Blurb

A #1 bestseller on The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times!

From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah’s The Women―at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets―and becomes one of―the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

Review

This is not a book I would have ever picked for myself to read. This was one of the two books my wife picked for me to read this year as a Christmas present promise.

The Women is mostly about a woman, the heroism, breaking and rebuilding of Frances McGrath. She follows her brother into war, learning to late the futility of the endeavor on a grand scale, but finding purpose in the micro. It is split between war time Frankie, and then back home Frankie, with the memories of the first threading the two together.

The war time stuff was heavy, but about what you would expect in the story. I did get a little tired of the breathy men chasing the apparently irresistible Frankie, honor be damned. One of those would turn out to be a major plot point, but more than one was an issue. Let’s just say I have serious issues with infidelity. Even the pursuit of it if not fulfilled.

While one would think wartime stories from Vietnam hospitals would be heavy, the heaviest parts came in the return home; in the mental breaking and Frankie’s PTSD. This is the best part of the book, but also the darkest if that is not your sort of thing.

Without spoiling too much, Frankie goes through some stuff, and does some stuff that could ruin your opinion of her, before finding a road back. The road back is only a tiny part of the book, and felt rushed, but this was too heavy of a book to not end on a happy note, even if they seemed to skip a lot to get there.

Overall, worth reading for something I would not have picked myself. Different styles, and perspectives, can be a good thing.

3 of 5 stars.