The Women by Kristin Hannah (2024)

The Women by Kristin Hannah (2024)

“Thank God for girlfriends. In this crazy, chaotic, divided world that was run by men, you could count on the women.”

Laura’s Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Plot: Frankie McGrath, a twenty year old nursing student decides she should follow her brother to Vietnam by joining the Army Nurse Corps. To her surprise, her conservative parents are horrified and embarrassed. Unprepared for the horrors of war, Frankie slowly finds her footing in an unrecognizable world.

Opinion: This was a beautiful book. Not in a typical sunshine and rainbows way. In a raw, heartbreaking, unsteady way. I literally cared about these characters so much because they were different, complex, and very imperfect.

The Women taught me a lot about the Vietnam War and that time in our country. Soldiers dealt with not just the horrors of war, but the horrors of returning home to a world that would never be the same. The book calls Vietnam “the war no one wants to remember”.Where previous generations had been called heroes for their military service, many Vietnam veterans were criticized by their fellow Americans and felt ashamed of their service. Not to mention the servicewomen, whose participation in the war was barely acknowledged at all.

I’ve seen some criticisms that this book focuses too much on romances and relationships. But you have to remember that it was the 60s and 70s. Frankie bucked tradition in so many ways and lived much more independently than the women that came before her, but it’s natural that she would focus on romantic partners when marriage for young women was such a focus and expectation.

Overall, I found this book insightful and moving and I was impressed by my first Kristin Hannah book. I’d highly recommend The Women.