The Women

"No fear, McGrath."

I’m not crying, you’re crying. Seriously, who’s cutting all the onions in here? I’m not one to get sentimental or teary when reading very often, but this one unexpectedly did me in. Fair warning, this is a sad book with many trigger warnings, but it’s a very good book.

Frances “Frankie” McGrath is the daughter of a well-to-do family from Coronado Island, who grows up very close to her brother. Her brother graduates, enlists in the military as men in the McGrath family do, and is sent to Vietnam. Frankie, feeling a need to do something more with her life, also enlists as a nurse to be sent to Vietnam. Her family is less than pleased (women, after all, don’t belong in the military), but she goes anyway. This book is about her experiences as a nurse during the Vietnam War, and the problems she experiences coming home again.

I’m going to reiterate here that this is not a happy book. It’s very much a gut punch all the way through, and while most of it is family/relationship drama, there’s a good bit of Vietnam and PTSD discussion as well. It’s very thought provoking about the experiences of women who served in Vietnam being even more forgotten and marginalized than men who served, while also making you want to cry and keep reading at the same time.

If I had to point out one thing I wish had been done differently, it would’ve been the very ending. Bringing Jamie back seemed gratuitously sad, like it was included just to evoke more tears in the last few pages. I have no problems with sad things, but it felt a little out of place and unnecessary with all the other sad things that had gone on. But that’s super minor and I know very personal, so I definitely don’t want to discourage anyone from giving this a read.

An easy addition to my 2024 favorites for this year.

Cheesy.

It's giving white savior... DNF'd like 70 pages in. Hated the romance-focus: there was absolutely no build up between the characters and suddenly the protagnist just was in love with this married man giving the breadcrumbs, which started to annoy me.

at first i wasn’t sure i was a fan of the writing style, but with every page i was more engrossed in this book. the lives of frankie and the women, feel so real. and in a way i suppose they are, real tidbits of real women who bravely chose to support their country. this book kept me up at night. thinking of the things that they must have seen. feeling so deeply how it changed their lives and how the adjustment in to civilization must have been so isolating. i have so many thoughts. so many feelings. it was profound in a way that i will think of this book, and the way it opened my eyes to all veterans (especially Vietnam) for years to come and how i will never forget to be compassionate to those involved.

THERE WERE WOMEN IN VIETNAM

🤍

I knew nothing about this book other than seeing in the top 10 for months and months. I would never have sought a “war” book but so glad I picked it up. A side and emotions of the war we never see

This was my January book club read for work & it's definitely my favorite book club read so far.

This is the story of Frances “Frankie” McGrath, a 21 year old girl who signs up to be a nurse in the Vietnam War. This story is full of love, camaraderie, friendship, heartbreak, and betrayal. The first half of the book is a firsthand look into Frankie's life in Vietnam, while the second half is her trying to fit back into a normal society.

Now, I will be honest, I knew almost nothing about the Vietnam War. I'm only 31 & my parents were VERY young when that War was going on. We learned about it a bit in school.....but not all these gritty details. To say that I was angry & heartbroken reading about how these veterans were treated would be an understatement. I think I spent half of the book mad AF. Frankie was a combat nurse and saw very gory/graphic injuries, assisted with surgeries, & held soldiers' hands as they died. All the while, there were enemy attacks going on very close to them. It was traumatic. So when she comes back from the war, she begins struggling with nightmares, flashbacks, hyper-arousal, trouble concentrating, etc. Which in turn makes her have some self destructive behaviors. In our present day world, we know that she is experiencing PTSD. Back then, that was a new diagnosis that wasn't getting the recognition that it deserved. There was NO help for women. People even told her that women weren't even in Vietnam. The people that did know that she went to Vietnam kept telling her that she needed to forget about it and move on. (Cue steam coming out my ears.) So that's what she tried to do & without the help she so desperately needed, there were some poor choices made.

