My mom, snister, and I are all reading Kristin Hannah’s The Women right now. It’s about a young female nurse, Frankie, who goes to Vietnam in the late 60s as an army nurse, and her experience there and after returning home.
I haven’t finished it yet (I’m almost to 80%), but four thoughts to share:
- It’s funny, you think you’ve read some 5 star books recently, then you read a Kristin Hannah book and it blows everything out of the water. Maybe she’s just in a league of her own.
- I can see myself doing a Vietnam War deep dive after reading this. Something similar happened after we watched Chernobyl on HBO – I became very interested in the incident/how nuclear power works and read several books about it. (IT WILL FOREVER BLOW MY MIND THAT NUCLEAR POWER IS CREATED TO SPIN TURBINES. It all goes back to turbines.)
- (Slightly spoilery?) Could our girl Frankie just get a freaking break PLEASE? GAH I AM DYING OVER HERE. This book is heavy. (No spoilers for me in the comments please)
- And finally, the theme of the book, which seems to be “don’t talk about hardship, move on and get over it.” I knew that was the mindset of older generations, but listening to this book has made it so clear to me, and so clear how toxic that is. I can’t wait to talk to my mom and snister about it. You know, if we can get Mom to talk about it. Ha.
Just put this on hold at the library – my mom read it a while ago and said it was very good. You just reminded me about it! Thanks 🙂
You’re welcome! Hope you like it too!
I read this book and while I loved the Vietnam aspects of it and the vivid imagery and how immersed you felt in the writing, I found the love story portions so trite and predictable. I knew exactly what was going to happen and I wasn’t wrong. I’d love to discuss this book with you once you’re finished. I hear it’s not really like her other works and friends have told me its not even their favorite book by her so I’ve added others to my “want to read” list. These include The Nightingale and The Great Alone.
Also, the whole “figuring things out on your own” thing has bugged me in several books lately. I’ve been reading a lot of stories about strong women and the idea that they somehow manage the incredible hardships they endure and come out happy and well on the other side without therapy seems unrealistic to me.
Yeah, I kept hoping my instinct would be wrong with things, but so far, it hasn’t been. But it’s not bothering me, other than my heart breaking for Frankie over and over.
I hope they had some other support system?! I am a strong believer in therapy for everyone, but that is not always an option 🙁
Hot take: Hannah is overrated and her books are tedious. There. I said it. And they often glorify violence against women or vigilante justice.
But I’m glad you liked this book. 🙂
LOL, sure you are 😂
I have all All The Feels for The Women. I’ve had mixed results with Hannah but when she is good she is sooooooo goooood.
If I wanted to read another Hannah book what would you pick for me? I loved The Great Alone and hated The Four Winds so much that I almost didn’t read The Women because of it.
That is what my snis and I keep saying – so many feels!
I’ve only read The Nightingale and Night Road. I don’t have memories of the former so I won’t recommend it, but I remember Night Road putting me through the ringer if you are in the mood for that for some reason LOL.
I have heard that about The Four Winds!