I was excited to receive a complimentary copy of the audiobook for The Women by Kristin Hannah from NetGalley. It was narrated by Julia Whelan; Kristin Hannah. I had originally tried to get approved to read the ebook copy, but I did not get approved, so I was so happy to be approved for this! Opinions in this review are completely my own.

Kristin Hannah is an automatic read for me! This book did not disappoint. This book rates right up there with The Nightingale for me (and that is my favourite book of all time!)

Possible Spoilers:
I loved Frankie and her friends Barb and Ethel. I thought that the character growth that Frankie went through created a really rich character. I was invested in her story. I was excited for her when she fell in love and then heartbroken with how things worked out for her. I have read a lot of books about WW1 and WW2 but this was my first book related to the Vietnam War and the first one sharing the story of nurses. I felt frustrated for her that she kept trying to seek help and getting told she didn't qualify since she wasn't in armed combat. I also felt frustrated that her dad was embarrassed about her serving in the army after being so proud of his son for joining the navy.

Overall, I enjoyed the narrator's voice. She did a great job of telling the story and I was able to listen to it for hours. After my first experience with an audiobook narrator, I was feeling a bit pessimistic about listening to another one, but I really enjoyed this one!

This is probably my favourite book that I have read this year! I highly recommend it.

This might be Kristin Hannah’s best book. I listened to the audio version of The Women and the narrator Julia Whelan was amazing. I was born after the Vietnam War so I didn’t get to experience it firsthand, but I learned so much from this book. Frankie and the other women who served during the war are absolute heroes. This was a very emotional book and I’m thankful I read it.

This book started out a little slow for me but I soon got sucked into Daphne’s world. I enjoyed the romance and the story.

We cannot let the mistakes of history be repeated. We cannot let the women who made a difference in our country’s history be forgotten. Thank goodness for Kristin Hannah who was inspired and created this story from the actual people who lived in this history but haven’t gotten the full chance to share it. This story takes the reader completely back in time to experience the viewpoint of a young woman on the brink of enlisting into the army to help and find a purpose within the Vietnam war. As a person of a generation who grew up learning more about the history of men in colonial times than ever hearing or learning about this conflict or war, I found the content and story so original and interesting. The string themes of feminine struggles, the lack of support for any veterans and grief brings so many deep thoughts after finished reading, which is amazing.

Praise for The Women by Kristen Hannah—

Kristen Hannah's captivating prose effortlessly weaves together a story that is both informative and emotional. The Women pays respect to the unsung heroines of the Vietnam War, leaving readers heartbroken and hopeful at the same time.

The Women follows Frankie, a young woman who enlists in the Army as a nurse, despite her parents' lack of support. She quickly finds herself in the thick of things, gaining more hands-on experience and training than she ever thought possible. When she returns home from the war, she was shocked to find how repulsed the American citizens were by her and the war. Even more surprising and hurtful is the realization that her parents have lied to everyone they know about her whereabouts—saying that she was “studying abroad.”

This story shines a light on the often-overlooked women war heroes, and it's truly admirable. The writing is beautifully done, with a raw and authentic feel that captures the reader's attention. The narrator's voice is clear and easy to listen to, and she delivers an outstanding performance throughout the duration of the novel.

The era of history that is rarely written about and never talked about. The Vietnam War divided the country and divided families. Kristen Hannah brought me into that world. She made me feel the fear during the bombing of the base and she forced me to feel the anguish during a surgery where the outcome is gruesome. Most importantly she reminded me that just because the war is over there are still people suffering daily.

The story follows Frankie and her friends Barb and Ethel, who are army nurses during the war. They see the battles, hear the fighting, and face the heartbreak. When they return stateside they face disgust and anger for being in Vietnam. Frankie struggles to regain footing back home. She can’t seem to move forward with her life, but she can’t return to the way life was before the war.

