4.5 Stars rounded up.

Frances "Frankie" McGrath was brought up to believe that serving your country could be the most important thing a person could do. Her father had a "Heroes Wall" in his office, pictures of the men who served. The only photos of women were on their wedding day, being "heroes" for putting up with the men they married. It's sexist and very 1960s.

The novel starts with a going away party for her brother, Finley, who has enlisted in the Navy and is being deployed to Vietnam. His honour is something that inspires Frankie, so she joins the Army Nurse Corps and volunteers. His dream is her dream, and should get her on the heroes wall at home.

What happens next is a history lesson in the politics of the Vietnam War, the misinformation fed to Americans by the government, the horrors of war, the stress of being a Combat Nurse, and the shameful way Vets were treated after they returned home. Being told time and again that "there were no women in Vietnam", Frankie, and her best friends/fellow nurses have to assimilate back into society with no support, invisible in the eyes of their country. And while I appreciated the information, it sometimes felt like just that - information with no emotional heft behind it.

I knew a Combat Nurse who served in Vietnam. Remembering her gave me so much insight into Frankie, someone who craved solitude, disappeared anytime there was a holiday where fireworks were involved, and rocked back and forth all the time, whether sitting or standing. If I didn't know her I don't think I would have understood this character very well. At times I felt like I was remembering an episode of M*A*S*H. The ending really saved it for me, with the emotion I've come to expect from Kristin Hannah's writing finally wrapping up a story that jumped through time quickly.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Frankie comes from a military family, and decides to join the Army as a combat nurse to follow her brother to the Vietnam War. The book follows her time serving and her experience returning home. Frankie experienced so much sorrow, sadness and lost while over in Vietnam. Once she returns home, expecting to be respected for her service, she is met with protests and hatred. No one supports the war, or anyone who served in it - and there is denial about women being in the war. She hits rock bottom over and over again. What an emotional, well done book.

This book absolutely wrecked me. From start to finish, I couldn’t get enough of the story and of the main character, Frankie. I found myself comparing Frankie to me, and we have so many similarities. She doesn’t care what others think, what the society norm is, but the approval of her parents still means the world. She’s tough to love and not quick to say love you. I found myself learning so much about this time of history, as there are not many books about the Vietnam war and I was not alive during it. I primarily read thrillers, but Kristin Hannah is one of the few that can bring me to read historical fiction. Her books are so captivating and the writing absolutely beautifully done. This book focuses a lot on coming of age, especially in war and extenuating circumstances, as well as love and grief and navigating PTSD when it wasn’t even a diagnosis yet. Cannot recommend this book enough, my new favorite of Kristin Hannah’s and one I will be rereading in the future.

The Women by Kristen Hannah is a tour de force that had me feeling all the feels- I literally laughed, cried, gasped, cheered and raged in the course of this amazing book. Frances “Frankie” McGrath is the protagonist; she is a sheltered young woman who joins the Army Corps of Nurses to be sent to Vietnam in order to help in the war effort. To say that Frankie is not at all prepared for the realities of the Vietnam War is an understatement. This book is her story (and her colleagues’ and her family’s) and a small glimpse into the women like Frankie who dedicated themselves to the war effort and have so often been forgotten for their bravery and commitment during the Vietnam War. Read this book. You will not be disappointed.

A very big thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

#bookstagram #sistergam #thewomen #kristenhannahauthor #netgalley #stmartinspress #bookish #bookreview #bookreviews #bookstagrammer #booklover #igreads #instagramreads #readersofinstagram

Frankie, a war nurse in Vietnam, returns to the US after 2 tours, and this is her story. Told from the time that Frankie enlists, through the War, and subsequent decades upon her return to the US, this story is a Vietnam Veteran's account. Frankie learned to be strong during the war, little did she know that her return home would require more mental fortitude than any War. This book delves into tough subjects of war, mental health, and family struggles. The main character was extremely relatable, and I loved this book. I found this book to be eye-opening, honest, and endearing. I loved The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, and I loved this book almost as much.

