Thank you St. Martin’s Press, #partner for the finished copy of The Women in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection.
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press / Macmillan Audio
Published: February 6, 2024
Summary:
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.
My thoughts:
I am so late in writing this review because every time I tried to sit down to write my thoughts, I couldn’t put them into words. I have always loved Kristin Hannah’s books and The Nightingale and Winter Garden are two of my favorites, but this new one just might have topped them. I read this book back in February and have not stopped thinking about it…that’s how powerful it is. It’s one of those books that just doesn’t let go of you – and I implore you to pick it up…you won’t be sorry!
𝘞𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘦𝘴.
Have you ever started a book & just known from the start that it was going to be one of your favorites, possibly a top contender for favorite of the year? That’s how I felt about this one as I read the first chapter…maybe before I even started it.
I was lucky to see Kristin Hannah on tour and I purposely did not read the book beforehand. I wanted to hear her talk about the book and loved getting some insight into why she wrote it, some insight into the characters, and the challenges she had writing it. This really helped me get into the right headspace for this book because it’s not an easy read, but it’s an important one.
This book gutted me in the very best way. I felt such inspiration for Frankie & her fellow nurses for all they are doing while over on the ground during this war. The way the author crafts these characters, especially Frankie, makes her one of the most memorable characters ever. She’s tough and badass, yet also incredibly flawed. She’s also very inspiring to do what she does in this book. I’m not sure I would be able to take on what she does.
This is such an emotional, tough story to read, yet anytime I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it. This one had me feeling all the feelings. It’s such a layered, complex story that needed to be told and I’m so glad that the author finally felt it was time to do so. And I only hope that everyone picks this one up.
Kristin Hannah has never let me down and this book just proves is. I cannot wait to see what she writes next!
Audio thoughts:
When I saw that Julia Whelan was narrating this book, I knew I had to listen to it and just wow! She absolutely nailed it in terms of characterization, pacing and infusing just the right amount of emotion and tension into her voice as needed. And I loved that Kristin Hannah herself narrated the author’s note. It was all-around perfection!
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I found this story repetitive and incipid. Quit about half way in and was sorry I wasted the money.
Author
I don’t know why you felt that need to share that here…but that’s your opinion. I loved the story, as I know many others have, too. We all have our own tastes in reading and obviously this book just wasn’t meant for you.