In school, I didn't learn very much about the Vietnam War, possibly because I'm Gen-X. I certainly didn't know anything about women serving in the war as nurses and how they would have been treated when they returned. I found this book to be an illuminating gut punch. I love when I learn something from what I read but Kristin Hannah always delivers an emotionally impactful story as well. This one reminds me of Home Front and while The Nightingale is still my favorite of her books, The Women is right up there and it's not a book I will soon forget. I think it would be a great pick for book discussion groups.

The Women kept me up til five a.m.!! Its raw and beautiful, fused with the innocent vibes of the 60s and 70s, and at its heart, there is a story of fateful choices and finding your way back after you’ve been through hell. The story is set in SoCal and Vietnam, centering on the nurses who served their country.

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

This is one of the BEST historical fiction books I have ever read. Period. Kristin Hannah is an author I have not read much from, but this book has put her at the very top of my list. Incredibly well-researched, written with so much nuance and heart, this book grips you from the start and doesn't let go.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Vietnam War, historical fiction, or books that will keep a grip on you long after the last page.

5 stars.

I absolutely adored this book. I loved reading a Historical Fiction that takes place in more uncommon time periods. The characters were great, the details about the experiences were so vivid, and I loved Frankie’s journey. Kristin Hannah never misses!

Kristin Hannah has always been a must-read for me and I didn't think anything would top The Nightingale, but.....along came The Women. Hannah has hit it out of the park with this historical fiction about the female nurses of the Vietnam War, what they endured while in the war and what they faced for years after their return to the US. While I was engrossed in Frankie's story, from her teenage years in Coronado, to her time in Vietnam, to the adult years she spent back in the States, I also learned so much about this topic and have been given the spark to research more. This is an absolute must-read and is the one book I've most shared with my fellow adult readers in the weeks since I finished the e-ARC.

LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this one! My favorite Kristin Hannah book in a while. Although this one has similar elements to all of her other books (i.e. heartbreak), this was less all out devastating than The Four Winds was to me and had more of an element of hope. This made me reinvigorated to read her books again!

Kristin Hannah just proves again that she is an auto-buy author and writes fantastic stories.

I was really excited to read this one since it's about nurses since I am one myself. I honestly didn't know much about the Vietnam war, and as like most Historical Fiction books for me, I learned a lot from it.

Frankie, our MC, enlists in the Army Nurse Corps to go to Vietnam to be a nurse. She had my heart and I wanted to give her so many hugs. She was a great main character and as the reader, you feel for her the entire book.

This book is about courage, heartbreak, friendship, loss, and building yourself back up. I felt like I lived a lifetime with Frankie. This was a fantastic book that broke my heart.

Women can be heroes.

The Women was a book about the struggles faced by an army nurse who served during the Vietnam War and what she faced on return. The things Frankie saw and experienced when in country were traumatic but when she came home and asked for help, she was told that women didn’t serve in Vietnam. Not to mention the attitude of the country toward soldiers who were in Vietnam when she came back.
The friendship she had with Ethel and Barb was beautiful. Her struggle with coping and addiction resulted in losing herself after she thought she found herself while serving as a nurse in Vietnam. Frankie’s story of finding herself in the first place and then over again was so beautiful and heart wrenching. This book was so well done, it will stay with me for a long time.

My dad served two tours in Vietnam and I am an Iraqi Freedom vet. Dad never talked about his time in Vietnam and it was quite a gut punch to read this and see what he may have experienced there, Karl Marlante's Matterhorn is another excellent Vietnam era book. This tells the story of Frankie McGrath who wanting to be a hero like all the men in her family who served and especially her brother who joined the Navy, she enlists as a nurse in the Army. Frankie was woefully unprepared for what she'd be dealing with when she got to Vietnam. This book follows Frankie through her time in Vietnam and the extremely hard adjustment to life after she comes home. Its full of tragedy and heartbreak and a resilience of spirit in the face of truly awful circumstances. Mostly this book resonated with me because of the denial Frankie faces by pretty much everyone-women weren't in Vietnam! Yes they were. They have a story to tell too and this one is quite a good one. Same thing still happens now. My husband gets "thank you for your service" nonstop and people are absolutely flabbergasted when we tell them we were both in Iraq for a year. Frankie-I feel you girl! Another win from Kristen Hannah!

Kristin Hannah does it again! Imagine it is 1965, you just graduated college and the county is sending their men to Vietnam. Frankie finds herself wanting to be a hero just like the men in her family she has always heard stories about. Why can’t a woman be a hero too? Frankie joins the Army as a nurse and follows in her brother’s footsteps to aid in the war.