One item of note is that it is clear the author has a liberal agenda, and it is funny how she side-steps the fact that Vietnam was a was entered into with a democrat President (Kennedy), continued on with his democrat successor (Johnson), and only Nixon, a Republican, signed the Paris Peace Accords in 1973. But Hannah sort of "hides" that little inconvenient fact, saying something to the effect of [once the war was over and Nixon was out of office...]. Well, the democrats did nothing but lead us into that horrible war - so do some research if you are actually interested in some unbiased history on the subject.

Special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, St. Martin's Press, for this ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I was intrigued by the perspective this would provide on American history—the premise of untold female war stories from Vietnam was interesting. I can certainly see its cinematic value and am not surprised it was immediately optioned. I think Hannah accomplished her goal here but it was a bit tropey for me still in the cast of supporting characters. Would’ve liked more of Barb’s perspective and for her to be written perhaps in partnership with a Black author, she felt like an amalgamation of tropes instead of a full fleshed out character.

The Women by Kristin Hannah was so beautifully written.
This is a heart wrenching, beautiful book set during the Vietnam War.
Frankie, shines a stunning light of a story of one woman gone to war, but it shows a captivating story about all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten.
A powerful novel about friendship and the love of one's country.
It’s heartbreaking, but it’s stunning, and so beautifully written.
The writing is exquisite. The atmosphere is palpable.
So compelling and riveting, this is one historical fiction that will be sitting on my shelf when it’s published.
What a beautiful and powerful story about the courageous women of the Vietnam war.

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Pub Week Book Review: The Women ✨

Author: @kristinhannahauthor
Publisher: @stmartinspress
Release Date: Feb 6th

⁉️: Do you have any family members who served during a war? Or are there any women who have inspired you?

The quote “Women can be heroes” sets the tone of Hannah’s latest novel, which tells Frankie’s story and her desire to serve as a nurse and contribute to her family’s legacy. Despite facing resistance, she ends up at the center of the war action in Vietnam. Without giving much away, I found that Vietnamese people themselves were portrayed in the background and felt like silhouettes to me as the focus was primarily on Frankie and the hospital staff. A similar issue I felt was present in Oppenheimer where I felt that there should have been more shown about the atom bomb’s impact on Japan.

The gendered treatment of war veterans and PTSD is at the center of second half. As she struggles to build relationships, the novel paints a raw, unflinching potrayal of war veterans, and their stories that often get placed within the category of discomforting narratives that are often ignored or forgotten.

Hannah’s novel is undoubtedly a 5✨ from me. It immediately made me think about how war trauma is depicted in popular culture, and how veterans are treated today. The contribution women made to the war effort, yet their trauma was not recognized upon their return. Moreover, it made me think about how war narratives are told to us. I have learned about the Vietnam war through Luong Ung’s memoir about Cambodian genocide called First They Killed My Father. Who tells the story is as important as the story that is being told to readers and audiences. There is also another documentary about this topic called The War Within which I have shown in my classes which explores this theme as well. This is one of my top novels of 2024, and I was so grateful for the opportunity to read an early copy of the novel. I am looking forward to discussing this novel with #EthicsofRepresentationbuddyreads later in the month.

Thank you @Stmartinspress for the gifted finished copy and tote.

#KristinHannahAuthor #TheWomenNovel #KristinHannah #StMartinsPress #SMPinfluencer

Kristin Hannah does historical fiction right. I was absorbed in Frankie's story and learned so much over the course of her harrowing journey. It made me want to read more about these women who were so cruelly dismissed as though they'd never been to war.

At the start of this book, it’s 1965, and when Frankie’s brother enlists to go to Vietnam, she decides to buck the expectations of her parents that she become a society wife, and instead enlists to serve as an Army nurse. The book follows her through her time in Vietnam and then the difficult readjustment back to civilian life afterwards.

I really couldn’t put this one down, and flew through it even though it’s 480 pages. And while I did love it, it was just regular 4 star love for me which felt slightly disappointing after seeing so many early 5 star reviews! Part one of the book, set in Vietnam, was just phenomenal - really made you feel like you could picture how awful it was there and yet also appreciate the camraderie Frankie found with her fellow nurses. Part two just got a tad too melodramatic and soap opera-y for me, though it sure kept me reading! And love the way it calls attention to the plight all vets faced coming back from Vietnam, and how the women who served were particularly erased. All in all, a great read.

