Matcha & Motifs Book Review: 5/5 

The Women by Kristin Hannah is a historical fiction and coming-of-age story of a combat nurse’s time in-country during the Vietnam War and her battles after coming home.   

This book was absolutely phenomenal. 

Frances “Frankie” McGrath is born into a wealthy family on the privileged side of society. Upon graduation, Frankie decides to follow her brother to war and become part of the “Hero’s Wall”, a showcase of the military men in their family that their father is so proud of. 

This story illuminates Frankie’s coming of age as she learns that the government she loved and trusted had been lying to her and everyone else. While in-country, Frankie finds out that the United States was not winning the war, so much so that they continued to send more and more boys to die. She saw and treated men so broken and bloody that some were unsalvageable. The nurses treated sick orphans and witnessed mothers who lost their babies. All while the U.S. was bombing civilians and spraying orange pesticides to destroy crops and weed out Vietnam fighters. The pesticides were later found to cause infertility issues amongst the men and women who served. Frankie struggles to believe in her country when the Stars and Stripes reports victories and an immense downplaying of American casualties, while she sees the opposite. 

What hits home about this notion of distrust in the government and internal questioning of “how can any of this be right?” is that it’s a shared feeling for the reader. I often feel appalled by the government’s decisions and wonder where the humanity is.   

Through hardships and pressure, Frankie finds her nursing skills rapidly growing and, for the first time, feels that she is not just a girl raised to be a wife and mother, but someone who is passionate and proud, and who makes a difference in people’s lives. She has found a purpose. 

As Frankie returns home after two tours in ‘Nam, she navigates the county that she served without glory or appreciation. Social and political turmoil has made war protestors and those around them hostile. Her parents don’t welcome her with open arms either; her own father feels that she dishonored their family by serving in the war. 

One thing this book does well is take us through the ups and downs of our human life. The up is feeling like you can make a difference in the world, so you volunteer to join the war. Only to be greeted with the down of reality and feeling uncertain in your skills and capabilities. With resilience and practice, you’re up from challenging your way of thinking and finding a sense of purpose. Only to hit such a tremendous low when you return home without any recognition or appreciation. This novel truly takes us on a rollercoaster through Frankie’s life, and every aspect feels so close to home and understandable. I feel the weight and heartache of Frankie’s story. Her innocence and sense of purpose in the beginning were shaped into strength and reliability in the war, only to return perhaps more broken than the men she fixed up. 

Sexism 

This book touches on many themes, but at its root, it is the women’s story. It is sexism and downplaying the role of women. 

This novel highlights the duality of the services women provide to men and to their country, yet they remain underappreciated and seen as insignificant. It’s so fascinating that this story takes place decades ago and yet the anger these characters feel strikes me to the core. I feel her fear and her resilience in Vietnam. The horrors she experienced and saw, and the compassion and skills she wielded as a combat nurse. Despite serving and putting others first, her pride, skills, and purpose are spat on when she returns home. And the cherry on top is men constantly invalidating not just her trauma but her service in the war. They push her out of spaces that provide help simply because she’s a woman and she can’t possibly be traumatized by a war she didn’t fight. It’s frustrating to say the least and maddening the more I think about it. 

It is only through talking and acknowledging her trauma that she begins to heal. And this also ties into such a huge modern problem. I think it’s common for women to be told not to be so emotional, not to say what they’re going through. To endure, “to soldier on,” as Hannah writes, but there is so much power in sharing. This book has encapsulated all of that and more. 

I can’t review this book without talking about one of its major disappointments. As usual, I am annoyed but not surprised by how much men can and will lie and cheat, especially in war. How can it not be a woman’s story without describing how the men have disappointed us, yet again? 

This story is full of friendship, love, grief, addiction, trauma, and healing. It was truly a beautiful story to read. 

There is a line in the book: “They wanted her to just get up, stand, and start to walk. As if grief were a pool you could simply step out of.”

This is so beautifully written. And with so many different themes mentioned, it’s incredible how deeply Hannah delved into each topic. 

The number of times this book has brought me to tears and heartache is too many to count. I can’t even imagine the pain these women must feel, but I’m here to sympathize and listen. To have tackled such a profound human experience, I don’t even know where to begin. I commend Hannah, who has written with such grace, knowledge, and sympathy that allowed me to see and feel every bit of Frankie’s story. As Hannah intended, I see them: the women who were there during the Vietnam War. I see them, and I will remember them. 

I’d highly recommend this book to anyone- feminists, historical fiction lovers, but even more so, those who are not.