Kristin Hannah books never let you down. She has done some research into the Vietnam War and how the people who fought it had to face their country when they returned. It can be hard to read the grief. The Women should be read abby anyone who wants a new perspective on the era.

I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to listen to this book. The story provided a different view of the Vietnam War and the women who served in it. Not only did Kristin Hannah discuss parts of the war, but also what it was like for all who came home after.

The main character is Frankie McGrath who decides to enlist in the Army during the Vietnam War after the death of her brother Finley. Once Frankie arrives in the country as a surgical nurse, her bunkmates Ethel and Barb take her under her wing and show her the ropes. During her 2 tours, she cared for the wounded and improved her surgical skills.

When she returns home, she is surprised by the reactions she receives from her family and the American people. She finds it hard to find work and for people to believe she served in Vietnam. As she tries to re-enter society, her rage and grief become uncontrollable. Everyone tells her to forget about all she witnessed and move on with her life. This is not easy for her to do.

This is a historical fiction book that I will not forget anytime soon. I learned some things about the Vietnam War and American history. I highly recommend reading this book.

The book was well researched and Kristin Hannah mentions in her author’s note about How long she wanted to write a book about this topic but did not feel she could do it justice early in her career. I am glad she continued to pursue this topic.

Julia Whelan, as the narrator, does a tremendous job bringing the story to life.

Thanks to the author, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for the audio copy. All opinions are my own.

I am a huge Kristin Hannah fan and The Women is so good that I’ve listened twice! It’s an incredible book that brings the reader deep in to the story. I cried and I worried and then I was sad when it was over. I deeply cared about the characters and I’ve been recommending this book to everyone!

Kristin Hannah's "The Women" is not just a poignant war tale; it's a gut-wrenching emotional rollercoaster that throws you headfirst into the turmoil of the Vietnam War. From the moment Frankie, a spirited young woman, enlists as an Army nurse in the shadow of her brother's death, you're thrust into a world of sights, sounds, and smells that Hannah masterfully paints with every word. But "The Women" is more than just a battlefield narrative. It's a story about resilience, the extraordinary strength women possess, and the bonds of friendship and sisterhood forged in the fires of war. The story extends to Frank’s mom who experiences own grief and growth. This book will make you laugh, cry and it is one that will stay with you for a long time.

I am normally not a fan of historical fiction at all but this book was so well written and executed I finished it in 24 hours. It is a masterful story of Frankie, a young woman who enlists in the military as a nurse during the Vietnam War. Experiencing Frankie's development before, during, and after the war was so enlightening. Beautiful character study and heartbreaking but triumph story, this is one of the best books I've read in a very long time. Highly, highly recommend!

I'm the daughter of a Marine who served during the Vietnam War. My dad never talked about his experiences in-country, but it was obvious to those who loved him that what happened in Vietnam, what he saw over there, affected the choices he made for his entire life. I've thought a lot about what it must have been like for the soldiers like my dad, who fought for their country in a foreign war and then came home to a furious, fraught homeland where they were resented and despised for serving.

But as ashamed as I am to admit it, I never really thought about the women who served.

In The Women, Kristin Hannah paints an intimate, moving portrait of the Vietnam War through the eyes of one woman who served as an Army nurse. When her brother leaves for Vietnam, Frankie McGrath decides almost on a whim to enlist in the Army Nurse Corps. But idealistic Frankie, determined to prove that women can be heroes, was unprepared for the atrocities of war, the destruction and bombs and blood, that would become her reality while serving in-country -- and would haunt her long after returning home.

Kristin Hannah is phenomenal at writing historical fiction; she brings the Vietnam War era, with its fraught political climate and escalating protests, completely to life with rich and vivid detail. It's clear that a lot of research went into the writing of The Women. I felt like I was on the ground with Frankie in Vietnam, in the base hospital or in a small rural village, experiencing the horrors of war right along with her.

But aside from teaching me a lot, what The Women did was make me feel. This is such an emotional book that made me unbelievably sad, but also made my heart swell with joy -- that made me feel angry and regretful, but also comforted and empowered. The true strength of The Women is its characters, who are well-rendered and who I felt deeply connected to after following them through the heartaches, frustrations, and joys of their lives. The sisterhood between Barb, Frankie, and Ethel, which serves as an anchor for Frankie throughout her struggles, is so powerful. Frankie is one of those characters that I will never forget, after being literally in the trenches with her. She is vulnerable and courageous and determined and has one of the most redeeming, moving character arcs I've ever had the pleasure to read.