Kristin is an amazing storyteller specializing in vivid historical fiction. Each novel is a new story that stands out and I continue to think about long after I read the last page. She opens my eyes to stories I have never heard of while also putting me right in these women’s shoes and I can imagine I am right there with them. If you were a fan of The Nightingale, don’t sleep on this next great read!

My one word review of this book is: Powerful.

I finished this book on Friday, but needed a few days before It could really put my thoughts down. I am an oncology nurse and nursing is a calling. There are so many different types of nursing and nursing roles. I’m thankful that there are people called to each role and area. I found the story in this book to be incredibly heartbreaking and found myself crying at several points. I also found the friendships of the Army Nurses to be inspiring. Out of such horrific circumstances, love among those women bloomed. I cannot recommend this book enough and know it will be in my thoughts for a very long time.

Thank you @stmartinspress for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

I was born during the Vietnam War. I have no conscious memory of it. I don't have any relatives who fought in it. I have only heard passing stories about it. I recall a short unit about it in high school history, but nothing that left an impression. This book broke my heart, in the very best of ways. And it angered me, to be reminded of how our government and our country treated our soldiers on their return. And in many ways, it highlights a divide that parallels a lot of what I see happening in our country today, which scares the shit out of me. So, yeah, a lot of emotional reactions for me as I read this book.

I loved that this wasn't a "typical" war story highlighting soldiers and men. Of course I knew that there had to be women nurses who served in Vietnam, but I sadly never gave them much thought, mostly because its not a subject that comes up often. But I'm so glad that someone finally told their story, even if it was fiction. Their sacrifice and efforts should be shouted from the rooftops.

I loved the characters - all of them, good and bad. Frankie was real and honest. I appreciated that the author didn't stereotype her into a privileged princess throughout the book. Her family's influence didn't shield her from loss and hitting rock bottom. Her vulnerability and weaknesses made her one of the more authentic characters I've read in a long time. I also appreciated the bonds that she formed with Ethel and Barb. True friends, who have experienced hell right along side you, should be celebrated, and this book did that.

This is not an easy book to read, particularly if you are sensitive to triggers involving war, loss, injury, babies, addiction. There are a lot of graphic passages. But all of these things are sad truths that are an intrinsic part of the storyline. You can't have an honest book about the Vietnam War and leave those out. Hannah did manage to weave a bit of beauty into a lot of ugly - the nurses who held strangers' hands as they slipped away. The glimpses of normalcy the enlisted tried to find while in country. And the support they found in each other throughout the war and beyond.

I can't recommend this book enough.

Once again Kristin Hannah is able to take an incredibly difficult topic and bring it to the masses with so much emotion that it is sure to stay with you for quite some time.

Frankie McGrath is a young California native from a well to-do family who decides she is going to enlist in the Army as a nurse and head to Vietnam. The story follows Frankie to Vietnam from day one of her first tour, meeting who will become her best friends, finding love, and eventually her return home. Upon returning home she realizes that America and her family aren't willing to accept that she was in Vietnam (she is repeatedly told women weren't there) and Frankie must deal with the aftermath.

It has been awhile since I had a 5 star read, but The Women is one for sure.

This was such a disappointment for me because I have loved the last 3 books from this author so much. The Great Alone was a masterpiece, Nightingale was great and Four Winds was a solid read, it leaned a little more into sappy but the thorough historical research that went into it saved it for me. Unfortunately this book has strayed even farther from what I love about this author to the point where I like did a double take to make sure it was really her. The writing style first and foremost was so simple, so plain, so uninspired and flat I was shocked. Typically this author’s writing MOVES me. This prose was so basic it was like a 6th grader wrote it. Then there was the plot. The pacing was horrendous, the trauma pile grew and grew but it was so tell and not show that I was completely disconnected from the events that unfolded and basically just couldn't wait to get to the end so I wouldnt have to keep being actively disappointed. I hope her next offering leans more towards some of her prior work because this was not my cup of tea at all and in the past, anything from Hannah is an automatic read and an automatic love. Thank you for the chance to read and review.

This book was heartbreaking, eye-opening, and poignant. The story of Frankie and the other women was beautifully told. I learned so much about an era that occurred before I was born. This book had me in tears multiple times, and the characters were perfectly complex. I can't recommend this story, or anything else by Kristin Hannah, highly enough. She is a master storyteller.

This book will most certainly be in the top books of 2024. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a highly rated book on Goodreads that had a substantial amount of reviews.

I went into this with a little dread. I don’t love historical fiction. I absolutely hated The Great Alone which is every third person’s favorite book. But I still wanted to give Hannah another try.

I loved this from the start. It was gripping and drew me right in. I haven’t felt that urgency to continue reading in a while. I was out with family and would occasionally jump into my kindle app just to read a little more.

