This was an excellent read and it really struck a nerve. This was my era and my generation.

My husband was active duty army at that time, and since he wasn't drafted he felt it was his duty
to volunteer to go to Vietnam, but the request was denied.

I also had a BFF who tried to join the Air Force, but was rejected. Much to her dismay.

This affected many of my friends and they were devestated, what was good for the men wasn't necessarily good for the women. For instance take the Citadel here in Charleston, women weren't allowed to attend, it was only for men, and it was not a privately funded school, it was also supported by our tax dollars.

I visited the Vietnam memorial in DC the day President Reagan was there, and saw many of my school friends names listed on the wall, which was a painful experience.

I also met Vince, who made all of the "artificial eyes" for wounded soldiers coming back from Vietnam.

It was a sad time for both men and women and will never be forgetten.

This past week at the DMV they also have a license plate for Disable Female Veterans, along with the regular Disabled plate.

I feel Frankie McGrath did the right thing by being in the Army Nurse Corps.

This was an excellent peek into the past.

Thank you Kristin Hannah!
Thank you Netgalley for giving me the chance voice my opinion.

Thank you to nNetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Kristin Hannah for this arc for free in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is about the women who went to Vietnam in different roles to help the troops, it was written very well ; I really felt frankie’s fear, love and her heartbreak while reading this. Kristin Hannah did such a great job by showing the way that vets (nurses and troops) struggled with PTSD, addiction, thoughts of suicide, depression and betrayal when coming home from vietnam war. I highly recommend putting this in your tbr, the book releases February 6th, 2024.

This book is going to end up on so many Best Books of 2024 lists (I am calling it now). I am a loyal reader of Kristin Hannah, and this is hands down my favorite she has written in the past few years. This book was one emotional ride to sum it up in one simple sentence. I am writing this review immediately after finishing the book and am left with a total book hangover.

The Women was a moving, engrossing story about Frankie who enlists in the Vietnam War as a nurse and follows her during and after the war. All throughout the book I was sucked into Frankie’s feelings, stresses, setbacks, and victories. I appreciated that this book didn’t stop following Frankie’s life once the war ended and carried on with her life after the war. It felt so raw and real the entire way through. Trust me when I saw my review does not even come close to doing this phenomenal book justice.

Kristin Hannah did a great job of shining light on these forgotten women of the Vietnam War and made me really appreciate their sacrifices. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Kristin Hannah, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced reader’s copy.

You know a book has you when you are up at 1 a.m. and only put it down because you can't keep your eyes open any longer. Kristin Hannah is turning into one of my favorite authors. Love her historical fiction and The Women is on the top of my list, right up there with The Nightingale. This story is about the women who went to Vietnam, in different roles, to help the troops and it is a story I never new much about. This book opened my eyes. There was even a little about the island, Kauai, that I grew up on. The descriptions were on point, took me back home and I could see it playing out in my head. I am telling everyone about this book! This book will stay with me for a long time. Have tissues at the ready. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I felt like I was back in the 1960s when young men and women served our country in Vietnam. This book centers on the women who served there, how they survived, won and lost relationships, the role of women vs men, and their suffering when they returned home. Kristin Hannah homes in on the life of a young woman, Frankie, who volunteered to join the Army Nurse Corps. So much loss and devastation, but also such strong bonds formed to lift each other up. This is another superbly written and emotional novel by Kristin Hannah. It’s a must read.

About the only thing good that comes from being awake when I shouldn't be... I read on my Kindle.

The other night, I finished The Women by Kristin J. Hannah. I've been thinking about it, and the Vietnam War, since. This war was obviously before me, but so many people in my life lived during this time. It's just not talked about. And maybe now... maybe I understand a little bit more about why we don't. And now, it's hooked me into research, learning as much as I can about a time I know nothing about, but we should! Wow! That's always the sign of a fantastic book!

The Women releases February 6, and you definitely want to add it to your TBR!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Kristin Hannah has done it again. This heart wrenching book begins during the Vietnam War. Frankie wants more then anything to be on the heroes wall in her father's study. After completing nursing school she signs up to join the war and help wounded soldiers after her brother is killed in action. The war itself is only the first half of the book. The second half shows what happens to Frankie and other vets once they came home. There is PTSD, addiction, thoughts of suicide, depression, betrayal. Frankie can't seem to find her way back to who she was before the war, and also can't find her way out of her depression to create a new life.

A fantastic novel and highly recommended!

Wow. What an incredible book. Such a terribly heartbreaking and eye opening novel of women who sacrificed so much during the Vietnam war with so little recognition. Kristin Hannah tells the story of a female registered nurse wanting to bring honor to her country and family while only being met with shame. Yet the character’s passion for the purpose of her work is what keeps her going and what she returns to whenever she’s tempted to give up, whether on herself or others around her.

My only reservation is there were a couple parts that seemed unrealistic and came together too perfectly, but I suppose this is fiction so that’s allowed.

The Women

Thank you NetGalley for the free copy to read and review.

Kristin Hannah is probably one of my top 3 favorite authors and I can continue to say I’ve loved every book I’ve read from her. Did I cry? Yes I always do. Did I laugh? Yes I did. This is a story I have never read before which is what she does best. The Vietnam War was a war separated by the rest because the country did not support it OR the men. It was traumatizing to serve and even worse coming back. The stories I’ve heard from patients I’ve personally taken care of are devastating.

Kristin Hannah focused her book on the women who served as nurses and the traumas they carried with them afterwards. This is a POV I had not heard and one of the themes of the book was “women weren’t there” which is obviously not true. There is friendship, sadness, betrayal, trauma and recovery all throughout the storyline. The characters will make you cry, make you mad, make you proud and just make you FEEL!

This is not a quick beach read but it is a book I want to discuss with everyone once they read it….just so I can talk out the feelings it made me feel.