I listened to The Women as an audiobook narrated by the incomparable Julia Whelan, and I highly recommend experiencing the book this way. Julia captures Frankie's every emotion and experience in a richly nuanced, emotional performance that gave me chills.

The women were there, and now The Women is here to give them a voice after decades of being overlooked. What an incredibly powerful, captivating, and important reading experience this was.

I have always said if you don’t cry while reading Kristin Hannah are you even reading it? Her stories never fail to cause my heart to break but in a good way.
Following Frankie as a combat nurse in Vietnam and to the struggle that is civilian life once she returns, this story is a beautiful tribute to the women who were forgotten.
Do yourself a favor and read this book NOW!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Wow, this could be one of my favorite Kristin Hannah Books yet.

Thank you to the publishers for the review copies! This one just released 2/6, so find it in stores now.

Kristin Hannah has always been one of my favorite authors. I don’t think I have read a book of hers that I have not enjoyed. I think her writing is absolutely brilliant.

This book is no exception - it is incredible. Not only was I sucked in from the first page, it was truly a ‘cannot put down’ type of book for me.

The story follows Frankie, a twenty year old nursing student from California. Frankie was raised by conservative parents and always prided herself on doing the right thing. As she sees her brother Finley off to serve in the Vietnam war, Frankie is inspired. She decided to join the Army Nurse Corps and follow in her brother’s path.

Frankie soon realizes it is much more than she expected. The chaos and destruction of war, and the long days of work take a toll on her. Though each day is a gamble of life and death, Frankie finds solace in those around her and even falls in love.

When Frankie returns home, she is greeted with cold and isolation from everyone around her. America has changed and the people are divided and angry.

This book had me feeling every emotion so deeply. The messages are powerful and so important. The book is divided into 2 parts, both equally fascinating and heartbreaking.

This one is heavy (see content warnings on slide 2) and full of learning about the war, but it also has some of KH’s classic romance. More importantly, it shows the importance of friendship and found family, and how love comes in many different forms. 🤍

Kristin Hannah has done it again! This might be my new favorite historical fiction.

While this is certainly about the women in the armed forces during the Vietnam War, this is really more about what happened after for the women who served and that is what makes it the most impactful for me as a reader. I felt so much these women who had just push everything down and try to move on with no support or recognition for the work done. Truly an incredibly moving and heartbreaking story.

Frankie is a privileged woman and nurse graduate from Coronado California. She is raised to be a wife first. Her brother is shipped out to Vietnam and he dies before she ships out as well. Frankie is a nurse and wants to serve her country in that regard.

But, Frankie has a lot to contend with. She doesn’t fully understand how difficult the conditions will be in Vietnam. But, she learns fast. She clings to her newfound, female friendships. There is a sweet country girl from Virginia named Ethel and a sassy African-American gal named Barb.

In two years, she is inextricably changed. She falls in love twice. The second nearly severs her. She somehow returns him to a world that doesn’t believe she served. She is continually told by friends, VA docs, hospital administrators, ”Women don’t serve in Vietnam.” She literally has to have verbal altercations to get people to consider she is telling the truth.

Her dad told everyone she was “studying abroad “ for two years.

I’m sorry. What the actual f?!?

Things you should know. I am a vet. Specifically in the med corp. I know that this book was impeccably researched and can confirm that this level of disregard for med workers and their emotional trauma is true. All the way.

Frankie’s true trauma is so hard to hear. A good church gal that tried so hard to make it all work out. Listening to this tumultuous time in US history is critical moving forward.

It is hard to put into words the emotion from
This story. I was a very young child during this time and history and I vaguely remember news reports and conversations adults had over this horrific war.
The way Kristin Hannah weaves this story brings so many emotions. It’s a story of the women of the Vietnam war. Those nurses who served the men who were damaged in so many ways. It is sad to me that we live in a country where they were not honored for so many years even to the point of not even being acknowledged.
The research the author did for this story shows her love for those who served.
This book follows one nurse in particular as she joins the Army as a nurse, all she experienced during her time in this war and then returns home to realize she can’t find herself. It shows the journey to her healing but all the loss that comes from what she experienced.
I think it is Kristin Hannah’s best book yet. It’s a story that will stay with me to a long time. Thank you to the author for writing the story of The Women.
I am thankful to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy.

