A bright young nurse enlists in the United States armed forces during the Vietnam War with the hope of making a difference, and faces the horrors of war and the turmoil of returning home in The Women, an epic, yet intimate, and heart-wrenching historical fiction saga by Kristin Hannah (The Four Winds). Through meticulous research and intricate character development, Hannah resurrects the voices of war's overlooked heroes: the women.
The social unrest in the United States in 1966 seems far from 20-year-old Frances "Frankie" McGrath's sheltered life in California, as does armed conflict in Vietnam. Her brother enlists, and when Frankie realizes nurses can serve in the military, she races to join up, too. Through Frankie's point of view, Hannah sensitively reckons with the tangle of horrors and heroism attached to one of the United States' most controversial military conflicts, and works in an enormous amount of atmospheric detail, pop-culture references, and historical fact. Book clubs, fans of epic stories with deep character work, and anyone curious about the vital, often ignored contributions of women in war will fall in love with The Women. --Jaclyn Fulwood