Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of Kristin Hannah's extraordinary new novel about the unsung heroes of the Vietnam War. In The Women, Frankie enlists as an army nurse in an attempt to make her family proud and to follow in her beloved brother's footsteps. The atrocities that she sees in the operating room leave her emotionally wounded, but when she returns home after serving two tours she is repeatedly told that there are no women in Vietnam. She reaches out for help and is denied at every turn. Even Frankie's father refuses to acknowledge that she served her country, instead telling everyone that ahe was studying in Florence.

Frankie's two best friends from Vietnam, Barb and Etnel, are always willing to fly across the country to support her as she sinks deeper into despair and depression. Their sisterhood gives Frankie the strength that she needs to slowly rebuild her life after years of heartache and devastating loss.

This is an unforgettable tribute to the women who worked tirelessly behind the combat lines to save the lives of countless soldiers.

My 5 star rating for this book has made me rethink all my other 5 star ratings. This book about the nurses in Vietnam is incredible! I have been recommending this newest offering from Kristin Hannah to all my students, family and friends and have purchased multiple copies for my high school library. Thank you NetGalley!

Such a strong female lead, I loved the entire story and was very surprised by the last 30%. Can't rave about this story enough

Another outstanding novel by Kristin Hannah. The story of Frankie is one I will not soon forget and the friendships will last a lifetime. That time in history although heart-wrenching, is very important. I truly recommend this as a 5-star read.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a digital ARC. All opinions are my own.

Kristin Hannah’s The Women transports readers to the 1960s as one brave nurse sets off to serve her country during the Vietnam War.

The Women continues Hannah’s tradition of writing emotionally evocative historical fiction. As readers follow protagonist Frankie from naïve recent nursing school graduate to full combat nurse to life after the war, Frankie’s experiences are rendered in their full humanity. Frankie grapples with adjusting to war, readjusting to civilian life, romantic struggles, and family expectations.

Hannah expertly navigates the nuances of the Vietnam war, all through Frankie’s perspective. As Frankie comes to terms with the reality of war, and the particular reality of this war, she begins recognizing the stark differences in the news back home and how it differs from her daily reality. What I like about this book is that Frankie isn’t passing judgment on her fellow servicemembers, but is instead learning to see many angles of an event. She is frustrated by the misreported casualty numbers and heartbroken for soldiers she cares for and the Vietnamese people she meets in villages while offering free medical care and immunizations. This book isn’t pro- or anti- Vietnam War propaganda, but rather a nuanced examination of the history as it pertains to this one fictional character.

At the heart of Frankie’s service is a desire to fulfill family expectations, and butting up against the gendered aspects of those expectations creates much of her interpersonal conflict. Frankie dealing with the sexism of her time, and especially in the military, is just one of the examples of intersectionality present in The Women.

Frankie’s community during the war is her first real taste of sincere friendship. Thanks to her fellow nurses, Barb and Ethel, she adapts and learns how to be a combat nurse, and a great one at that. The way Frankie, Barb, and Ethel show up for their patients with care, tenderness, and compassion balances out the heavier aspects of the plot during her war years. The doctors, staff, and community at her evac hospital locations demonstrate the importance of community. The absence of this community after the war, for Frankie and Vietnam veterans in general, adds to the mental health crises of re-entering civilian life.

After Frankie’s tour is complete, she returns to her wealthy family and hometown. Feeling out of place and shocked at the way returning veterans are being treated, Frankie struggles to build any kind of normal life for herself. When undiagnosed PTSD wreaks havoc on her life, she turns to the VA for help, only to be told women weren’t in Vietnam.

What ultimately saves her are the friends she made during her tour. Ethel and Barb become an integral part of her life, her safe place. Together, they work on healing themselves and each other, each finding their own way to who they want to become.

The mental health and substance abuse representation is well done, and an overlooked aspect of life during a time period that is so often skimped over in history classes. The Women showcases intersectionality- showing what life was like for women, for veterans, for Black women- and how each character’s experiences depended on their intersectional identities.

This heavy story is told with heart, care, and tenderness. Overall, it is an important and often overlooked story of the women who served in Vietnam, came home to the same hardships as the soldiers they cared for, and couldn’t receive the support they needed from their veteran community. It is about friendship, healing, and deciding who you want to be.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and St. Martin’s Press for an e-ARC such that I could share my honest opinions.

Kristin Hannah does not miss!! I have loved every book of hers that I have read, and this was no exception. This was a powerful depiction of the female heroes of the Vietnam war. We don't often get stories about what they did and went through, but this was amazing. Frankie may very well be my hero!