Rating - 4.5 stars

Poignant and the most beautiful celebration of heroic women.

Thanks Macmillan Audio & NetGalley for the ALC . Julia Whelan’s narration and versatile voice enhanced the emotional richness, beauty and reflected the real depth of Hannah’s story.

Synopsis -

Frankie McGrath believes that women can be heroes too. Following her brother’s footsteps, she leaves the safety of her home in 1965 to join the US Army in Vietnam, to serve as a nurse. Shaken by the war and its unimaginable destruction, her life is suddenly uncertain, but the friendship she forges with the other women is her anchor. When she returns home, she is an entirely different person and to her horror so is her country of America – hostile and ignorant.

Review -

Wow! Only Hannah can write historical fiction with such passion and understanding of human history. She is such a masterful storyteller. Her books always focus on strong women who endure extreme adversity, hardships and unfathomable struggles. Needless to say, this book was an eye-opener shedding light on the Vietnam war, the inexplicable level of trauma suffered, the scars it left behind and the devastating effects it had on everyone involved, even years later.

With Frankie’s character, Hannah explores what it was to be a woman who served in this war as a nurse or in any other capacity. Let me tell you, the challenges they faced is simply unbelievable and their struggles are beyond our grasp. How Hannah pictures this all is sure to give you goosebumps.

Amidst the gloom of death and suffering, the friendship and bonding Frankie shares with the other nurses was a beacon of hope. Drawing strength from one other, sharing their grief, loss and the occasional exciting times, these women are a force to reckon with. I loved how these women uplift and rally for each other, their unity and hard-work unparalleled, fortitude and achievements unmatchable.

After getting my heart broken a million times over for what Frankie went through, it was infuriating to witness the indifference, the hostile attitude and disbelief she experienced once back home. It was so agonizingly painful to see what this did to her fragile being, while she is already shattered with grief, numb with trauma, shaken with nightmares, battling addiction and insomnia. I only wished Frankie found her footing and her calling in life a little sooner towards the end.

The author’s note was so enlightening. I was amazed to learn how this book has been a labor of love for many years for Hannah and the amount of research she has undertaken for this book. Kudos to her imagination as she expertly crafts fiction around the real events.

The Women pays tribute to all these unsung, brave female warriors whose commitment, resourcefulness, skills and sacrifice made a difference and saved countless lives.

Highly recommended for historical fiction lovers!

I was profoundly affected by this Kristin Hannah book. As a child, I saw gold and silver stars hung in the windows of families who had sent sons to Vietnam, but I had never considered the women who served as nurses. The Vietnam War was unpopular at home, but the women who fought faced the additional indignity of being told, “There were no women in Vietnam.” Imagine trying to find support after returning home when the country you served denied your service.
This is a story that needs to be told.

As expected from Hannah, this book is brutal. The idealistic main character, Frankie, enlists to be a combat nurse in Vietnam. The story follows her time in hospitals, dealing with emergency after emergency, and when she returns home. She struggles with the aftermath of horror amidst war protests and shame.

Frankie’s experience is frequently invalidated, whether by people saying women didn’t serve in Vietnam, the negative feelings towards the war, and the downplay of her role since she was, per others, just a nurse and not in combat. This book argues against these beliefs, asserting that recognition for women’s experiences in this awful circumstance matters.

I wasn’t totally sure where this story was going, and at times the plot felt a little aimless. However, this feels true to what I feel is the intention of this book—to show a woman’s mental health struggle during and after the war. I had other critiques, such as wondering if her character development could have stronger, if the secondary characters could have been more dimensional, and if the title was appropriate, but none of that undermines the message I took away from reading this. When Frankie needed help with undiagnosed PTSD at a time when the diagnosis itself was still in development, it was gut wrenching to see her suffer, ask for help, and find none.

Hannah truly created a story of pain, recognition, and acceptance. Give it a read if you want to reflect on any of that.

Or if you want to cry. You’ll probably cry.

Also, Julia Whelan did a great job narrating the audiobook.

The Women

The lyrical writing of Hannah is unmatched.

I ended up listening to the audiobook and I can say without a doubt the audiobook is fantastic! Well done worth the listening length.

Every character, every story, it is so stuck with you that you are them, or they are your friend or neighbor. It’s like you know these people in real life.

