The Women (2024) by Kristin Hannah is one of the most popular books of 2024.

Intense.

I’d forgotten just how IDIOTIC was the Vietnam War.

The tragedy that befalls Frankie is multilayered, though all of it can be traced back to the moment she impulsively volunteers to be an Army nurse in Vietnam.

Before she knows what’s happened, she’s 2nd Lt. Frances McGrath, arriving at a 400-bed hospital 60 miles from Saigon.

… Frankie has no understanding of what horrors await her.

Her first full day in-country, after helicopters swoop in carrying dozens of gravely injured men, a medic hands her a boot and, when Frankie realizes a foot is still inside, she vomits and then tells anyone who will listen that she’s made a huge mistake.

“I shouldn’t be here,” she gasps.

Washington Post review (subscription)

Kristin Hannah is a story teller of the highest level — something like Nora Roberts.

They both started as Romance novelists, but Hannah is most famous now for her historical fiction.

On the other hand — the first half of the book I enjoyed a lot. Edutainment.

The second half is more of a bland Romance. I quickly grew sick of Frankie’s problems. And finally jumped ahead to the last chapter.

Kristin Hanna lives on Bainbridge Island, WA.