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A Novel
by Kristin HannahFrom master storyteller Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds, comes the story of a turbulent, transformative era in America: the 1960s.
"Women can be heroes, too."
When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed and politically divided America.
The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on the story of all women who put themselves in harm's way to help others. Women whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has all too often been forgotten. A novel of searing insight and lyric beauty, The Women is a profoundly emotional, richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose extraordinary idealism and courage under fire define a generation.
One
CORONADO ISLAND, CALIFORNIA
MAY 1966
The walled and gated McGrath estate was a world unto itself, protected and private. On this twilit evening, the Tudor-style home's mullioned windows glowed jewel-like amid the lush, landscaped grounds. Palm fronds swayed overhead; candles floated on the surface of the pool and golden lanterns hung from the branches of a large California live oak. Black-clad servers moved among the well-dressed crowd, carrying silver trays full of champagne, while a jazz trio played softly in the corner.
Twenty-year-old Frances Grace McGrath knew what was expected of her tonight. She was to be the very portrait of a well-bred young lady, smiling and serene; any untoward emotions were to be contained and concealed, borne in silence. The lessons Frankie had been taught at home and at church and at St. Bernadette's Academy for Girls had instilled in her a rigorous sense of propriety. The unrest going on across the country these days, erupting on city streets and college...
What is your book club reading in 2025?
...he World by Patrick Bingley Rednecks by Taylor Brown Headshot by Rita Bulwinkel The Madstone by Elizabeth Crook The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot The Women by Kristin Hannah Sorrowful Mysteries by Stephen Harrigan Orbital by Samantha Harvey The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali The Secret Life of Sunflowers by Marta M...
-Anne_Glasgow
National Book Awards
I enjoyed James very much. The story had many twists and turns, which kept it going. The book that I wanted to win was The Women by Kristin Hannah. It is such a wonderful story.
-Anna_Robinson
Based on years of research and guidance from real-life Vietnam War nurses, The Women vividly describes the horrors of war and the beauty of friendship and forgiveness while honoring the women whose service in Vietnam has been largely ignored...continued
Full Review (719 words)
(Reviewed by Jordan Lynch).
In Kristin Hannah's The Women, nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath joins the Army Nurse Corps and is shipped overseas to serve as a combat nurse in the Vietnam War. Upon returning home, Frankie spends years running from her trauma until she eventually finds a way to share her experiences. At the end of the novel, she stands before the newly unveiled Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and vows to find a way to honor the women like herself who served. Frankie's vow is similar to that of Diane Carlson Evans, who dedicated more than a decade of her life to the creation of the Vietnam Women's Memorial.
Evans served in Vietnam as an Army Corps Nurse from 1966 to 1972. After the ...
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