The sorrow and pain that Frankie lives through throughout this war is a tragedy yet there is such an underlying theme of hope in every heartbreak.

We as readers are taken on a journey that for me I haven’t heard much about. I’ve read a lot of historical fictions regarding WWII but none on the Vietnam war. The stories of women in war as nurses. The strength they had and the pain they went through along with fellow soldiers. How they were disregarded afterwards. And we’re not given the respect and acknowledgment of all that they did to help.

This book will stick with me for a while.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an ALC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love Kristin Hannah’s historical fiction. The Nightingale, The Great Alone, and The Four Winds all live rent-free in my head, with The Women now joining them. I continue to be blown away and impressed by the amount of research Hannah puts into each of her novels. Her books are completely immersive and transport you to the time and place she intends to.

In The Women, Frankie McGrath grew up in Coronado, CA- an upper class Naval town. Going to college, Frankie understands that the most important thing expected of her is to get married and become a mother. But when her brother joins the Navy and is deployed to Vietnam, she wants to help the cause. Much to the dismay of her parents, Frankie joins the Army Nurse Corps and is quick to find herself in Vietnam. The atrocities that Frankie witnesses while there are absolutely heartbreaking, but nothing could prepare her for the way she and other veterans would be treated when they made it back stateside.

“There were no women in Vietnam.”

“We were there.”

Julia Whelan did an absolutely perfect job as audiobook narrator for this book, as always. (Catch her narrating The Great Alone and The Four Winds if you’re like me and cannot get enough!) Her voice and tone really brought Frankie to life throughout this book and made me feel a real connection to her as a character.

I loved the way that this book was written and spaced out. I was surprised that Frankie was in Vietnam within the first few chapters, but it worked well because her experiences there ultimately became her backstory for the rest of the book. It was almost as if life before Vietnam did not exist for her. Then further seeing her struggles when she was back home in California- being looked down on, spit on, rejected, and denied help- really continued to rip my heart out further. The Women had me crying three separate times in only the first 15% of the book and is officially my new favorite Kristin Hannah book.

In general as a human being, but also as a nurse, I cannot imagine the experiences that Frankie went through while in Vietnam. Nurses are trained to care for and take the best possible care of our patients and I cannot imagine the emotional toll it would take to see so many wounded young men in the evac hospital who were unable to be helped.

What makes Hannah’s books so powerful to me is knowing that they are based in part on real accounts of women living in these time periods. I could cry again just imagining that real people really lived through these experiences. I’m very thankful that I listened to the authors note and am now interested in learning more about the experiences of the real women who served during the Vietnam War.

This book is incredible. I have not read many historical fiction novels in the past but man did this book set the standard high for future historical fiction books I read. It was beautiful to witness Frankie grow as a human being, to become confident in her ability as a nurse, to find love, to be forced to sacrifice love multiple times, to grieve the people and experiences she wishes she had, and to process the trauma she experienced while serving her country. I appreciated Frankie’s ability to adapt and keep fighting whenever life threw something difficult her way. There were so many moments in this novel that shocked me- either I was expecting a different outcome or wishing things were different for Frankie. This novel has so many beautiful layers to it and I truly enjoyed each one! Kristin Hannah did a phenomenal job capturing the possible life of a female Vietnam war veteran and what she may have experienced while serving her country and when she came home. This was my first Kristin Hannah book and it will definitely not be my last. Thank you Kristin Hannah, Netgalley, and Macmillian Audio for an audio arc of this novel. Julia Whelan did a wonderful job narrating it!

Wow. This powerhouse of historical fiction took me right back to my own coming of age during the mind blowing, heartbreaking, country dividing Vietnam War. Frankie McGrath is living a life of affluence in So Cal with her conservative parents. Finley, her older brother has just graduated from the US Naval Academy and has joined the honored ranks of other family members as a defender of the homeland. Without consulting her parents, Frankie, deciding to take a bold step, enlists as an Army nurse and off she goes, thinking she will be reunited with her brother in Nam. But he is killed before she gets there.

Nothing in Vietnam is as she imagines the war, and her role as a nurse, to be. After intense training in a reasonably safe location by a competent staff of doctors and nurses, Frankie has honed her skills and is soon sent out into the field where maimed and mortally wounded young soldiers arrive nonstop, some never to return home. The scene is painted so painstakingly that I felt that I was there hearing the moans, screams, bomb blasts and whirring sound of arriving helicopters. Frankie’s courage and resilience under fire, and that of her friends, is nothing short of miraculous.

