“It’s all about the men,” Gwyn said. “Did I tell you I tried to join a Vietnam vets talk therapy session in Dallas? It’s always the same thing. ‘You don’t belong. You’re a woman. There were no women in Vietnam.’”
That’s a passage from the end of Kristin Hannah’s newest novel The Women. Frankie McGrath is twenty years old when she enlists as an Army nurse and is sent to Vietnam. She has no idea just how tough it will be. Her two bunk mates, Ethel and Barbara, quickly become her best friends and her best support when she returns to the States.
This novel presents a vivid picture of the medical care on the front lines in Vietnam and what life was like once the Army nurses returned home. The country failed not only to recognize the sacrifice of its soldiers but denied that there were women involved in the war.
When Frankie returns home, she is a lost soul trying to find her way. She uses alcohol and drugs to numb the pain. When she hits rock bottom, she’s committed to a mental health facility that helps her cope with her PTSD and work through the worst of her wartime nightmares. Once she’s back on her feet, she finds her calling in transforming a ranch into a retreat for other women who suffered as she did.
As the book jacket says, this novel “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.” The story ends at the dedication of the Washington, D. C. Vietnam memorial.
If you’ve never thought about the women who served during the Vietnam War, then you must read The Women by Kristin Hannah.
