OMG this book was good. Right up there with all of this author's books. It's about a time that I have not read a lot about but was born during. The Vietnam War... The Women of Vietnam. And yes they were there. A very emotional book.
I think this author did a perfect job of making this story flow right off the pages into the heart. Making you feel the pain that these people felt upon returning from Vietnam. The struggles that they all felt but mainly the women who were told repeatedly that "there were no women in Vietnam." Yes there was. In this story they are the brave nurses that worked hard to help the men who were brought in to be sewn up or operated on. Holding a hand while they died. Watching as women and children from the villages were brought in burnt and wounded from a war that they wanted no part of. The emotional turmoil that these women went through, both over there and back at home.
This story tells the story of Frances McGrath. Also called Frankie. It's her story from beginning to end but also tells about some of the friends she made while serving her country. Other nurses, Doctors, soldiers. The Many things she learned about life and especially herself. She was only twenty-one years old when she arrived in Vietnam. Scared and lonely. Not knowing what to expect except what she was no prepared for it in any way. Frankie learned though. She was a good nurse. One of the best. She had two close friends in Ethel and Barb. They became lifelong friends/sisters. She lost so much over there. Friends. Loves.
Coming back to the states was so hard for Frankie. The way people treated her was atrocious. Deplorable. Pretty awful considering she was a vet returning home from a war that should not have been. Even worse was the way the young boys that were shipped right out of high school were treated upon return. They were called names. Spit on. Shunned. Suppose to be silent about Vietnam. Now the same things happened to the women but for some reason it seemed worse for these kids because our country forced the boys to go. Took away their youths. Their lives in so many cases. It was an ugly time for all that served.
Then you get to see how Frankie coped after returning. All she went through. And repeatedly told that women didn't serve in Vietnam. Well they did. They came back with many of the same horrors the men did. Some with even more wounds. The kind you can't see but they are there.
Many of the homeless in this country are vets. From many wars but mostly the Vietnam war. This country literally turned their backs on these women and men. They fought for recognition. To be heard. To be helped. Yet it seems they are still fighting in many ways.
Quote from the book:
1974... "Civil rights and women's rights were a constant battle and the Stonewall riots had put gay rights in the news, too."
Think about that. In 1974 and in 2024 it's almost the same thing and seems to be going backwards at an alarming rate. We all have the right to live in a free country and be treated with respect. Equals.
Thank you #NetGalley, #kristinhannah, #stmartinspress, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.
FIVE stars and I'd give it more if possible. It's so good.
About
From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah's The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.
Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over- whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.
But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
The Women 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. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.
Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over- whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.
But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.
The Women 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. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.
No comments:
Post a Comment