Kristin Hannah has a knack for writing historical fiction about wartime. I last read The Nightingale and had devoured it in one sitting. The Women kept me just as engaged and I stayed up late to finish it.

We get to witness the impacts of the Vietnam War on Frankie McGrath. Raised in a sheltered bubble, she's ready to make her mark on the world by volunteering as an army nurse - with a faint picture of what it entails and all the hopes and dreams of making a difference. Kristin Hannah spears no expense describing the horrors Frankie is thrown into - you either sink or swim while there, and she manages to adapt to the change with the help of two fast friends - Ethel and Barb. While a harsh reality with clearly depicted trauma and unflinching accounts of atrocities that took place, our author's softened this by threading in some romance to this part of the story, and building on the relationships between the three women - Frankie, Ethel and Barb.

While there are quite a few different romance leads in this novel (most of who had their pitfalls), I found the bond with the three friends to be a balm for the rest of the novel. We see Frankie struggle with PTSD on her return from war - her spiraling outlook and at times apathy, anxiety and depression compounded by the shame she feels from the hate the public throws on veterans and soldiers for participating in the war, along with her frustration that no one believes women are in Vietnam.

We get to see a few ups on Frankie's journey towards accepting her new reality, though often times cruelly snatched away, and above all we see the support needed from her friends and family around her to help pull her through. While the middle portion of the book was tough to read, there was some light at the end of the tunnel and I appreciated how Kristin Hannah brought Frankie's arc to a close for this novel. We're left envisioning what might be next for her, and the future looks hopeful, if not altogether a completely happy ending.

Thank you Pan Macmillan and Netgalley for providing me a copy for review!

Although I have read only one Kristin Hannah book in the past, because of her popularity and hype associated with her new books, there was a certain expectation when I started reading this. Unfortunately the book failed to meet that expectation, but I enjoyed listening to the first part of the book. Like most of her other books, the premise is based on actual historical events. In 'The Women', the Vietnam war and the participation of women in the war and the treatment of Vietnam veterans once they returned to America are addressed.

Frances McGrath comes from a family with a long history of decorated war veterans and her dad has photo frames of their family men who fought in various wars -the wall of heroes, in his study. The book is in two parts, the first part being Frankie's experience in Vietnam as an Army nurse and witnessing suffering and death first hand, trying to save soldiers whenever she can and when she cannot just staying next to them and holding their hands in their last moments. She also falls in love in Vietnam only to have her heart broken. She makes life-long friendships and creates memories as well as nightmares that will haunt her the remainder of her life. I really enjoyed reading Part 1 of the book and few events described in the book were so emotional that it brought tear to my eyes.

Part 2 of the book concentrates on Frankie's life after her return from the war. She struggles to fit into a society that expects her to forget Vietnam and just continue living her past life. She cannot talk about her war experiences, in fact her parents are too ashamed to admit that Frankie had been to Vietnam. There is no hero's welcome for Frankie. This part of the book dragged and they were so many chapters that did not do anything to move the story forward. It was appalling to read how so many refused to even accept that women were present in Vietnam. Women's contributions in the war were largely forgotten or ignored. This was an epic story that I enjoyed reading in bits and parts.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy of the book.

I discovered Kristin Hannah with this book and it was really a great discovery.

The book tells the story of Frankie, who enrols to go to Vietnam as a nurse during the Vietnam war. She comes from a well to do family and naively thinks that this will make her dad proud and she will have her place on the hero wall at home. Her time in Vietnam is very rough and she witnesses first hand what a horrible conflict it is. But also she makes solid friendships with other women who are there, like her. Then, she returns to the US and it is harder than she had thought. She suffers terrible post traumatic stress and she finds that society is not admiring the heroes of the Vietnam war, but rather the opposite. She also realises that people think there were no women in Vietnam, they were invisible. She sets out to rebuild herself and to contribute to the voices of the courageous women that were in Vietnam.

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a rough read at times but it is also bringing to life this episode of history through the eyes of our different characters, whether Frankie, her friends, the troops in Vietnam, and others in society like her parents or her employers who did not realise what people returning from Vietnam had gone through and were still going through the rejoin society. The characters are interesting and beautifully written into the story.

It is a well researched book which brings to light the role and situation of women who were in Vietnam. I found the authors' notes interesting and I learned a lot about the context around the book on Kristin Hannah's website. This book is a tribute to all these women whose testimonies found their way into this story and to those who worked tirelessly to give them a voice and a visibility, for example at the Vietnam Women memorial founded by Diane Carlson Evans. It was a very moving insight into a complex moment in history and what it meant for the many whose life were shattered by it.

Well this was definitely an enjoyable and emotional read. It educated me on things that I’d never even considered about the war before and will help bring awareness to all of the women were in Vietnam. Would definitely recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for my review copy of this book.
Been a very long time since a book has moved me so much to bring on tears as well as laughter. This book was one of them.
With unpredictable plot, great characterisation and moving events, this book has been well researched and written with such taste and thought, you would think that the author was there.
Superb.

Wow, what a book. This blew me away with its power and beauty. It's full of love and war and struggle and depth and is an important story told so beautifully. Mesmerising.

Wow, what a book! Hard to put into to words how poignant and hard hitting this book is, Kristen Hannah just has a fantastic way of telling a story and this one will stay with me for a long time!

What an amazing novel from a female war perspective. Some predictable twists and quite a few people raised from the dead but it worked in the novel.
Kept me hooked the whole way

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this e-arc!

Wow. She’s only gone and done it again. I laughed and cried. Hannah knows how to write an emotion provoking book. Everytime I thought we were getting somewhere good for Frankie boy was I wrong but that ending? I’m so please. She deserves the world.

This book was perfection. It was realistic which is what I loved out it so much. Everything was as up and down as real life, because real life doesn’t always happen the way we want but we always find the right path!

