The Women
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.
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Community Reviews
I decided in 2025 I was going to read my first historical fiction. I am a thriller girl and historical fiction scared me! I listened to this one in hopes to make it a little easier. I also had never read anything by Kristin Hannah. I was so invested in Frankie. I hated her parents for the way they treated her. Don't even get me started on Ry, cannot even with him.
That ending. I kept thinking HE was still alive but had started to give up on that and boom. I was already in my feels when her dad said what he said to her and being at the wall....so amazing. I was crying so hard. I am buying this and reading it again! Loved it!!!
What’s it about?
Frankie McGrath is just 21-years-old when she impetuously decides to follow her older brother to Vietnam as an Army nurse. She is initially overwhelmed by the chaos, but she finds her footing and becomes indispensable to her team. She makes friendships that will last a lifetime, but finds the transition home to be difficult at best. This is a story about the women who served in Vietnam.
What did it make me think about?
Vietnam was the backdrop to my childhood. I remember Walter Conkrite reading the death toll on the CBS evening news (while wearing my POW bracelet). This story was almost like opening a time capsule from the late 1960’s to the early 1970’s.
Should I read it?
This is a page-turner for sure. I especially enjoyed the first half of the book when Frankie is in Vietnam. Kristin Hannah has a flare for the dramatic- which sometimes is a little too much for me. When every emotion is heightened at all times, you begin to feel a little battered down. However, all the drama makes for an easy read. I also dawned on me that this era will not be familiar to many readers. Kristin Hannah has taken a time in history and developed a story that will inform younger generations. Her novel demonstrates what the world was like for women in 1968. It was such a tumultuous time period- and yet I had forgotten how divided the country was.
Quote-
“As bad as it had been in Nam, as frightened and angry and betrayed as she’d often felt by her government and the war, she’d also felt alive. Competent and important. A woman who made a difference in the world. This place would forever hold a piece of her heart. Here, she had found her place in the world, and she was afraid that ‘home’ was no longer the place she wanted it to be.”
In 1965 Frances "Frankie” and her Brother Finley McGrath are living a carefree and luxury life. They live with their parents on Coronado Island in California. Finley and Frankie spending long summer days surfing, since their front yard was the beautiful beach.
Finley goes to the Naval Academy after graduation. Hoping to be among the photos on his father’s “Hero’s Wall” proudly displayed on his office. In the midst of the Vietnam War, Finley is sent to Vietnam to serve his country. Frankie is besides herself with her brother gone and her parents trying to get Frankie to become a secretary and a wife.
One day, word comes that Finley’s helicopter was shot down and he has been killed. There were no remains to send home. This leaves the McGrath family with so many unanswered questions.
Frankie decides that she can become a Nurse and go find Finley’s remains in Vietnam. She is enlisted into the Army Nurse Corps. When she finally gets in country, Naive Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of the war.
This story is written about the women nurses in the Vietnam War. We learn about Frankie’s story, but also about those same women coming home, and having to continue to fight for themselves. Many of the women ended up with PTSD, flashbacks, and nightmares but they couldn't get the help they needed, due to the government thinking since they did not “see action”, they did not need the help like the men did.
I love Frankie’s character. Knowing that the world was changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. She went in thinking that she needed to be on her father’s “Hero Wall”, but little did she know that she would become her own hero, and that is all she needed. I enjoyed the female friendships that were formed and lasted a lifetime. Overall, this is my favorite Kristin Hannah book.
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