You can always learn something from this author's books. I didn't know all this about the Vietnam War. It was a pretty good story although two surprise non-deaths were a bit much. ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

This book is absolutely perfect and I will be thinking about it for a long time to come. Such an important story and I'm so thankful Kristin Hannah took it upon herself to do the work and get it out there. I cried my eyes out. I will continue to read anything this woman let's us!

This is such a powerful story that follows the highly emotional journey of our main character, Frankie, who decides to become an Army nurse in the Vietnam War after her brother ships out to serve there. She experiences horrific things and devastating loss during her service in Vietnam. Then she returns home to a divided country with angry protesters and violence, utter disrespect to those who served, and a failure to even recognize women as having served in Vietnam. I felt so connected to Frankie and all she went through, and this book also helped me form a better understanding to this time in our history. I had to put it down at times for short breaks from it, and at reaching the last chapter was emotionally drained but in the best way.

As with Kristin Hannah novels, this book is super emotional, and in her true form, is written of strong women and female empowerment. I applaud KH for the recognition given to female Vietnam War vets. They are all to be remembered for their heroism and courageous service to our country. 5 stars — Pub. 2/6/24

I received a NetGalley digital copy for review from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Kristin Hannah brings historical events to life in a way that few other authors manage. I felt like I was there in Vietnam with these nurses fighting for the lives of the soldiers, and then to arrive home to disdain and disgust. To work so hard and be an actual hero, and have people not even acknowledge your service, or that there were even women in Nam. I loved this book from beginning to end.

This was one of the best books I’ve ever read. (Another favorite is Hannah’s The Nightingale.)

The Women is a stunning story that will stick with me for years to come. Kristin Hannah destroyed my emotions multiple times as I read this book, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Frankie’s story is so well written that you can imagine yourself right there alongside her. The friendship that she, Barb, and Ethel share is unlike any other. The way these women stuck together for life and would do anything to support one another explains the intense bond they collectively shared while experiencing some of the most traumatic years of their lives.

Absolutely amazing book and I will be recommending to everyone I talk to. Thank you, Kristin Hannah, for telling this story and wading through such charged topics. I feel like I have a much better understanding of the nuances of this war, the political climate, sexism, racism, psychology, and even love after reading this book.

To say that I loved this book and Frankie would be an understatement. I had no idea just how much this book would mean to me. My brother-in-law and my uncle not only served multiple tours each during the Vietnam War, but they were both injured multiple times, my brother-in-law critically during his last tour. The thought of nurses like Frankie, Barb and Ethel being at their sides helping them survive gave me a comfort I didn't know I needed. This book also helped me understand both my uncle and my brother-in-law a little more. I can never thank Kristin Hannah enough for The Women.

After her family’s history of serving in the military Frankie decides she wants to follow her brother in serving in Vietnam. Frankie then becomes a member of the Army Nurse Corps and immediately gets thrown into the brutal reality of emergency medicine during the controversial war. With the help of two other female nurses Frankie slowly becomes accustomed to and learns to thrive in unfathomable situations. She is even able to fall in love.

When Frankie returns home after two tours she is met with the ugly reality of the war back home. Her parents have told no one of her military service and refuse to talk about the war. Frankie is spat at and harassed by the public as well as turned away from help from the veteran’s clinic because “women weren’t over in Vietnam”. Due to lack of information and respect Frankie has no way to deal with her PTSD and turns to substances to try to steady her. That has her ending up in rehab. Finally Frankie is able to begin her healing journey after all she has endured.

This story was tough to swallow, even if was beautifully written. I learned so much from this story which is why I love historical fiction. A history lesson along with a heart wrenching story you can’t help but become immersed in. The characters make their way into our hearts, no matter how flawed they are. That is what it means to be human after all.

This was obviously a very depressing book based on the subject matter. The PTSD and after effects of the war seemed very real. However, what did not seem real, was the many love stories and the surprise ending. Unfortunately I was not a fan.

First , I would like to thank the author, Kristen Hannah, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for gifting me an ARC of this book in exchange for my thoughts. This is the best book I have read in a long time! Five stars easy.

The Women unfolds like a flower, but feels actually more like a blown rose. It fearlessly takes you on an incredible 20 year physical and emotional journey with Frankie, a young woman from a well to do family who does the unthinkable..she volunteers for service in Vietnam. Her parents are beside themselves but Frankie is determined. She finds herself right in the middle of the carnage working as a nurse in one of the most contentious and bloodiest wars. Vietnam.

The women is a book about how Frankie and the women close to her took on a war (and the trauma of wartime) while dealing with issues of morality, society’s expectations of women, love, death and betrayal.