Going to Vietnam was the best decision she made in the end. Every part of me sobbed in the last 10% of the book. It was everything I could’ve dreamed about and more. I loved Frankie. I also loved that it took her so long to find herself, her purpose because again it was realistic. We don’t always know who we are, especially, I could imagine post-war. No one would know anything because you’ve just lived in a battlefield the last 2 years.

Again, Hannah’s writing highlighted the detriment to forgetting the role women played in helping in the Vietnam war and all wars since. Women are capable. Women are heros. They can be and they are. They will continue to be.

This piece of women’s fiction is everything I needed in the moment. It was a gentle reminder that women are always forgotten, even when we speak up our experiences are lesser. That female friendships are what hold us together. Some of my longest and best female friendships have shaped me into the woman I am today and will always be grateful for that, and them.

To women everywhere, you are and will always be a hero.

Yet again, Kristin Hannah has ripped my heart out of my chest and jumped all over it. And yet again, I’m just fine with that.

Frankie McGrath volunteers to go to Vietnam as a nurse, in the hope that she’ll be put up on her fathers “Hero’s Wall”. She arrives a naive idealist, and leaves emotionally scarred with no hope of support when she gets home.

In Vietnam, Frankie meets her best friends, who will always be there for her - two equally amazing women. They help her through PTSD, the end of relationships and substance abuse. The three women join the fight for recognition of Vietnam vets - where they are repeatedly told that they couldn’t have been there.

This book is in two parts: Vietnam and its aftermath, and honestly, both halves are equally harrowing.

This is such a powerful story. A story wanting recognition for the female nurses in Vietnam. It certainly puts their experiences out there for everyone to see.

The Women will be a book that I’ll be forcing into friends hands with the promise that they’ll love it, but they’ll be traumatised (I believe I made similar warnings to friends after I read The Nightingale).

Highly recommended.

This wasn’t the book I was expecting when I first read the blurb. I was expecting to sob, but not a single tear was shed!
I found the topic of the book fascinating & it’s made me want to find out more.
BUT unfortunately a few things let this book down… the pace & length… too slow & long.
The drama was worthy of storyline in Eastenders. I mean I get it but poor Frankie just couldn’t catch a break!
Needless to say, the writing was beautiful & it’s not put me off the authors books at all.
3.5*

Incredible. What a gripping read which was hard to put down. The horror of what people lived through and all because they were Jewish. Would highly recommend this book

Frankie McGrath is a young girl that doesn’t quite know what she wants from life. When her brother Finley goes to Vietnam, Frankie decides to join him by becoming an Army Nurse. A great story of loss and trashed and the heartbreak of coming home to a country against the war. Another book from Kristin Hannah.

Wow. I had high expectations of The Women after reading several other of Kristin Hannah's work and adoring it, and this book certainly did not let me down. An incredible read about the women based in Vietnam during the war, but also a wider picture on life for everyone whilst out there and upon return to America. A truly heart breaking read with a main character who was so likeable that you were rooting for her the whole time. I would have no hesitation in recommending this to anyone and everyone. One of my top books of the year so far!

The Women is a novel about the role that women played in the Vietnam war. As with all Kristin Hannah books, its a sprawling epic spanning years and lost love. Frankie honours her families role in the forces and signs up for nursing in the Vietnam war. Her experience is harrowing and life changing but when she returns home people either don't believe that she was there or think her contribution was insignificant. It's a brilliant and beautiful read.

As always, a very well researched and written book by Kristin Hannah although I struggled with the main character a bit. I know I should be more sympathetic and I do really admire these women who go to war but I just didn't find her very likeable I'm afraid. As a record of what the troops went through and particularly their treatment when they came back, the author doesn't hold back. A horrific war made worse by the undoubted atrocities that did happen and the lack of any support or empathy for the veterans.

Stunning prose. The Women is a heartbreaking and raw account of Frankie McGrath, a nurse in the Vietnam War. We follow the ravages of war and the horrific scenes she encountered, alongside her growing skills, and loving friendships and relationships. The fear when war crept closer, the joys in their celebratory moments, then the painstakingly difficult return to civilian life in an America whonhas turned against the Vietnam veterans. The PTSD and lack of recognition as even being a veteran as women "didn't serve" in that war brings fresh challenges. This book serves to remind us that these women did indeed serve ams should be remembered and lauded for their work. Simply brilliant. #thewomen #KristinHannah #netgalley

I was so looking forward to reading this book having loved Hannah’s The Nightingale and I wasn’t disappointed. The characters are beautifully drawn and convincing and I learned so much about the Vietnam War from the perspective of the women who served there. I highly recommend this novel.

Wow, this is quite simply the best book I have read for some time. I highly recommend to anyone. I have read a few of Kristin Hannah’s books but this is by far the best. I was quite young at the time of the Vietnam war so only have vague memories of the time itself but have learned more in the intervening years. This book puts a whole new take on that period of history I had not considered. It will stay with me for a very long time.

Kristin Hannah is fast becoming one of my automatic read authors. Her attention to detail and ability to hook into the reader's emotions is nuanced and I cannot close on of her books without wanting to know more or having fallen a little in love with the characters.

The Women follows Frankie McGrath as she navigates life as an Army nurse in Vietnam and the life she must create when she returns from combat. We are with her as she attempts to save lives at the base hospitals, as she finds moments of joy amidst the chaos and horror of war. We are with her as she falls in love, as she is hurt and heartbroken, as she tries to make sense of the ghost of a veteran she is made to believe she is. Along for the ride are her two best friends - Barb and Ethel - each of whom has their own battles to fight as returned service women.

An extraordinary book that made me gasp, and yell and almost cry. And want to know more about the Vietnam War.

Fabulous must read.