There was so much more to this book but I can't really go into details without some major spoilers. When it comes down to it, I will absolutely recommend this book. There's definitely a reason why 99.9% of the patrons that read it at work came in and just had to tell us what an amazing book this was!

Trigger Warnings: (& possible spoilers)
Alcohol, Anxiety, Attempted suicide, Burn victims (including children), Car accident, Child death,
Death, Death of a loved one, Drug overdose, Emesis, Explosions & bombings, Familial death, Fatal injuries (including children), Gassing (tear gas during a protest, brief), Graphic blood, gore & injury depiction, Grief and loss, Gun violence, Infidelity, Medical procedures, Mental health issues, Military violence & Vietnam War (theme) including mentions of chemical gassing, Miscarriage, Psychiatric hospitalization, PTSD, Serious illness (stroke, parental), Sexism & Sexual harassment.

Also,
Fuck you Rye.

Kinda wish I'd DNF'ed. The first half was intense, with Many Valuable Elements crammed in: Plucky Young Woman Gets Rude Awakening, check. Horrors Of War, check. Despair Over Senseless Tragedy, check check check. Sexism Racism comma Suitable Outrage Expressed, check. The second half changed focus, more toward reintegration and Meaning and PTSD, all crafted with Sensitivity And Tact, all of it carefully engineered to manipulate your ire and sympathy and tears.

This could've been a knockout. A lighter touch, a little less bathos; sometimes less is more. Maybe the protagonist could've been a tad less rich talented beautiful privileged. Or the romance angles less predictable, the plot elements less formulaic. the auxiliary characters more real. And that's the word I was looking for: Real. There's not enough of it. This just felt like it was assembled from a kit. The pieces are all there, they snap together right where and when they should but the life is missing.

Please disregard anything I say, though: I'm a crotchety old insensitive male jerk.

I don’t even know where to start with my thoughts. Naturally, this book is A LOT in many ways. This was an extremely gripping story- things just kept happening one thing after another. It took me awhile to get through the book- not because it was a slog to read but because there was just so much to unpack. The trauma, grief, denial, and just… everything. 🤯

I loved the writing capabilities of the author, and I think there was a lot of great story aspects about the Vietnam war and it's repercussions on the individuals involved - particular the women.

That being said I was pretty surprised that for a book titled "The Women" how much of the story was dedicated to "the men". More of the story focuses on Frankie's incredible ability to unintentionally attract every married man she encounters into wanting to sleep with her, and her lamenting on how much she wants to but can't because they are married. Multiple of them die, and then come back to life later down the line, and she is surprised when these mean turn out to be liars when she finally does end up with them.

I do even love the focus on her downward spiral, but felt that she became too intentionally unlikable as a character as the reader has to watch her make the same poor decisions over and over again.

I would have given this a bit higher rating but the ending really turned me off. Much of the book is centered around her relationship with her father who lauds all war veterans with photos on his beloved "Hero's Wall." He refuses to put Frankie there because she is a woman, and they fight about it over and over throughout the book. At the very end it seems for a moment he will finally say he will put her on the wall - but that moment is cut short and instead the book ends with Frankie suddenly finding another willing-to-cheat love interest back from the dead, and its implied she gets ends up with him.

I had never heard of Kristin Hannah before - while she is a great author I think her genre of writing is not well suited for my tastes, so take that how you will.

I loved the first 60-70% of this book but then it felt like there could have (should have) been a stopping point long before. It was kind of one thing after another, dragging things out.

She wrapped it up very well, however after reading so many of Kristin Hannah's books, I saw the ending coming halfway through the book. Still a huge Kristin Hannah fan and this book was very good, but I think I like the others of hers that I've read more.

Another great book from the author! Again, she brings out a side of the time period that I never heard of or considered in a very compelling way. I love it when I can;t put a book down and this was one of them. I was engaged with the main character and felt with her all the joys, triumphs, heartbreak, struggles, demons etc. You think you know a time period or about the Vietnam War from the history books and historical commentary but you don't. This book vividly displays that and I'm so glad I read it.

