A review by literaryland_livin
The Women by Kristin Hannah

5.0

20 year old nursing student Francis “Frankie” McGrath has spent her whole life prepping and being told what her future should look like. A happy domestic existence filled with lunch-ins, dinner always ready for her husband, and children running around a white picketed yard. This is what growing up in her sheltered conservative home has conditioned her to believe is all she deserves. Deep inside Frankie longs for more though. When her brother joins the service to fight in Vietnam, she begins to wonder could she contribute as well. She decides to enlist herself into the Army Nurse Corps. From this moment forward Frankie’s life will be a battlefield filled with friendships, bravery, betrayals, death, hardships, and hope. All the while never forgetting that women can be heros too. 

The Women was my first Kristin Hannah read and I now can say I completely understand the hype and love this author and her books receive. It is without a doubt completely well-deserved as this book will go down as one of my favorites of the year. The Women is told with devastating detail about the experiences, injustices, adversities, and obstacles that women who served in Vietnam had to endure. The first half of this book focuses on Frankie and her time working in the hospital during the war, the tragedies she sees, and the bonds/ friendships she makes. With the second half of the book showing the reader a heartbreakingly accurate depiction of life after war. This is not a light read, it’s heavy and emotional. Honestly this books depth was all consuming, as I found myself angry on the many levels of injustices that Frankie had to withstand over the years. Hannah created such realness in these characters that by the end you are left feeling as if you have watched the life story of a woman who you admire greatly unfold. I will most definitely be reading more of Hannah’s books in the future and this will forever be a recommendation to readers everywhere!