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A review by serendipitysbooks
The Women by Kristin Hannah
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Like many readers do I’m sure, I’ve noticed that my reading tastes have changed over time, and I had concluded that Kristin Hannah was no longer an author for me. However, something prompted me to pick up The Women and I’m glad I did. It’s not a prize worthy literary masterpiece but it is a good and important story told well, and that was what I was in the mood for. Truth be told it was all I had the mental bandwidth for at the time.
The Women is the story of Frankie McGrath, an army nurse who volunteered in Vietnam for two tours of duty, and went on to struggle with PTSD and the reaction of her family, the American public and even organisations that were supposed to help war veterans, upon her return.
I thought Frankie’s war experiences were well depicted although not for the faint of heart. She worked primarily as a surgical nurse and neither the horrific nature of the injuries she treated nor the reality of brutally long hours, sometimes under fire, were shied away from. Frankie’s struggles back in America, her descent into addiction, her suicidal feelings were harder to read - and sometimes too drawn out. Yet it was important to read since Frankie’s experiences were a reality for so many Vietnam vets. That women vets struggled to even get recognised, with so many Americans refusing to believe women were there or failing to recognise that the trauma seen in hospitals was as damaging as that seen in combat, was infuriating - and instructional since it was something I’d not been aware of before. I appreciated the breadth and depth of the storytelling with many different strands woven into Frankie’s experiences. These included a complicated relationship with her parents, a wonderfully supportive friendship with Barb and Ethel who always had her back, several romantic relationships with twists both expected and unexpected, fertility struggles, as well as the struggle for civil rights (admittedly this wasn’t gone into in great detail)and America’ slow reckoning with its treatment of Vietnam veterans.
I could definitely find things to critique in this book but overall I still found it an enjoyable, well told story.
The Women is the story of Frankie McGrath, an army nurse who volunteered in Vietnam for two tours of duty, and went on to struggle with PTSD and the reaction of her family, the American public and even organisations that were supposed to help war veterans, upon her return.
I thought Frankie’s war experiences were well depicted although not for the faint of heart. She worked primarily as a surgical nurse and neither the horrific nature of the injuries she treated nor the reality of brutally long hours, sometimes under fire, were shied away from. Frankie’s struggles back in America, her descent into addiction, her suicidal feelings were harder to read - and sometimes too drawn out. Yet it was important to read since Frankie’s experiences were a reality for so many Vietnam vets. That women vets struggled to even get recognised, with so many Americans refusing to believe women were there or failing to recognise that the trauma seen in hospitals was as damaging as that seen in combat, was infuriating - and instructional since it was something I’d not been aware of before. I appreciated the breadth and depth of the storytelling with many different strands woven into Frankie’s experiences. These included a complicated relationship with her parents, a wonderfully supportive friendship with Barb and Ethel who always had her back, several romantic relationships with twists both expected and unexpected, fertility struggles, as well as the struggle for civil rights (admittedly this wasn’t gone into in great detail)and America’ slow reckoning with its treatment of Vietnam veterans.
I could definitely find things to critique in this book but overall I still found it an enjoyable, well told story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, War, Violence, Mental illness, Death, Addiction, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Miscarriage and Misogyny