The Women by Kristin Hannah

‘Women can be heroes, too’.

Another Kristin Hannah book in the same month. I learned so much about the Vietnam war from reading this. It is stunning, in detail and pain and courage and honesty. I don't know how Hannah does it, but she takes you there. I won't be able to stop thinking about this one for a long time.

From the back

‘Women can be heroes, too’. When twenty-year-old nursing student, Frances “Frankie” McGrath, hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on California’s idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl. But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different path for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurses Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the young men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed America. Frankie will also discover the true value of female friendship and the heartbreak that love can cause.