Book Review by Pat Allchorne: The Women by Kristin Hannah
I must confess to knowing next to nothing about the Vietnam war; nothing, in fact, save that it involved the Americans and the Vietnamese.
This book, about a young American girl who joins the Army Nurse Corps in the wake of her brother Finley joining the navy, gives just half of its text to the actual war. The remainder of the book devotes itself to the effect of that war on its participants.
Frances – “Frankie” – McGrath is brought up in a house where appearances matter. Doing the right thing matters. Her father’s study has one wall covered in family photographs, notably a grandfather and great-grandfather in uniform, the former with a war medal from the first world war. It was her father’s hero wall. When Finley’s friend Rye finds Frankie in the study at her brother’s going-away party, he makes the comment that “women can be heroes”.
That remark is the turning point for Frankie. It is 1966, attitudes are changing, and her mother’s view that Frankie’s nursing career will only last till she marries and has children has been drummed into her from an early age. When she nurses a soldier who has lost his leg in Vietnam, the pull towards being of more use than she was at present doing mundane nursing jobs becomes stronger, and she tries to sign up with the navy, and then the air force. Both reject her on the grounds of not enough experience. The army, however, takes her on for basic training.
She cannot understand why her parents aren’t proud of her. They were proud of her brother for enlisting; their reaction to her news was “what will we tell people?” As she tries to get them on board, two naval officers knock on the door, with the news that Ensign Finley McGrath has been killed in action, shot down in a helicopter, no remains.
The news that reinforces her parents’ feelings that she shouldn’t go, only reinforces her own that she should. Second Lieutenant McGrath sails through basic training and flies off to Vietnam.
Her accommodation is a small hut kitted out with three beds and not much else. It is hot and smells of mildew. The other two beds are obviously taken; their occupants arrive shortly after: a black woman and a redhead, both blood-spattered. These two turn out to be the best friends Frankie ever had; Barb and Ethel, both well-versed in combat nursing and a mine of information.
Frankie is thrown in at the deep end; from doing minor nursing jobs back home she is thrust into the emergency room with badly wounded soldiers arriving in droves; some with severed limbs, some with gaping chest wounds. Learning has to happen quickly on the job; there is no time for more training. It is exhausting but exhilarating; sleep has to be grabbed when possible, and she becomes a nurse who can do a tracheotomy or suture a deep wound post-op.
In the midst of all the chaos Frankie falls in love, not once, but twice. There is Jamie, the surgeon she works with. Being a good Catholic girl this relationship only goes so far.
Then there is Rye, her brother’s best friend, who had told her that women could be heroes too. She falls for Rye in a way that, for her, is unstoppable. He is as necessary to her as breathing.
When Frankie’s leave comes, she refuses it and signs up for second stint. Arriving home eventually after a couple of years’ combat nursing, she finds that her parents have told everyone that she has been away in Florence, ashamed of the truth of what she has been doing. When she tries to join a veterans’ association she is refused; “there were no women in Vietnam”. Nobody believes where she has been, despite the fact that nurses have been killed since she came home, as the fighting became more intense. Protesters are everywhere, trying to get the war stopped and calling ex-soldiers baby-killers as they hear of villages being bombed.
The attitudes Frankie meets with wherever she goes take their toll on her mental health. She is still in contact with Barb and Ethel by letter and the occasional phone call, and when things come to a head they turn up to rescue her. Her recovery is long and slow, but the determination which made her an excellent nurse stands her in good stead, with the help of those who love her.
Eventually a memorial is raised to the women who fought; about 10,000 women were stationed in Vietnam, mostly as nurses but also in air traffic control and military intelligence. Most of these came home to “there were no women in Vietnam”.
The novel is powerful, both in its story and in its emotions. It is not always an easy read, but it is a story which needs to be told. Kristin heard first-hand experiences from those who had been there, and so her story has an undeniable authenticity. It is inspiring; we should be grateful to her for exposing the horrors of a war that were covered up for a time.
It is a story of love, of loss, of deep friendship and loyalties, of triumph over situations that most of us feel we would not cope with. Truly we only know our own strength when put to the test and hidden depth of character is revealed.
ABOUT THE BOOK
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.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR | WEBSITE
Kristin Hannah is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels including the international blockbuster, The Nightingale, which was named Goodreads Best Historical fiction novel for 2015 and won the coveted People's Choice award for best fiction in the same year. It was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, iTunes, Buzzfeed, the Wall Street Journal, Paste, and The Week. In 2018,
The Great Alone became an instant New York Times #1 bestseller and was named the Best Historical Novel of the Year by Goodreads.
The Four Winds was published in February of 2021 and immediately hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Indie bookstore's bestseller lists. Additionally, it was selected as a book club pick by the both Today Show and The Book Of the Month club, which named it the best book of 2021.
Firefly Lane, her beloved novel about two best friends, was the #1 Netflix series around the world, in the week it came out. The popular tv show stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke and Season Two is currently set to conclude the series on April 27, 2023.
Her new novel, The Women, about a young woman coming of age during the turbulent 1960's in America, who joins the Army Nurse Corps and serves in Vietnam will be published February 6th, 2024.
A former attorney, Kristin lives in the Pacific Northwest.
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