✨ 4.5 stars ✨ (maybe 5, I’m a little undecided)⁣
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Kristin Hannah, my absolute go-to favorite for when I want to cry all the tears and have my heart gutted and put back together again. She really did that again here with, THE WOMEN. I was crying within the first 20 pages and then just kept that up throughout. ⁣
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“It is a strange world we are all in. Volatile and uncertain. We—Americans, I mean—can’t seem to talk to each other anymore, our disagreements seem insurmountable.”⁣
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I read a non-fiction book earlier this year that gave me my first teeny bit of information about the Vietnam War, but this book took that and more than doubled it. It’s not a piece of history I knew a lot about. And this telling of the war and the aftermath for those that lived through it was hard to read at times. This book made me sick to my stomach, it made me sad, it made me angry, it made me cry, and cry, and it made me learn. I didn’t walk away a Vietnam expert, that isn’t the book’s point, but I did walk away having learned a lot and having more of an idea where to start with my own learning. Napalm, for example, is one thing I found myself researching… sickening and heartbreaking. ⁣
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“She’d made some of the most momentous choices in her life before she had any idea of consequences. Some had been thrust on her, some had been expected, some had been impetuous.”⁣
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My only complaint is that I wish the main character wasn’t quite so privileged, though it does go to show how even money and all the privilege couldn’t save her from the effects of her experience in Vietnam and after.

The Women AUDIO by Kristin Hannah is a listen that I have almost no words for. I lived through those years, although thankfully not in Viet Nam. Frankie was only 22 years old when she signed up for her first deployment as an army nurse. She chose army because the other branches wouldn’t send her with so little nursing experience. They might have been right. Without the support of her friends, Barb and Ethel, and several surgeons, she might not have survived. The carnage was unbelievable. The lies the government told were beyond fathoming. She did survive, however, and returned home after two years to a world she didn’t recognize. So much happened, it is not possible to recount it all. Listen to the audio or read the book. She did come out fine in the end. That is the important part. So many did not.

This woman lived through things no one should have to. Fortunately she and friends, and her parents, who didn’t really understand, but loved her. Her brother had died in Viet Nam. That colored her decision to deploy and it kept her going through some of the hard times. It was an emotional journey, so well-written that it would make a believer of nearly anyone. Frankie’s character developed over years of heartache and suffering. Subconsciously maybe she felt she should have died over there, too. She was looking for love and for peace. Both were difficult to find. Only the people whose lives she had saved believed there had ever been women in Viet Nam.

The book was narrated by Julia Whelan and Kristin Hannah. Julia did a wonderful job keeping an even keel while she simultaneously imparted the panic and the seriousness of any given situation. There could not have been a better choice to narrate this moving story.

Thank you St Martins Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. #Netgalley #StMartinsPress #KristinHannah #TheWomen

This was my first Kristin Hannah novel and I thoroughly enjoyed it. She did a great job of painting the picture of what it was like during the war and what it was like after. It did drag slightly about 75% through but it was still great. I'm excited to read more of her novels.

Wow, Kristin Hannah has done it again. Right from the start, I was enthralled by the main character and her grit. Hannah knows how to write a female driven story so well which hits all of my emotions. I enjoyed the female friendships, found family, self discovery and ultimately the self acceptance. This will be one of my books of the year!

Thank you @stmartinspress for the advanced copy! Officially out now
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I loved this book SOOOO much that I had to go buy a physical copy for my personal library. Only a month into the year and I already have a favorite book of 2024. I’m so mad I didn’t read this last year when I got it LOL
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Kristin Hannah can write historical fiction like noooooo other. THE WOMEN pays tribute to all the female Army nurses who served our country during The Vietnam War. I cried and cried and cried reading this. Soooooo beautifully written and dare I say this might top 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗔𝗟𝗘 for me…who am I kidding, they’re both my fave now.
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Please make this book a priority read this year. You won’t regret it!!!