Hannah's books have become solid for me- I can rely on them to be good reads.

This one is certainly stronger in the first half of the novel, but still overall, a really interesting and impactful novel that delves into the complexities of service in the Vietnam War. The women who remained unrecognized and denied for so long have such powerful stories and they deserve and need to be told. I gained appreciation for a group of people I had never considered, never knew that their service was diminished and denied for so long.

This novel does a good job at showing how public outrage though deserved, morally correct, and necessary can still create incredibly damaging scenarios for many folks who ultimately were not aiming to be evil. It's the government's shortcomings to blame, but human nature can lead to a labeling mentality that is hard for any side to heal from. I think Hannah handles the fragile and complex nature of these intricacies.

We don't forget our sadness or grief, we hopefully learn from it and grow beyond it.

I learned about the Vietnam War in Vietnam, so I knew what I was in for with this book, but it was still a hard read.

Yet, I learned more about the post-war era and how poorly people treated war vets from this book.

Frankie isn't the heroine I'd imagined, but no one really is in any situation until they're forced to dig deep and push through.

People laughed to keep from crying, and I was able to laugh with them to some degree. I felt like I spent so much time with Frankie that when that quiet exchange happened on page 459, I teared up.

The historical detail in this book is impressive, but never overtakes the characters or their arcs. There were several soap opera twists and turns that I can forgive in favor of how satisfying this book was to read.

The women by kristin hannah

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book definitely should come with trigger warnings.

Trigger warnings include pregnancy loss/miscarriage, drug addiction, and suicidal ideation.

It was a really good book though that ending i was definitely expecting that final twist. The different twists really got me a few times but this book was definitely one i wont forget. I loved this one as much as i loved the four winds and firefly lane and the nightingale. Definitely recommend but definitely keep the trigger warnimgs in mind.

Holy shit wow I don't have words to describe I literally loved this book so much wow

Longer than it needed to be. The first half moved better; second half was pretty sluggish.

Such an important story to be told! I can see why this book is getting so much buzz. I was totally hooked. Thank you to my friend who sent it to me. So important that students of American history at this to their understanding. Hannah put her protagonist through a lot and I wonder if that was hard for her. It made for challenging reading, but rewarding also

Well, I tried a Kristen Hannah book. I got a few hours into the lackluster, white savior plot before calling it when the surgeon says, “you have no idea how beautiful you are, McGrath.” C'est fini.
For a great, all the feels war book, read Good Night, Irene.

I love how Kristin Hannah weaves a story in with her historical fiction plotlines. Frankie was so young and naive with her privileged background, it's a wonder she survived the whole thing. I enjoyed learning a bit about what went on during the Vietnam War, and it has made me curious to learn more. Now I am sad that I have to wait for Hannah to write and publish her next book.

Heartbreaking and inspiring, this tale of the women who served in Vietnam as nurses provide some eye-opening accounts that help illustrate the horrors of the Vietnam war both in country and when veterans came back home. I had very little idea of the nitty gritty of the Vietnam war, much less of the women who served.

It's gritty, graphic, full of horrific scenes, but intertwined with lot of heart and hope. I didn't feel it glorified the war and didn't shy away from criticism of the American government or describing the injustices and horrific acts the Vietnamese people had to endure.

This wasn't an easy read. Please look up trigger warnings for this novel, but off the top of my head keep in mind there are graphic descriptions of injury, death, mentions of children dying, infidelity, miscarriage, addiction, PTSD, and suicide. Nonetheless, if you feel able to read this story, it will be worth it. It's beautifully written and shares important aspects of the history of this conflict.