As the story continues, Frankie faces a tremendous loss of comrades, either by death, or by home going. She experiences love that just cannot last, as the unthinkable ruins of war happen again and again.

Back home, anti war sentiment grows, boils and bubbles over. Americans, tired of the long lists of slaughtered young men , begin a decade of protests, fighting another war on the home front. When Frankie returns from Vietnam she finds life will never be the same. Her gut wrenching failure to adjust to all aspects of life is soul crushing. She is an outcast, for having heroically attempted to make a difference which becomes as personally disastrous as her war experience.

Kristin Hannah gets it! This recreation of a sorry time to grow up couldn’t be more real. How hard was it in the 1960s and early 70s to be a soldier, a woman, a veteran, indeed a pariah to her countrymen and her parents? The author addresses the scourge and horrors of war, injustice, death, women’s rights, unplanned pregnancy, the deep roots of friendship, both the passion and utter despair of love gone wrong , drug addiction , and the incessant quest for purpose in life I wish there were a little less soppy romance but that one small flaw didn’t impact on the riveting story that brings back an era that has been mostly misunderstood.

Five shining stars for a masterful work. I was fortunate enough to receive an audio ARC from NetGalley and MacMillan audio. The reader, Julia Whelan, did an outstanding job ! Read it! It was published today.

This is my first book by this author, but definitely won’t be my last. Julia Whelan was a fantastic narrator and truly brought the story to life. I was blown away by how this book drew me in and didn’t let go. Beautifully written story about a naive young nurse who follows her brother’s path and goes to serve in Vietnam. She experiences the overwhelming horrors of war and then comes home to a world that is less than kind. This book is 15 hours long but I wish it was much longer because it was so hard to see the story end and let go of characters you feel are friends. Highly recommend.

The Women is a powerful novel by consummate storyteller Kristin Hannah. Ms. Hannah delves into a period in US history from a naive mid 1960s, through the tumultuous 1970s, and into a calmer 1980s. Francis “Frankie” McGrath has followed all the rules. Raised by her more than comfortable parents Connor and Bette on Coronado Beach in the company of her big brother Finley, Frankie is naive and idealistic. Having attended Catholic schools and colleges, Frankie is about to graduate as an RN as her brother is preparing to ship out to Vietnam. An Annapolis graduate, Finley will be an aide to a higher up. There is great celebration and merriment at the party, after all he won’t be going to the front.

Floundering after graduation, bored with her small Catholic hospital night shift job, Frankie wants to make a bigger difference. After all, Finley’s academy roommate told her that women could be heroes too. With that piece of advice, Frankie makes the recruitment rounds but the only branch that will take someone just out of college with limited experience is the Army. Her timing of enlisting turns into a family disaster.

Upon arrival at the Thirty Sixth Evac Hospital, Frankie quickly realizes she is in over her head. It is her two hooch mates, Ethel Flint from West Virginia and Barb Johnson from Georgia, that take Frankie under their wings teaching her along the way while forming a lifelong connection that will always tie their lives together.

Not only is this the very powerful personal story of Frankie McGrath, it is also reflective of the many social and political issues of the time and told in a manner linking them all smoothly together as the stories of Frankie and all of the returning Vietnam veterans is beautifully told. In addition to the way public sentiment moved from total support to veterans being spat upon, Ms. Hannah brings in the struggle for equality for women, for civil rights for all, for equality for all those placed in the margins, and to erase the terrible misconception that there were no women in Vietnam. Also tackled are the issues of PTSD, addiction, homelessness, and other mental health topics suffered by the returning Vietnam veterans.

I loved the television programs MASH, China Beach, and the play A Piece of My Heart. Using my memories of these shows as well as living through these years only a handful of years younger than Frankie, the beautiful narrative penned by Ms. Hannah made me feel as though I was in the middle of this story, right there beside these well drawn characters. It takes a very specially gifted author to write the stories Ms. Hannah writes and to tackle the topics and history periods she tackles. As good as all her prior books are, I’m choosing a new favorite of hers just like I did when her last book was published. And it will be my favorite Kristin Hannah book until her next book comes along! I very much enjoyed this book, in fact I completed it in short order, and I do recommend it!