Any story written by Kristin Hannah is a powerful one. This one may be the most powerful yet. As the daughter of a Vietnam vet, I’ve never truly understood the criticism and anger that was directed toward the veterans of this war. This story captures not only these experiences, but details the horror the female nurses from the United States who served in Vietnam experienced both in war times and again when they returned home. They were not recognized as true veterans by many in the US. In The Women, we see the story of Frances, one of the toughest nurses I’ve ever heard about,,,,both during war times and after her return home. Her story will make you smile at times, but cry frequently. It’s a story that needs to be told and needs to be read.

In 1965 nursing student Frances decides to put her skills to immediate use and follow her brother to Vietnam. What follows is a story of women in harm's way for their country and family, and the aftermath of the trauma of war. Another beautiful story from master storyteller Kristin Hannah.

Kristin Hannah is so good at historical fiction. She is able to create characters that make the era come alive while teaching the reader about a point of history with more than "just the facts". This book is set in Vietnam and taught me about the role of women in the war. The smells and sounds of Vietnam jumped off the page into my reading chair - at times it was as if I could smell the wet and the mildew. This one will be wildly popular as it's very readable and a page-turner. At times, for me, it tried to do too much almost as if repeatedly trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. That said, you should read this one and then talk about it with others - it's a good read and one I'm so glad I received from the publisher.

Kristin Hannah has written a thought provoking novel of an army nurse who served in VietNam. When Frankie [Frances] returns home, she is beset with flashbacks. She goes to the VA office, where she is told there are no women inf VietNam and she is sent away. Frankie is dealing with many issues including her parents, death of her lover in VietNam, degrading of her nursing experience in VietNam when she returns stateside. Her two fellow VN nurses are her mainstay through these struggles.
Kristin Hannah has told this truth filled tale of a little written one of 'the women' in VietNam and how they were treated when returning stateside. Read and learn and hope this treatment doesn't still happen.

What a moving and absolutely gorgeous tribute to the women who served in the Vietnam War, primarily as nurses. Frankie McGrath, newly minted RN and daughter of privilege from Coronado Island, follows her older brother, a Navy pilot, to serve in Vietnam. When she enlists as an Army nurse, Frankie is sheltered but motivated to do something meaningful in service to the world. She emerges from the war profoundly changed by the experiences she has endured, and she returns to a world that neither accepts nor understands her. Hannah is such a gifted writer–she creates a believable setting (time/place/atmosphere) and characters I really care about. I believe this is her best novel to date.

An absolutely brillant look at being a nurse in Vietnam and the difficulties and realities of re-entry into civilian life. Frankie McGrath enlists after her brother goes to Vietnam. Stunning, heartbreaking and redemptive.

The Women by Kristin Hannah is a book that you will want to read. It follows Frankie, a yong woman who wants to help her country durning the Vietnam War. All she wants to make her family proud of her and the sacrifices that she has made. As a newly graduated nurse, Frankie is unprepaired for life as a combat nurse. The horrors that she sees on a daily basis in the OR is unfathomable. Two tours seems like a million years for people who served their country. Frankie encounter a life long frienship with 2 of her fellow nurses, Barb and Ethal. Without them in her life Frankie would never survived. Frankie also finds and loses "the one" she is connected to during the war. Frankie's eyes finally open up when she returns home and finds that the troops aren't getting the support or respect that deserve. If you are going to read this book make sure that you have a box of tissues handy. I felt an overwhelming feeling of emotion while reading this one. As always Kristin Hannah does a wonderful job writing historical fiction. You will not be disappointed in The Women. It makes me want to learn more about the courages men and women who fought for not only during the war but has struggles adapting once they were back home. I was born in 1973 and no one in my family served in Vietnam however, my childhood friends we Vietnamise Americans. Their parents met in Vietnam when her dad served and they married over there. Two of their children were born over there during the war.

I love Kristin Hannah, but I couldn’t get into this one. I think I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind for it. I’ll go back and give it another try at some point in the future.

I love and adore Kristin Hannah and this one did not disappoint. She has been an auto buy author for me for many years and I was so excited to be able to get to this story early.

KH has a way with tackling hard things in a beautiful way that will challenge and push your emotions.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Kristin Hannah is a master storyteller but man, does she put her main character through the wringer every single time... By the time I finished the book I was glad it was over and that Frankie wouldn't get her heart broken one more time.

This book has so many layers. While the story is mostly about Frankie, a young and naive girl from California, who enlists to serve as an army nurse in rural Vietnam, the destruction and horror she witnessed during her two tours and her romantic relationships; the book is also about how veterans were treated when they come back home, the ptsd, the substance abuse and addiction among veterans, the lack of support especially for women service members.

When Frankie comes back, noone believes that she served in Vietnam because the people did not know women went to war. She scrambles to get her life back together but she struggles. A lot. She has two best friends, both veteran nurses, who supports her but she constantly seeks validation and understanding from her parents who don't see her as a "hero" unlike the men in her family who served the country.

The first half is quite graphic because it sets in a army hospital in a war zone so make sure you have the stomach to read the surgery scenes. The second half is more about Frankie's struggles after she gets back, and on its own accord, could be triggering for some.

My reading experience with this book was a unique one. I've read the first 60% in one sitting on a flight over two months ago and the rest of the book last night. It is a good book, don't get me wrong. I can either blame my mood reading tendencies or KH's emotionally draining plots:) Take your pick!

Kristen Hannah never disappoints. I agree with so many of the 5 star reviews, I will not repeat the comments. For myself, it was a painful read, re-living the horrors of the Vietnam War. Nevertheless, a wake-up call to remind young readers about the sacrifices and heroism of both women and men who are still suffering today for our rights and our freedom. Thank you to the author for bringing this era to light.