Terrie Robinson's Reviews > The Women

The Women by Kristin Hannah is a Blend of Historical, Literary, and Women's Fiction!

I'll be honest, I was expecting more finesse from Kristan Hannah's writing style and storytelling...

The Women transports the reader, along with the main character, Frances "Frankie" McGrath, to the Thirty-Sixth Evac Hospital in Vietnam, sixty miles from Saigon, within the first four chapters. By the end of the sixth chapter, I shed my first tears. This is an emotional read and, for those of us who remember those years during the Vietnam War, it stirs different memories in each of us...

Overall, the pace of this story is slow, allowing repetition to sneak in. This is especially true after Frankie's return from Vietnam. Her homecoming was heart-wrenching but carried on, chapter after chapter, making the story too long. Perhaps the length would have been better justified if backstories were included for the primary characters. Very little to nothing was provided for any of them.

Early in, the writing felt cumbersome and overly descriptive with flowery prose. The narration sounded throaty, stilted, sometimes monotone, and at other times exaggerated. The story had more telling than showing by the author's use of the story's narrative, rather than focusing on creative writing skills to allow the story to flow naturally. The writing style was my least favorite aspect of this book. It felt clumsy, overdramatic, and at times, snarky.

This was an immersion read with a Kindle copy and an Audible audiobook, narrated by Julia Whelan.

I love the female-focused premise and how the author allows the reader's imagination to proceed beyond the ending of the story. The story is emotional, true to the era, and well-researched. I cried, relived the memories and the music from that time, and appreciated the feeling of authenticity.

The Women has many positive reviews and high ratings and I respect those viewpoints. As in all of my reviews, this critique is my honest opinion. Outlier Island, here I come. It's going to be a lonely place this time around...

2⭐