I would give this 10 stars if I could

I'd give this book ten stars if I could. I finished reading in sprints. I'd sleep two hours, read a chapter or two, then sleep two more hours. I not only couldn't put it down, I am moving and I needed to pack it. But I had to finish. I love this book. It's about an era I lived through and didn't understand. Mostly because I was dating a veteran at the time and I couldn't understand what he had gone through. And he didn't talk about it with me. I knew he started life as a country boy who loved to hunt and fish. The military took these skills and made him a sniper.I watched him suffer through fits of depression, addiction, and an inability to commit or sleep or do a dozen other things. This book explained so much to me. What he went through, his bad dreams, and how that poisoned our relationship. Oddly enough, I received a phone call 30 years after our breakup with an apology. I also didn't understand that either until I read this book.The Vietnam “Conflict” was not well understood. I protested with veterans which gave me a different perspective than the average peacenik at the time. So part 1 of the book helped me understand the war years, and part 2 helped me understand the aftermath. I can't believe a book of fiction, though well researched, could affect me so deeply. It seemed all that the protagonist Frances (also my middle name) went through, was directly connected to me, even down to the city where the book ended which was where my relationship ended with my vet. I don't think this is a book I could read again. My emotions are still that raw, always have been when a quandary persists in your life for decades. Now I know more. I think I understand. It's a good and peaceful feeling with just a touch of sadness and regret.That's how this tremendous book affected me. I doubt anyone who lived through the war years could be unaffected. It was not just a great read; it was a learning experience. Thank you, [a:Kristin Hannah 54493 Kristin Hannah https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1517255843p2/54493.jpg]!

This story needed to be told. And I'm glad that Kristin Hannah is who told it. Very well-written book that sucked me right in. Vietnam was definitely the war that was not talked about by my family, so the book was quite educational to me.

Omg this was SO beautiful. So empowering. So inspiring. So heartbreaking. Kristin Hannah NEVER disappoints.

In her book The Women, Kristin Hannah has written another emotional historical fiction novel that immerses readers in a turbulent period in history, one that is not so prevalent in historical fiction writing. This book tells the story of Frankie McGrath, Army nurse during the Vietnam conflict, who faces difficult situations both during her time in Vietnam and in the years after she returns home as a veteran. Frankie's story demonstrates that “women can be heroes too.”

Hannah divides Frankie's story into two parts. In Part 1, Frankie enlists in the Army as a nurse in order to follow her brother to Vietnam and to earn herself a spot on her father's “Heroes Wall.” Most of the plot in this part of the book takes place in Vietnam where Frankie experiences the brutality of war up close. Though the experience takes a toll on Frankie's emotions and beliefs, it also introduces her to two other nurses, Barb and Ethel, who become her best friends and support system.

In Part 2, Frankie is back home in California struggling to integrate back into everyday life. The world has changed, and people do not treat her as she expected. Even her family does not acknowledge or value her service to her country, so Frankie has to figure out who she is beyond being an Army nurse.

The best part of this book is the female friendship between Frankie, Barb, and Ethel. Hannah writes female relationships so well. They become a found family that supports one another no matter the circumstances. Barb, especially, is always there to pick Frankie up when she stumbles, no questions asked. Hannah writes, “Thank God for girlfriends. In this crazy, chaotic, divided world run by men, you could count on women.” So true!

There are many other aspects to praise in this book. The book is well-paced and easy to read with straightforward storytelling. I was thoroughly immersed in the settings and sped through chapters to see what would happen next. The historical context of the Vietnam conflict is highly engaging and interesting. I immediately wanted to research events referenced in the book. Frankie's experiences are vividly depicted and lead to some very emotional reading moments. Hannah's books always make me feel connected to the characters so that their hardships have a strong impact on me.

One thing I wish had been handled differently is the development of Frankie's romantic relationships. The relationships she engaged in while in Vietnam are too quickly developed without enough time taken to create an understanding of why these characters fall in love. I could not buy in to these romances because there wasn't enough foundation for them. Honestly, I feel that the book does not need romance in it at all. The story of Frankie, her family, and the women she befriends is enough in itself.

Would I recommend this book to other readers? Absolutely. It is informative, entertaining, heartbreaking, and inspiring. Another excellent book by a gifted writer!