Kristin Hannah's "The Women" follows Frances "Frankie" McGrath, a young nursing student who enlists to serve in Vietnam after watching her brother ship off to war. What follows is a harrowing, deeply researched portrait of the 11,000 women who served in Vietnam, most of them nurses.
The Vietnam sections are unflinching. Hannah doesn't shy away from the gore of a wartime surgical unit, and she captures the surreal camaraderie of women living under fire with authenticity. Frankie's friendships with fellow nurses Ethel and Barb give the story its emotional spine.
Where the novel truly distinguishes itself is in the homecoming. Frankie returns to a country that actively denies her service. "Women weren't in Vietnam," people tell her. The VA has no programs for her. Her family is embarrassed. The PTSD chapters are written with a rawness that stays with you.
At 480 pages, the pacing occasionally sags in the domestic middle sections. And some of the romance subplots feel conventional against the war material's intensity. But as a tribute to forgotten service members, this is powerful, important work.
Hannah writes accessible, plot-driven fiction that doesn't compromise on emotional truth. "The Women" is her most significant novel.