Breakaway Books

Authored by Kristin Hannah; Published February 2024; Historical Fiction

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I cannot count how many times The Women was recommended to me this year. It was worth the hype.

The Women follows Frances “Frankie” McGrath as she joins the army to be a combat nurse in Vietnam and then returns to rebuild her life in the United States. I thought this novel would be about the war in Vietnam, and it was, but even more of it was about coming home. It was not neat and tidy, but messy and sometimes tragic. But in spite of the repeated awful events that happen to Frankie, a thread of hope remains throughout the novel.

Frankie is not drafted but instead volunteers to help, and this optimistic spirit is possibly the most devastating casualty in the novel. She is a patriot, raised to value service to her country, and as she realizes that her country is lying to her and the entire population about the state of the war, her patriotism begins to die a slow death. Although I was aware of the scandals around the Vietnam War, it is one thing to know and another to read as Frankie experiences the differences between what she sees in the mobile hospitals and the casualties reported in the media. 

I wish this book had been assigned reading for me—it gives such a vivid picture of both the war and the political atmosphere in the United States surrounding it. It constantly addresses the tension of supporting the war versus supporting the troops. Perhaps most importantly, it shows what post-traumatic stress disorder looks like. It is painful to watch Frankie struggle with her re-entry and resort to alcohol, pills, anything to numb her pain. But as painful as it is, it is also important to witness.

What stood out to me in this novel was the number of times Frankie was told: “There were no women in Vietnam.” It took my breath away to read it; I can only imagine what it must have felt like to hear it. I felt like all of society was gaslighting Frankie—as if she needed more obstacles to overcome in her life. 

This book immerses you in the tense political era of the 1960s that, in some ways, created the country we live in today. It painfully exhibits the mental health consequences of war. And somehow, it did not leave me hopeless. This is not one to miss.