I thought for sure this would be a 5 star read for me but now I’m on the fence. I don’t want to give spoilers but I had predicted what was going to happen with the POWs and was excited for how that would end. But I didn’t like that resolution at all. I know we are focused on the women of the story but I feel like Frankie kept making the same mistakes when it came to men and I feel like it cheapened the time they had together in Vietnam. I also think one near death escape is one thing but two is too much.

So with that being said, I loved this but will stick to a 4.5.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy on exchange for an honest review.

Does anyone else fall into Kristin Hannah’s trap and say her latest work is her best work? It can’t just be me. This moving novel has me saying it again and I will happily add it to the list of my favorites written by her. And Julia Whelan's emotional narrations have always been something that has drawn me to her work and I have nothing but the highest praise for her exceptional performance in the audiobook version of The Women.

Kristin’s historical fiction novel follows the life of Frankie McGrath, a twenty-year-old nursing student, and offers a unique viewpoint on the role of women serving in the Vietnam War. As the destruction of war is all around Frankie and the other nurses she served alongside, we see their challenges, sacrifices, and resilience. These women worked tirelessly to care for wounded soldiers amidst the chaos and horrors of war. The close, lifelong friendships Frankie builds while serving with fellow service members are integral upon her difficult re-entry into civilian life.

Kristin skillfully portrays the strength and courage of these women. Through Frankie’s experience, we read about the emotional toll those who served faced upon re-entering a country that was divided on their feelings toward the Vietnam War and, as Kristin states in her intro, didn’t care to hear about the services or experiences of service members.

Kristin sheds a light on and brings attention to the often overlooked contributions of women in wartime settings, providing a moving and powerful narrative that will resonate with readers and drives the point that women ARE heroes, too.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishing house, St. Martin Press, for providing an advanced copy for review. All thoughts and opinions written in this review are my own.

Epic and beautiful and frustrating and sad. It was amazing- it was a tad long. But amazing.

Such a unique view on a way that’s written about a lot. I really enjoyed it and recommend it now

“The outside world could be breaking apart, but inside these walls, all was calm, quiet, cocktails. Maybe that was why people built walls; to look away, to ignore anything they didn’t want to see.”

It’s 1965 and the idealistic Frankie McGrath has just finished nursing school. Growing up, she’s longed to both make her mark on the world, and make her parents proud. Unfortunately, the two goals are often in conflict- her parents wanting her to settle down and get married, leaving the bravery to the men in the family, those who grace her father’s wall of honor.

Then the unthinkable happens and Frankie’s brother becomes a casualty of combat. Already resigned to follow her brother into Vietnam, the loss only further solidifies her decision. Her parents mortified and miffed, they beg Frankie to reconsider. But Frankie, nothing if not headstrong, decides to follow through with her commitment.

Upon arrival and bearing immediate witness to the cruelties of war, Frankie begins to question her decision. However, while in the trenches, there’s no time for regret, the new graduate receiving a crash course in care. As Frankie grows accustomed to her new normal, she struggles to reconcile the world she thought she knew with the world as she now knows it. Experiencing both love and loss, Frankie returns home a broken woman. But how can she begin to explain she’ll never forget what many won’t even acknowledge happened in the first place?

The Women is a beautifully written and moving depiction of the atrocities of the Vietnam war and its impactful aftermath. It’s an examination in the loss of innocence, trust, and one’s inability to move on. But what makes this historical account so unique is how it sheds light on all of this through a woman’s perspective which even in present day, is still rarely spoken of.

A hard read that’s not for the faint of heart, The Women is also an important book. It’s influenced by the real life unsung heroes whose journey has been brought to life through Kristin Hannah’s powerful storytelling, and a novel that’s not to be missed.

“Women can be heroes.”

You’re going to see a lot of brilliant reviews for this book and I’m really not sure what I can add to the mix. Kristin Hannah is a masterful storyteller so it’s no surprise this book is beautiful. It’s also very heavy from beginning to end and took me over a month to read.

Admittedly (embarrassingly?), I didn’t know much about the Vietnam War going into this. I learned so much reading this book but one of the best parts was the conversations it sparked with my relatives.

Finally, THE WOMEN made me really proud of my profession and the nurses who came before me.

🎧 Julia Whalen narrates this and in my mind, there’s really no better narrator. That being said, I actually read almost all of this book on my kindle. Audiobooks always hit me harder emotionally (I mean, listening to Julia read an Emily Henry book makes me emo) and there were big chunks of this that were really hard for me to listen to. Basically anytime I could think “those soldiers, they’re just kids” I was pausing the audio.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted audiobook and ebook. All opinions (and every emotion I felt while reading) are my own.