Another home run by Kristin Hannah! I loved every minute of this book and was hooked from the first sentence. The story centers around Frankie, a young woman from Coronado Island, CA whose brother, a naval academy graduate, goes to Vietnam. At his going-away party, someone tells Frankie that "women can be heroes too". This motivates her to enlist in the army as a nurse. The first part of the story centers around Frankie's time in Vietnam. While she sees horrible things and endures terrible hardship, she also finds lifelong friends, excels in combat nursing, finds love, and finds herself. The second half of the book focuses on her return to the USA where no one values her service or even recognizes that women could be veterans. She slowly finds her way, stumbling often. I can't recommend this book enough!

I'm convinced that Kristin Hannah isn't capable of writing a bad book. This one was heart-wrenching at times but so real and so inspiring. I love that she wrote a story about the women that everyone forgot. It was so relatable and so many ways despite me having no experience with the military. This was wonderfully done and Kristin Hannah remains a must read author for me. Thank you to NetGalley in the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an amazing and well written story about a conflict/war that for once did not revolve around WWII. It was an excellent portrayal of the bravery of the women who went to Vietnam to then have them not even be acknowledged for their service and experiences as well as to be treated just like the combat vets upon their return. It also did a great job portraying the struggles they experienced upon their return to The World and the PTSD that they suffered especially since they are experiences that continue today with returning war veterans. At times this was an absolutely heart breaking story that had me hooked from the start of the story. There are so many things to say about this book but it would give too much away. Overall, this was a fantastic read as Ms Hannah did not disappoint with this story that I would recommend to others.

Kristin Hannah continues to be an amazing historical fiction writer. I connect with her more and more with each book she releases. And the audio for this story is spot on!

First Sentence: This war has stretched a generation gap so wide that it threatens to tear the country apart. - Frank Church

The war that become a conflict and not a war is the center of "The Women." Kristin Hannah focuses her story around Frances “Frankie” McGrath, an Army nurse, who requests to serve in Vietnam, to be close to her beloved brother Finley. Sadly before she leaves to serve her country, she learns her brother has died in the war. Her father doesnt see value in service for women.

It is through Frankie’s eyes that we witness the horrors of war. From the primitive conditions of the medical facilities, inadequate resources, long shifts and fatigue, Frankie perseveres. Ultimately, its the relationships and bonds she makes that gets her through the dark days of war. We experience grief and lose alongside her. This is a tissue ready read.

The Vietnam War was complex and Kristin Hannah gives us a better view of what it was like to be on the front lines. From massive loss of life, divisions within families, the shameful way we treated veterans upon their return, the shameful way we treated veterans upon their return, (especially women), the scars veterans permanently carried, the difficulty veterans had getting help for PTSD and Agent Orange exposure, and the public demand for an accounting of all the prisoners of war (POWs) and missing in action (MIAs), Hannah includes it all to give us a front row seat on what it was like to serve your country when your country didnt acknowledge your presence.

I am left with the quote that started it all for Frankie, "Women can be heroes too," something that resignates in 2023 as well as it did back in 1966.

Many thanks to NetGalley for continuing to share amazing books with readers and McMillan Audio for providing the wonderful narration from Jula Whelan. This story is for those who want to learn more while recognizing human strength comes through drive and indomitable spirit as well as brute strength.

📚 Review: The Women 🚁💥
Well, what bad things can you say about any book that Kristin Hannah writes, am I right? You just can’t. I just love her and her work. (Especially her historical fiction books 🙌🏻♥️)
For anyone who doesn’t know, this book is about the Vietnam War, but more specifically, the women who went. The nurses, who saw firsthand the carnage that was happening to soldiers and civilians. This book follows one particular nursing student Frankie. Her brother has just been sent to fight in Vietnam. She expressed that she would like to go too, to help out in the hospitals. One of her brother’s friends tells her that she should go. He says, “Women can be heroes too” After hearing that, something inside Frankie flips and she then decides to follow her brother to Vietnam. The book then follows Frankie and her experiences in Vietnam. And boy, the things those nurses saw. Wow! 😢 It then follows Frankie when she returns home to the United States, after serving two tours. The country is now divided about the war and she is surprised how poorly she is treated by everyone, including her family. This book is such a great insight to a war that was horrible and how poorly our soldiers were treated when they returned home after fighting for our country. I just loved it. I loved Frankie’s character development. And I loved learning so much about a time in our county’s history that I didn’t know much about. As in all of Kristin Hannah’s historical fiction books I have read, this is another ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars for me. I absolutely loved it.👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillanaudio for this audiobook ARC. It was narrated by the one and only Julia Whelan who always does such a phenomenal job!!
You’ll for sure want to grab this one when in comes out in February.
Pub Date: February 6, 2024.

