In Kristin Hannah’s highly anticipated novel, The Women, Frankie’s brother ships out to Vietnam, and she continues to hear the words of his best friend who told her women can be heroes. After finishing nursing school and being treated like nothing more than a glorified candy striper, Frankie enlists in the Army as a nurse and finds herself off to basic training. That day becomes a day she will never forget, not only for her boldness, but by how life changing it was for her entire family. After basic training, she is flown to Vietnam where she learns from day one that her brother’s letters home were masking the harsh reality of life in a war torn country.

Hannah thrusts you back in time, into the heat sapping jungles where each day you don’t know if you will live or die. She writes with an honesty of what was happening there that those lucky enough to make it home hesitate to this day to discuss. War didn’t just tear our country apart. It tore the people fighting it apart. Limb by limb, trauma by trauma. Hannah is truly a gifted author who puts you on the front lines of the life Frankie and her host of friends she met there experienced. You will feel the relentless monsoons. You will slip in the gore and blood of the operating rooms. You will feel the gut wrenching loss that is within the camps every day. You will feel the heartbreak at what is witnessed. You also get an inside look on what happened to those who came home. The protests, the anger, the recovery, the addictions. Because the main character is a female, you also see what females who served as nurses experienced upon returning home. The lack of support and resources for their PTSD. The denial that women had seen combat. Every book of Hannah’s I read, I don’t think she can outdo her previous books. Spoiler alert: she can! Not many book bring me to tears, but she got me at the end because I am the daughter of a Vietnam Veteran. The reality of their experience definitely hit home. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy. Opinions expressed are my own. This book is set for publication on February 5, 2024.

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Wow! As a young child at the time, I was woefully unaware of the magnitude of the Vietnam war. And somehow my education missed it, as well. I didn’t realize I had this gap, and can’t say enough about the immersive experience the author gave me. An excellent, albeit painful, indoctrination into the war that tore individuals and families in two. Kristin Hannah doesn’t sugarcoat things - but the reality should be brought into the light, and she does a great job of making you feel as if you are Frankie, and both tackling an impossible role on the ground in Vietnam, as well as years trying to recover from her service.

I was hoping for way more from this book and this author. It turned too much into romance and took away from the historical aspect

The Women is a beautifully written book by Kristin Hannah about the overlooked, forgotten, and vitally important women who served in the Vietnam War. The Women is a page turner from the beginning as you join Frankie's journey to find purpose, acceptance, and healing. Fellow nurses Barb and Ethel join Frankie during the war and they soon become friends walking the journey together.
Kristin Hannah writes this emotional story dealing with the impact war has on lives, especially when you are overlooked, pushed aside, attacked and forgotten upon your return home.
As a daughter of a Vietnam Veteran this book touched my heart and I am thankful that the postwar struggles (PTSD, mental, emotional, coping methods, reacclimation to life postwar) were a focus in this book. Kristin has written a story that is well researched, believable, and places you along on the journey through detailed descriptions and well developed characters and scenes. I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book. It will have you staying up late because you won't want to stop reading. I received an advanced copy of this book for my honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I’ve been thinking about this book since I finished it days ago. I had no idea I’d be so engrossed by a book set during the Vietnam War, but I should have known Hannah would make it happen!

Kristin Hannah writes epic stories. Here is another great one! Historical fiction usually isn't my favorite genre to read, but this book could make me change my mind. Great characters and a great story. Highly recommend!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review of this book.

This book gave me all the feels. I don't know if there are words to truly describe how amazing this book was. Kristin Hannah made me feel like I was back in the time of the Vietnam War and going through it with the main character Frankie. It also made me think of my dad who's orders to Vietnam were canceled as he was about to board the plane. This story wasn't just about the time Frankie was in Vietnam, but also her struggles upon returning to America. From the loss of loved ones to mental health problems to not being respected as a Veteran and being dismissed that there weren't any "women" in Vietnam.

Without hesitation, pick up this book and read it!

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy of The Women by Kristin Hannah due out on February 6, 2024.

I will be honest I wasn’t sure I would like this novel. As any Kristin Hannah fan knows, The Four Winds, was a great novel, but one that left readers morose post read. The Great Depression is not a feel good setting. The same can be said for The Women, which is set during the Vietnam War. The plot is of army nurses posted in Vietnam hospitals, the friendships and relationships that develop in stressful settings with death and injuries are a daily occurrence.

The main character leaves home to serve, so she can earn the respect of her father. Frances, known as Frankie to her army peers, was raised to be a wife. She was trained how to run a house like so many well to do women of that era, where they would work as a nurse, secretary or teacher long enough to find a man to marry. Frankie’s parents are appalled at her choice to join the army, her father refusing to even communicate once she is in Vietnam.

As always, Hannah brings in the social conflicts of the era to help the reader understand the past. Hannah hits upon socio-economic differences, war protests, racial inequalities and misogynistic attitudes. Hannah does this without preaching, but allows the reader to get a glimpse in to different opinions of the time. A very good read and holds the readers attention throughout. I love Kristin Hannah books and can easily rate this 5/5 stars.

I think Kristin Hannah might be incapable of writing anything that isn't absolutely devastating in every way. This Vietnam-era novel fits that tradition. The novel is well written (I especially love how Hannah writes in the music of the time) and brings in so much historical context seamlessly. Frankie's friendship are beautifully grounding in a very tumultuous world. Ugly cry warning on this one for sure.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

I have loved all her recent books and this one is no exception it is well researched and puts us in the period of the Vietnam war which she presents with detail while providing us with heartfelt characters and plot .
I loved this one
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book .
This one ranks with the Four Winds and the Great Alone for me

What an amazing read by this never disappointing author. An historical fiction book NOT set in WWII always gets my attention, but the Vietnam War? That’s definitely a rarity.
With her usual skill of putting you in the scene with characters you can’t help but care about, this book is sure to be a hit.

