In Kristin Hannah's The Women, twenty-one-year-old Frankie McGrath makes a decision that alters her life forever. Fresh out of nursing school in 1966, Frankie signs up with the army to serve as a nurse in Vietnam. She hopes to keep an eye on her older brother Finley, already there. Right before Frankie leaves, the family gets word of Finley being killed in action and their grieving father adds his picture to the McGrath family "hero wall".
Upon reaching Vietnam, Frankie is thrust into a violent, dangerous situation. Between holding the hands of barely-able-to-shave young men while they die, assisting in traumatic amputations, and holding a napalm-burned baby while she fades away, Frankie learns what she's made of. She puts aside her own terror to provide comfort and care for the victims pouring into her hospital bearing egregious wounds of all sorts. Quickly working her way up to be a top-level surgical nurse, Frankie's own life is put in peril time and again as her hospital and chopper are repeatedly targeted by the enemy.
The two tours Frankie serve fill her with pride and confidence. However, upon returning stateside she is spit at, called a nazi bitch and a baby-killer. Frankie is told repeatedly that there were no women in Vietnam. Maybe worse, she finds out her parents lied to everyone about where she was out of embarrassment because they believe "women don't serve in war". The lack of a spot on her own father's hero wall and complete disregard of her experience shown to her by potential employers begin to stir up a dark anger in Frankie. While nightmares send her careening onto the floor screaming, by day Frankie learns that "quiet is the perfect camouflage for pain". She shoves her trauma down deep and begins to unravel; she only finds comfort in bottles as well as her fellow nurse veteran friends. A marine vet says to Frankie one day, "Ain't no World War Two victory parade for us".
Kristin Hannah portrays a country that mistreated and dismissed its hundreds of thousands of Vietnam vets. They were made to feel shame for serving their country in the war. Furthermore, the women that served as nurses in Vietnam were simple forgotten. None were shown the honor and respect they deserved. As Hannah writes, they "went into it a patriot, and came out a pariah". In fact, the Vietnam Vet Memorial wall in Washington D.C. wasn't even built until 1982 and was spearheaded by the vets themselves, not our government.
Frankie's tumultuous love story saga weaves through The Women, providing an excellent contrast for the backdrop of this tumultuous era. That combined with the music and clothing of the decade come together to form a colorful and educational read. This gut-wrenching, maddening and riveting work of historical fiction gets a resounding five stars out of five.
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