What’s your favorite historical fiction book by Kristin Hannah?

It’s the late 60s and Frances ‘Frankie’ McGrath is trying to find her place in the world. When her brother is shipped off to Vietnam, Frankie impulsively signs up to server alongside him as an Army nurse. With no actually clinical experience, Frankie is thrown into the middle of the chaos. But her time overseas is only half the story, and her return stateside has left her feeling even more unmoored from her peers. When the Veterans Affairs Office won’t even acknowledge women were in Vietnam and with no other support system in place other than her best friends and fellow army nurses, Frankie must find a way to live in her new reality. When the Veterans Affairs Office won’t even acknowledge women were in Vietnam,

Kristin has excellently portrayed the struggles of women and the aftermath they faced coming home. I felt so many emotions and though Frankie makes plenty of mistakes, I was rooting for her the entire time. I had a grandfather who went to Vietnam, and he never spoke about his time there, so to read this book it touched my heart and gave me a glimpse into a faction of what he may have come through. Add in the extra struggles women faced since not being recognized for even serving, let alone received appropriate care on their return home, and I’m just heartbroken for these women who grappled with such conflicting realities.

I’m always drawn to stories about women in the military, such as Beyond the Point. I come from a strong military family background; my grandmother was in the Navy before being married, I have a grandfather who was in the Army and served in Vietnam, another grandfather who was first in the Navy and then transferred to the Air Force when it was founded and served in WWII and Korea and both my parents are retired Air Force Colonels. You could say I’ve found myself pretty ingrained in the military world, though I never served. With that said, I’ve always found my grandmother’s stories of her time in the Navy to be fascinating, and though she joined in the late 70s/early 80s, my mother has some interesting stories about being a woman in a sea of men from her tenure.

While I read the majority of the book, the audiobook narrated by Julia Whelan was phenomenal. Either way you consume this story though will be highly impactful!

Kristin Hannah has done it again and made me feel every emotion in the book. Regardless of your ties to the military, Hannah has crafted a remarkable story about remarkable women doing things before their time. I can’t stop thinking about this story. It’s definitely one of my favorite reads for 2023 and I will be recommending it to everyone!

The Women comes out February 6, 2024. Huge thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio for my advanced copies in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.

Kristin Hannah is a master storyteller. It was great. I had never read anything about the Vietnam war prior to this. She sheds a lot of light on war and postwar struggles, that veterans faced, especially the women. The main character, Frankie was so lovable. I adored her.

It wasn’t a typical five star read for me though. Kristin Hannah is an auto buy, five star storyteller for me. I can’t quite pinpoint what made this book not quite a hit that threshold for me. There were a handful of places in the book that felt a little drawn out. It was also a little predictable (which I don’t mind).

Moral of the story: it was a great book. I really enjoyed it. Well, I recommend this to my friends? Absolutely.

Thank you NetGalley for my audio copy!

I have read two of Hannah’s other books and loved them. I was so excited when I was given the chance to read an ARC of her newest book, which releases in February.

I loved this book so much, and it just might be my favorite book to have read the entire year.

Frankie is growing up in the late 1960s when her brother goes off to Vietnam and is killed in action. She is a nurse and knows that she wants to make a difference so she joins the army and heads to Vietnam as an Army nurse. The first half of the book talks about her life in Vietnam and the struggles of being an army, nurse where so much pain, destruction, and death occurred to not only our soldiers, but to the citizens of Vietnam as well. She falls in love while there and loses him shortly before she leaves to go home.

The second half of the book tells the story of when Frankie comes back home. She, like many Vietnam vets, believed they would be welcomed as heroes, but instead she was spit on, and treated poorly by everyone around her. What made it worse for Frankie was that many people did not even think women went to Vietnam. Struggling with addiction, nightmares and clearly, PTSD, Frankie has to find a way to move past Vietnam to make a semi normal life for herself that is worth living. 