Imagine choosing to serve your country in a war no one believes in. Imagine taking care of the wounded men in Vietnam, taking cover during raids, spending your days and nights learning how to best care for soldiers. Then imagine finally going home, the post traumatic stress from everything you’ve lived through, and no one believing you have any reason to be upset, because you’re told over and over “There are no women in Vietnam, dear.”

I’m a big fan of historical fiction and a big fan of Kristin Hannah’s novels so I was thrilled to receive an early copy of The Women. This book was everything I hoped it would be and more. I haven’t read much about the Vietnam war, and only know the basics. I was born just as the war ended. The story of nurse Frankie, her family, the men she loves and the friendships she forms hooked me from the very first chapter.

The first part is about Frankie deciding to go to Vietnam basically right out of nursing school…the fear, the horrors she faces, the men she helps and the people who taught her what she needed to know to get through it all. The second part focuses on her return home, where nothing is as she left it and no one believes she needs the help she seeks so desperately. She is told over and over that she needs to forget it all and move on…but how can she?



The Women will be up there with some of my favorites by KH. I just checked on Goodreads and this is my twelfth (!!) book by her, and half of those I rated five stars, including this one.


Thank you SO much to Netgalley and the publisher St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not one for historical fiction, but having read and enjoyed The Great Alone, I decided to put this book on my radar. I’m so glad I did.

I devoured The Women in two days, following Frankie from her first day as a combat nurse and through her journey after the war. Through friendships and love and heartbreak. I felt all her joy and pain. She became one of my favorite characters I’ve read.

This book shines a light on the forgotten women that served in the Vietnam War, as well as the challenges so many veterans faced after returning home. A very well executed work by Hannah.

Once again Kristin Hannah finds a piece of history to bring to life. This time it's women in the Vietnam War.

Others have written such wonderful summaries I won't try to repeat them. I will say that I love a book where I learn, think and feel and this book delivered.

Amazing book.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A young naive, sheltered woman goes to Vietnam as a barely trained nurse, following her brother, wanting to be a hero. It was esp hard to read the section about the war, esp now. She grew, found herself and her skills and made great friends, loved. She came home to a changing world, and a world hostile to her at best and in denial about women being in the war and nowhere to get help. She spirals and eventually finds her way after a long bout with PTSD and addiction. It was a well researched book and easy to read, though a bit unbelievable at times at the end.

Frankie McGrath is a sheltered girl raised in a wealthy California family. After getting her nursing degree and wanting to make a difference, she secretly signs up with the Army Corps to be a nurse in the Vietnam War. Kristin Hannah does a great job of telling the tragic story of war and how people banded together to get through it. As her life continues, we get a glimpse of what life after the war looks like. How do you return to real life after the horrors? She specifically focuses on how the nurses were treated as second class when they returned, even by the Vets. I was so enthralled by this tale that I read it in one day. Thanks so much for this ACR.

Kristen Hannah doesn't disappoint. This book is gripping, engaging, and another amazing historical fiction. I was saddened when the story came to an end and I was so attached to the main character that I wanted to know more about her and how she ended up. Women ARE heroes. A must-read!!!
Thank you, Net Galley and St. Martins' Press for the ARC. #KristinHannah #NetGalley

This was a beautifully written book. I always appreciate a book that doesn't require a love interest as the central piece of relationships. Unfortunately, I had a hard time connecting with the characters, which took away from my overall enjoyment of the book. Kristin Hannah is still an incredible historical fiction author, but I do believe she's done better on other books.

Kristen Hannah is easily one of my favorite authors and an automatic buy whenever she comes out with anything new. So when I got approval thru Netgalley to read her newest book, The Women, I felt I won the lottery.

Hannah has a way of telling stories in a way that makes the reader feel like they are right there, going thru the story with the characters. The Women focuses on Vietnam, a time in our history that I admit tingly didn’t know much about, and tells the story of Frankie. When Frankie’s brother dies in Vietnam she decides to enlist as an Army nurse to do her part of her country. Nothing prepares her for the horrors she endures over there and the difficulties she must deal with when she returns. Hannah did a great job of addressing the challenges of being a nurse in that environment and being a woman. She highlights the relationships that are formed during shared trauma experiences and really does an amazing job of showing how the country shamed the veterans upon their return.

3.5 rounded up

I have loved every single Kirstin Hannah book I have read and was so so excited to get this arc from netgalley!

This book follows Frankie who enlists to serve in the Vietnam war as a nurse to make her parents proud as the family has a long history of military service. It follows her during her time in the war and the effects on her life when she gets back. I really appreciated all the research the author had to do to write this book and felt it did a good job of showing what it was like to be a woman serving.

Some things that fell flat for me were the characters. They all felt a bit one dimensional and hard to connect to. The story is truly about a friendship between Frankie and her 2 nurse friends she meets in the war- Barb and Ethel. But Barb and Ethel are never really developed as characters and so much of the dialogue didn’t feel real to me. The writing felt a bit forced to me. In addition, the love stories had too many similarities for me and that felt frustrating to read.

That being said, I still really enjoyed the book for the story but it was probably my least favorite by Kristin Hannah.

Thank you netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review.