As a woman who went to war, there is so much I relate to in this book. Disorientation upon arrival. Incoming. Helicopter travel. Long days. And nights. Disorientation on going home. Not connecting with people. Startled at loud noises. Finding, after a while, my footing in the real world. I am glad I read this. I feel seen. P.S. I now work near a small airport that supports small military aircraft. Sometimes at night, when I listen to a black hawk helicopter coming in, it reminds me of "being there," and I find solace in that sound.

This is my fistt Kristin Hannah book, and I LOVED it! Self confession, I’m a 3rd generation OR RN. So while I’ve never closed up a wound on the war front like Frankie, I resonated with her SOOOOOO much! That feeling of being green and ‘a bump on a log’, when the surgeon needs something from you NOW, at the beginning is real. The second half, when Frankie got back to America, I read that in one night. I couldn’t put this book down. After reading this, how I wish my Grandmother was still alive. The questions I could wish I could ask her… 🥲😢

That (can I say f…ing) war!! I was 11 in 1966 when my beloved brother, my only sibling, graduated HS and voluntarily joined the Army so he could go to Vietnam. That’s what all the men in my family did. The men glorified their horrific experiences in WWII. WWII vets were celebrated as heroes. My brother was in Vietnam for 4 years 1966-1970. He re-enlisted for God only knows why. Finally, when I was 15, he came home. Bobby was not the same person I knew. He tried to talk to my father about his experiences in Nam. My brother was disillusioned by the way the war was being handled by LBJ, by the way Vietnam vets were treated by not only the Hippies and war protestors but by our own father. My father was furious about my beloved brothers attitude, considered him unpatriotic. My brother reported getting spit at, yelled at when traveling home in his dress uniforms through the US airports. To make a long story short, my brother cut himself off from everyone and moved from Rochester, NY to Maui, Hawaii for 20 yrs, then to Ensenada Mexico where he died at 58 yrs old 12/8/2006 from prostate cancer r/t agent orange exposure. Because of that f….ing war, I had to live my life without my brother. This book brought back so many bad memories, buried memories for me. Not the gory events but so many other things were familiar to me. I feel in some ways that I could’ve written this book. I felt the heartache, loneliness and loss same as the characters in this book. In HS, I rarely talked about my brother being in Vietnam because I was too devastated and didn’t want my friends to know my heartache. That war ruined my family. I’m glad I read this book because it validated my heartache, loss, and loneliness that i still feel to this day. There are just some heartaches in life that you never get over. You just learn to live with the pain. Because of “losing” my brother in Vietnam, I worked as a nurse for 26 years with kids with cancer. That’s a good thing that came from my loss. In 2006, I got a call from a Mexican Dr that my brother had died in his apartment in Mexico. It took an Act of Congress, but within 2 weeks, I was on my way with my daughter to Mexico to claim my brothers body , have him cremated and bury him at home in a shared niche with my parents. I arranged for The Vietnam Vets Honor Guard to honor my brother at his Funeral Mass. They came, not dressed in their dress uniforms but dressed in Army Fatigues. I didn’t ask but I knew why. All of those guy were spit on in their Dress Uniforms when they came home. They honored my brother and presented me with a flag. I needed that closure. My brother served our Country honorably and he was treated like shit when he came home. He deserved way better and I made sure he got it.

Thank you for the review! I just finished reading The Women, and it really brought back memories of that period. It was tough for our country as well as personally, and reliving it through this book was pretty painful. It's a wonderful book and so well written, but I can't say I loved reading it. Thanks!

I listened to the audiobook and loved it. It kept me engaged the entire time. It was so well written and felt so real that I googled it to see if Ms. Hannah had served herself. It turned out that she just felt very passionate about it and very dedicated to research .

Great review - I am looking forward to reading this one!

I'm with you - Kristin Hannah's character development is on another level! I felt like I knew these women personally by the end. Has anyone else read "The Nightingale" by her? Wondering if it has the same immersive vibe as "The Women" - might need to be my next read!

Great review! I feel the same way about the middle section of the book and wished to read more about how she put her life back together.

Thank you so much for taking the time for this review. I have been on the fence about “The Women” but you have just pushed me to the buying side 😊

You are such a friendly face to check in with. I love your videos. Great recommendations!

I loved the book … I thought the zero communication from the military about what really happened to Jamie was a bit far fetched. I mean, no one from that unit was curious as to what happened to him. Other than that, thoroughly enjoyed the book.

The first 150 pages were well written…the second half like a harlequin romance novel..

agreed!!!

Please review The Wedding People by Alison Espach

I enjoyed this book immensely. I gave it 4 stars also. I’ve recommended it to many ppl including those who didn’t ask for it 😂