The book was beautifully read.

Put this on your TBR list now. It releases on February 6th.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

This was one of the most powerful books I have read in a very long time. I am telling everyone about it. It brought tears to my eyes on many parts.

Kristin Hannah has done it again! This book had me on the edge of my seat, broke my heart and put it back together. This is a wonderfully descriptive book that follows a young, new nurse as she enlists in The Vietnam War to make her father proud, follow her brother and to make a difference. What a heart wrenching story.

In a family and society where only men could be heroes, Frankie enlists herself to serve as a nurse in Vietnam. Over there, while she experiences loss, she will master her skills as a nurse, fall in love, and find true friendship.

Through this novel, KH pays respect to the women who served in that war, the trauma they carried, and how hard it was to adapt to a world where their bravery wasn’t recognized and therapy wasn’t provided.

I like the way she portrays nurses, praising their very humane work and showing how necessary their job is.

As in all of KH’s novels, it is moving including drama. She always includes female characters that can adapt to hard situations.

I am a weeper so I cried several times, this always happens when I read or listen to the author’s novels.

I have read 9 novels of hers in the last 3 years, and I’m rating this one 4 stars because even if I like that she can transmit the characters’ feelings to the reader, I think she always addresses the same topics and there are things alike to her other novels.

I listened to the audiobook which the novel is narrated by one voice but also includes Kristin Hannah’s words read by the author at the beginning.
Julia Whelan's narration was well-performed and transmits the emotions through her voice,

I received the audiobook thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio.

Pub date: February 6th, 2024

Kristin Hannah does it again with a heartbreaking, hopeful, and deeply poignant historical fiction read focusing on the forgotten women who served in Vietnam. Frankie McGrath has lived a sheltered and privileged life on Coronado Island with her only real hardship consisting of her brother going off to fight in the war. Out of a mixture of ignorance, love for her brother, and personal revelation, Frankie signs up to serve alongside him in the Army Nurse Corps over in Vietnam. Frankie is thrown head first into a chaotic, violent, and devastating war, where she builds confidence in her nursing abilities and solid friendships that will support her beyond the falling bombs. What Frankie doesn't expect is the trauma of returning home, unwelcomed, mistrusted, and ignored within political landscape she barely recognizes. Based on real women who served and who also encouraged Hannah to use the real names of places and events to add more historical accuracy to the story, The Women serves as a spotlight on these lives and an olive branch from a society that has often saved the role of hero for the men. Beautifully written, this story shows the pain, flaws, and struggle of both those who experience hardship and those who don't know how to help them. A powerful story of sacrifice, friendship, survival, and hope, The Women is a poignant story of an often overlooked war and the people that served in it.

Julia Whelan and Kristin Hannah are a winning combination for me and I was thoroughly captivated by Whelan’s narration of the “The Women”.

This powerful and moving book sheds light on the little-known (at least to me) experiences of women who served in the Vietnam War. Like the author, I was in elementary and middle school for much of the Vietnam War but I vividly remember the protests against this very unpopular war. Kristin Hannah is a masterful storyteller and brings the experiences of surgical nurse Frances “Frankie” McGrath to life, in vivid detail.

Frankie enlists to serve in the Army as an idealistic young woman who wants to serve her country and make her family proud. She returns home to a changed America, and to her own a battles with PTSD and deep trauma.

Frankie forges lifetime friendships during the war which will become her lifeline after she returns “to the world”. The author explores the aftermath of the war on the veterans who served and their families. This is a fascinating and unforgettable story of the brutalities of combat and of the brave women who proudly served our country. Highly recommend!

Leave it to Kristin Hannah to research an embarrassing time in our nation’s history and have it come to life through the eyes of the women who served, mostly as nurses. Their stories are not told often but she tells this story in a way that stirs emotions of anger, sadness, and disbelief. She tells the story of a young woman who became a nurse in order to go to Vietnam. Her story is gripping and emotional as she did two tours there. My own father talked to me about being spat on when he returned from Vietnam. Our country did not treat them correctly and this story really talks about how hard it was on them to return. Thank you McMillan audio and #NetGalley for the ARC. It was an amazing book.