There were women in Vietnam.
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Nobody writes about the fragility of the human condition like Hannah. This book was anguish and hope, harrowing and heartbreaking. I lost track of the number of times I teared up. This woman has been brainstorming this book since 1997, and the mastery of the subject matter is on full display here.
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Frankie is a twenty-year-old nurse who joins the Army Nurse Corps in 1965 to follow in her brother’s footsteps and serve. She arrives in Vietnam and is immediately overwhelmed by the daily death and destruction. Through trauma and heartache, she forges an unbreakable sisterhood with two other nurses. When Frankie returns home, she is lost in the PTSD from two tours, in the public disdain for vets, and in the total rejection she feels every time someone says, “there were no women in Vietnam.” When all seems lost, her sister combat nurses are there to lift her up.
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Through it all, the women in this book find themselves in each other. Hannah pays tribute to combat nurses in this beautifully written book. The narration by @justjuliawhelan was perfection (as always). Thank you to @macmillanusa @macmillan.audio @stmartinspress for the ARCs and tote.
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The Women - Kristin Hannah
5/5⭐️
Pub Day: 2/6/25
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TWs: combat, addiction, loss, misogyny, PTSD, infidelity
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”Words were creators of worlds; you had to be careful with them.”
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“Had Mom always been a shadow woman, held together by vodka and hair spray?”
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“She felt like the last girl in a horror film, running for her life, but the danger wasn’t behind her, trying to catch up, it was inside her, trying to break out.”

This was a book that had me conflicted. It was not my favorite book by this author and yet- I could not stop thinking about the subject matter and the characters. I found the main character to be frustrating but her journey was so raw. I found the lack of respect for our female front line veterans to be so disheartening. It was also really interesting to read about the PTSD before it even really had a name. Overall a very solid read. As always, I am always so impressed by the author research and attention to detail

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC

First of all. Kristin Hannah is queen and I will never accept any criticism on that. Secondly, thank you so much for this profound novel. I am speechless. The way this story is told is so tragically beautiful. Told in two parts during Vietnam service and after. One thing I have always admired about Kristin Hannah is her ability to tell a story and showcase strong amazing women. Obviously this one is exactly that! Women can be hero’s too and I am so glad that this story exists. Being an army veteran myself and someone who struggles with my own challenges I am always critical of a military story but I have no criticism at all. It was just so beautiful- I cried - and just felt all the feels. This is definitely a top read of 2024 and the year has just begun.

Following Frankie McGrath as she joins the Army to become a nurse in Vietnam, we get to watch her figure out how to cope in a horrifying situation. She forms her own support system with her roommates and fellow nurses and saves countless lives. When she finally returns home she's met with scorn and surrounded by people who don't understand, and even her fellow veterans don't consider her a Vietnam vet.

Wow, this was an emotional read at times. The amount of research and time put into this book must be massive. The military terms and places are accurate, but not only that, it seems as if this book has been written by someone actually experiencing all of the horror of war and complicated emotions of PTSD and coming home afterwards. Frankie is so well developed as a character. I love the strong bond she has with her fellow two war nurses. Yes, there are definitely men that come into the story, but I love that it ultimately comes down to Frankie and her friends pulling each other up and providing a loving space for each other to heal. Each time Frankie spirals or hits a set-back, I was right there emotionally spiraling with her.

The pacing is great, it is definitely a page turner. For me the first part of the book, in Vietnam, captivated my interest quickly and I raced through that part. I would recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction, strong female friendship, or a novel about struggling to find oneself. There are for sure trigger warnings - graphic war injuries, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, miscarriage. I have enjoyed several of Kristin Hannah's books in the past and look forward to reading whatever she writes next. I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley for my opinions.

Thank you to publisher and NetGalley for an e-ARC copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I have not come across a book that I haven't loved by this author. I have enjoyed the historical fiction novels, and I tend to struggle with this genre.

The Women definitely did not disappoint. It was fascinating to read about history from the perspective of a women during the wartime era.

The only thing that was a bit of a downer was all of the bad luck that Frankie experienced along the way. I felt so bad for her throughout the novel! But she was an overcomer and I was rooting for her the whole time!

It was nice to view from a female protagonist in a generally male driven era.

Highly recommend!