The Women is a story that will draw you in for decades of Frankie’s life from her first day as a new nurse in ‘Nam and her journey through the bloodiest conflict and returning home to find things are not what she expected..to say the least. What she and every Vietnam vet endured was unspeakable horror. But this book brings a voice, finally, to the Women of Vietnam who’s story has finally been told.

I am so grateful that such an accomplished and gifted writer like Kristin Hannah wrote this extremely important book about the Vietnam war and the role of Women in it. While this was a war that nobody wanted, the reception our vets received when they came home was disgraceful and Hannah brings that point home through her highly relatable characters.

The plot is very well crafted and focuses on the Vietnam war from a combat nurses’s perspective as well as family issues and a welcome home that never happened. It is so unfortunate that the unwelcome home is completely true. Our Vietnam vets were never recognized for their service and sacrifice and Hannah shows us how they were treated through Frankie McGrath. The aftermath is also an essential part of this story, which includes lack of respect as well as nightmares, drugs and alcohol abuse. The action that Frankie and other nurses as well as doctors experienced is conveyed in detail, from the living conditions to the nearly constant stress. We witness the horrors of war and its devastating consequences for those who fought - how we helped our injured but also the civilian population.

The Women is a gripping read and may be Hannah’s best to date. There is love, heartbreak, endurance, courage, trauma, healing and PTSD to name a few of the feels contained in this story. I highly recommend this book for being not only a great story that will move you but for the important perspective on the Vietnam war.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

The Women by Kristin Hannah is a breathtakingly beautiful book that broke my heart multiple times. I absolutely loved this book that tells of the women that served as nurses in Vietnam. The imagery is so real, I felt like I was there in the oppressive heat hearing the raids and then back in the United States being slighted for serving the United States during a war. Kristin Hannah's way with words brought everything to life in an incredibly vivid way. The main character of The Women is Frankie, she's mighty, yet also delicate and fragile and has a very strong desire to make her father proud of her. To do this, she enlists as a nurse to serve her country. Unfortunately, this did not make her father (or mother) proud of her one little bit, something that serves as an issue throughout the book. Frankie's character is authentic, someone any of us could be, she is incredibly relatable in many ways during her time in Vietnam and once back in the United States. Another area of the book that hit a note with me are the female friendships, they are truly ride or die, besties for life, loyal to the end. The book is split in two parts, which are quite different from each other, but equally excellent and heartbreaking. Make sure to have your tissues handy, there were parts for me that I felt deeply and I suspect that would be true for many. In reading this book, I can tell Kristin Hannah did a boatload of research and it shows, something I really appreciate because I never thought about women having served in Vietnam. I know it's early in 2024, but I have a feeling this book will be one of my favorites of the year.

Possibly one of the most well written stories about Vietnam. Also gut wrenching. It brought back so many memories. I grew up on military bases and watched soldiers leave and return. The women who served are so often overlooked. The Women shows they were as much a part of the war as any man. Highly recommend

I was 100% engrossed in this book. I am not a huge fan of historical fiction, never mind stories of war. But I am a huge fan of our veterans and the people who have fought for our freedom. This story of the untold side of war had me in a stronghold. The brave men and women of the Vietnam War have a place of rememberence with <i>The Women</i>. Kristin Hannah does the most amazing job of telling the stories of these heroes - especially the nurses of the Army Corp. They endured horrors and were not welcomed when then came home in the way that was earned and most certainly deserved. Most importantly, Hannah so delicately discusses the taboo and importance of understaning PTSD. This book is going to stay with me for a very long time. I felt ALL of the emotions - sad, happy, horror, incredulousness, strength, hope. I am also very thankful for those that serve for our freedom. Thank you for giving them such a beautifully written, but sometimes hard to read story.

I applaud Kristen Hannah for tackling the topic of women nurses in the Vietnam War. It is a needed topic that I have never read about before. She also did a wonderful job depicting PTSD, all the unrest in America, and the neglect of the veterans returning from war. There are so many weighty topics, yet I failed to really feel anything while reading this book. Maybe it was because so many things happened and there was no time to feel anything before we were rushed into the next big thing. Maybe it was the romantic interests that felt flat to me and way overdone.

I think I would have enjoyed this better without all the romance and with less stuff (mostly bad) happening. I would have loved to see more from Barb and Ethel's perspective during the war. That also would have made the title of the book make more sense. There was also a lot of repetitiveness throughout the book (I did not need to know how many times she drank a Tab). Anyways, I just felt like the story dragged on too long and it felt like a chore to finish. And then that ending. Yikes.

I can see how some people would really enjoy the story. It just wasn't for me. But I did like all of the information about Vietnam.