Emily May's Reviews > The Women
The Women
by
4 1/2 stars. Kristin Hannah certainly knows how to take a sledgehammer to your heart and she is NOT afraid to do it.
Hannah's reads are so powerful and harrowing that I can forgive a few negatives, like here I think the major plot points of the story are quite predictable-- yet they still hit me like a ton of bricks, their impact not lessened by the fact I'd seen them coming. Maybe this one was easier to predict as I'm getting used to the author's formula. Her novels take us to vastly different times and places but she uses similar tricks to engage the reader. I’m not complaining: it works.
This book is an epic on women in the Vietnam War. Hannah introduces us to bright-eyed and naive nurse Frances "Frankie" McGrath, who longs for a place on her father's "Hero's Wall" and so volunteers for service in Vietnam.
It is an understatement to say she didn't know what she was getting into. Frankie finds herself in hell on Earth, struggling to help put together men who have been blown apart, watching Vietnamese children die from napalm burns, losing friends for a cause none of them even understand. Those sensitive to graphic depictions of injuries should steer clear-- as a nurse in Vietnam, Frankie witnesses some of the most horrific things in our world.
But this is not just a story about the war itself. It is a story of a young woman's growth, aging impossibly in a short amount of time. Her friends, Barb and Ethel, keep her spirits up at the worst times, and the funny dialogue between them is a major highlight of the novel. She falls in love and this, too, gives her hope for the future.
Only half of this story is set in Vietnam; the other half is about coming home and living afterwards. It's not easy to say which one is more difficult. There was no hero's welcome for those returning from Vietnam. Veterans were cursed at and spat on. Many were left with irreparable damage from their time in the war. For some, it was the loss of a limb. For many, it was the loss of something harder to explain. While psychiatric help began to be offered, it was typically for male veterans.
As with several of Hannah's other books, she once again shines a light on the women who have been erased from history. The female veterans she spoke with for this book told her how they often heard "There were no women in Vietnam." I cannot imagine how it must feel to risk your life, sacrifice your youth and peace of mind, and be told that it didn't even happen.
Another horrible, ugly, powerful book from one of my must-read authors.
As well as graphic injuries, this may not be suitable to those sensitive to depictions of substance abuse and (view spoiler).
by
Women can be heroes.
4 1/2 stars. Kristin Hannah certainly knows how to take a sledgehammer to your heart and she is NOT afraid to do it.
Hannah's reads are so powerful and harrowing that I can forgive a few negatives, like here I think the major plot points of the story are quite predictable-- yet they still hit me like a ton of bricks, their impact not lessened by the fact I'd seen them coming. Maybe this one was easier to predict as I'm getting used to the author's formula. Her novels take us to vastly different times and places but she uses similar tricks to engage the reader. I’m not complaining: it works.
This book is an epic on women in the Vietnam War. Hannah introduces us to bright-eyed and naive nurse Frances "Frankie" McGrath, who longs for a place on her father's "Hero's Wall" and so volunteers for service in Vietnam.
It is an understatement to say she didn't know what she was getting into. Frankie finds herself in hell on Earth, struggling to help put together men who have been blown apart, watching Vietnamese children die from napalm burns, losing friends for a cause none of them even understand. Those sensitive to graphic depictions of injuries should steer clear-- as a nurse in Vietnam, Frankie witnesses some of the most horrific things in our world.
"We've developed the skills to save their bodies, but not their lives," Captain Smith said.
But this is not just a story about the war itself. It is a story of a young woman's growth, aging impossibly in a short amount of time. Her friends, Barb and Ethel, keep her spirits up at the worst times, and the funny dialogue between them is a major highlight of the novel. She falls in love and this, too, gives her hope for the future.
How could she go from red alert sirens and saving lives to butter knives and champagne?
Only half of this story is set in Vietnam; the other half is about coming home and living afterwards. It's not easy to say which one is more difficult. There was no hero's welcome for those returning from Vietnam. Veterans were cursed at and spat on. Many were left with irreparable damage from their time in the war. For some, it was the loss of a limb. For many, it was the loss of something harder to explain. While psychiatric help began to be offered, it was typically for male veterans.
As with several of Hannah's other books, she once again shines a light on the women who have been erased from history. The female veterans she spoke with for this book told her how they often heard "There were no women in Vietnam." I cannot imagine how it must feel to risk your life, sacrifice your youth and peace of mind, and be told that it didn't even happen.
Another horrible, ugly, powerful book from one of my must-read authors.
As well as graphic injuries, this may not be suitable to those sensitive to depictions of substance abuse and (view spoiler).
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Reading Progress
September 18, 2023
– Shelved
February 6, 2024
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Started Reading
February 10, 2024
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Finished Reading
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Arij
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Feb 11, 2024 02:13PM
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I struggle to see how anyone would find this book whitewashed. Is there anything specifically you are concerned about?
I can only hope I was not that dumb. Given how this time was lived and covered, the thought may have been lurking in my mind.
Thanks for a review that makes me think. This is now on my TBR.
It makes many references to the Vietnamese civilian casualties, including the horrific massacre at My Lai. The protagonist is a veteran but she joins the Vietnam Veterans Against the War. I think what the author was trying to say here with regards to patriotism is that many young soldiers and nurses volunteered for this war believing they were patriots fighting for a noble cause, just as their parents did in WW2, and instead they were lied to by the government, fooled into believing that it was a cause that would be worth the loss of life, then blamed when it turned out it was not.
I would say the book concludes that the Vietnam War was an atrocity, a major government overstep, that stole the lives of many innocent Vietnamese and Americans.
Yes, and Americans I'd bet!
Thank you for the clarifications Emily