The Women by Kristen Hannah

Facilitator : Liz Miller Boose

A #1 bestseller on The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and Los
Angeles Times!
From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin
Hannah's The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a
dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.
Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie"
McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world
of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always
prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she
suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to
serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-
whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death,
hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she
meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.
But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in
coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country
that wants to forget Vietnam.
The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women
who put themselves in harm's way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country
has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The
Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage
under fire will come to define an era.