The Women is a book by Kristen Hannah (the author famous for writing The Nightingale). It is set during the Vietnam War era and follows the story of an American woman, Frances McGrath who after graduating college, decided to join the Vietnam War as a nurse.

Frances was naive about the Vietnam War, when she enrolled and she was not very different from other American citizens at that time. In Vietnam, she quickly got used to the brutalities of the war, along with the long shifts that nurses serve. Treating wounded, amputated and blasted soldiers day in and day out became her routine. She also realised that the American government constantly lied about the casualties of the war. She became friends with two fellow nurses, and the camaraderie between them becomes a constant thing in her world.

The story also follows Frances after she comes back to America from the war. The America she left before starting her tenure was no longer the same. This time, Americans start learning about the atrocities committed by the American military in Vietnam and started looking at any war veterans as bad people. Added to that, Frances becomes confused that the world around her is not the same, and she grapples to get a grip on her life. The service she made for the country was forgotten by everybody around her, and she was constantly made to think shamefully of her Vietnam war experience.

The story goes through many other phases of the Vietnam War and shows how Frances struggles to keep a grip on her life. Frances, like many other war veterans at that time faced Post traumatic Stress Disorder.

This story gives us a glimpse of the life a serving nurse faced during the war time, and how she was not given respect, discriminated for her service, back in America. Kristin Hannah, the author, does a wonderful job with the story. You would be teleported to Frances’ world, feeling the same joys and struggles that she was facing in the story. This story is special as it not only talks about the highs and lows of the Vietnam war, it digs deep into Frances personality. We also learn and witness many romantic relationships in Frances life. This book is definitely recommended for anyone wanting to read a war story from the perspective of a women nurse, and also learn about the wider Vietnam War context.

Have you read the book? Let me know what you thought about the story.