it in less than two days! I'd sort of stopped reading Kristin Hannah because it got to the point where i was certain her entire goal was to make us cry. Id found myself willingly not attaching to any characters so because i knew someone we loved would inevitably die at the end. I may have teared up a little, but i wasn't sobbing out loud like before lol.

We follow Frankie as she heads into the Vietnam War as a nurse where she witnessed some utterly horrible injuries, and as she came home to an America that was not only against the war, but also against those who served.

It's a love story and a friendship story. We all need an Ethel and Barb in our lives!

Kristin Hannah is an amazing author who always takes on subject matter that causes the reader to become totally enveloped in her descriptive text.
The Vietnam War is the setting for her latest. Frankie McGrath, a child of wealthy, conservative parents in California joins the Army Nurse Corps following in her brother's footsteps to defend their country against Communism. What sets this book apart from many others in this genre is the terrific writing. The expressive portrayal of the geography of the country made you imagine the horror and tragedy of a land far away where the enemy was difficult to discern.
What was even more fascinating was the graphic depiction of Frankie and fellow participants in the Vietnam War upon their return to the United States. The prose brings home the lack of appreciation and abhorrence of fellow Americans.
The only drawback was, perhaps, the unbelievable maneuvering of Frankies' romances which seemed a bit too contrived.
Fascinating all in all!

A very thoughtful and truthful book about women in Vietnam. This book will have you feeling all types of emotions. This book was so powerful and made you feel as if you were right in the war zone. A wonderful must read for 2024. The book also deals with many issues that even today we are facing as a nation.

A few years ago, I visited Northern Vietnam, where I went to a Vietnamese History Museum, which had a section on the Vietnam War (or the American war, as it’s called there). I visited the Hanoi Hilton and learned about the horrific conditions our soldiers were subjected to. I got back home and wanted to learn more about the war, but couldn’t find many legitimate sources. Under the “official” definition of historical fiction, the event must have been at least 50 years old, which means we’re right on the cusp of the Vietnam War being part of that genre. I hope The Women is just the first of many, that will hopefully bring these stories to the light.

At many times I disliked Frankie, but reflecting back, I realized that her struggle was real. I spoke to older friends who confirmed that returning soldiers really were treated with the same disdain that Frankie experienced at the airport. Her inability to receive help is no surprise as our soldiers are still treated this way when coming home from our modern wars, but it was still interesting to watch her struggle. I had a feeling about one of the male characters, that ended up being right, but ended up being more of a surprise than I had anticipated. I do like that Frankie ended up finding a way to live with the terror that she experienced. I highly recommend this read even if only to learn more about the war.