The Women – Kristin Hannah
Expectation: A sweeping story of hardship and survival set against major conflicts of the Vietnam War.
Reality: Informative and engrossing, if a tad long, Kristin Hannah once again delivers an historical fiction epic but continued trauma dumping on the main character lessens her credibility.
My Take:
In her latest historical fiction epic, “The Women,” Kristin Hannah transports the reader to one of the most divisive and transformative eras in modern American history — the time period spanning the mid-1960s to the early-1980s.
Throwing a dart at a timeline of watershed moments would produce rich fodder for a novel, but the author chose to revisit the Vietnam War — it factored into her “The Great Alone” as well — by spotlighting the experiences of women who served, for the most part, as nurses.
Before diving into what worked and what didn’t, I’m going to lay it out clearly: if you liked Hannah’s previous three novels, you’ll find a lot to enjoy here. If you didn’t, you won’t find anything to convert you to fandom.
Even though I am a fan — she is an always read author — I’m growing weary of her trauma dumping. You don’t go into a story about a war expecting to feel good, but the depths of suffering Hannah put upon protagonist Frances “Frankie” McGrath reached new levels.
Much like in “The Four Winds,” our main character endures too much pain to be believable for a single person, and in many ways, it distracts from her main points: women are frequently overlooked heroes, and no one ever really leaves a war.
I say that more as a warning to readers than a recommendation to skip “The Women” — it’s definitely worth the time but temper your expectations.
While this is in the lower echelon of novels I’ve read by the author, it’s still a solid effort. Hannah’s power as a wordsmith and master of weaving fact with fiction is nearly unparalleled in this genre.
Still, the shortcomings are difficult to ignore, but you can take these more as personal gripes, with mild spoilers, than anything else.
Narrative imperfections
First, it’s far too long, and the last third drags through a mess of repetitive plot points before gaining its footing. We get it, everyone was fine to watch Frankie spiral versus throwing her a lifeline.
The first few instances were disappointing (really, mom, you’re going to get mad at your daughter for ducking for cover during a firework show instead of trying to help her?), but because we never receive a POV other than Frankie’s, we are only left with disdain towards these actions.
Second, outside of Frankie, there is hardly any meaningful character development. While Frankie gets to evolve from wide-eyed innocent to hardened survivor, I couldn’t tell you a meaningful thing about any of the other characters. Sure, Ethel Flint and Barb Johnson, Frankie’s fellow nurses and best friends, are a constant thread, but we only get glimpses of their lives through, what is essentially, a one-sided relationship.
Frankie’s parents are a caricature of privilege and expectation and were primarily used as a plot device. Rye, the lying POW, and Jamie, her first love, occupy a lot of space but not a lot of depth. Hannah’s alternating POVs (done so well in “The Nightingale”) add complexity and empathy to her stories — and that felt forced through Frankie instead of organically created through characterizations.
Third, the tonal inconsistencies are jarring. Frankie’s trauma has made her revert to her most primal self, where she’s solely focused on survival and leaves a lot of collateral damage behind. While Hannah explores this through multiple scenarios — effectively, if not repetitively as noted above — in many ways it made her the most difficult character to root for in any of the author’s previous books.
While I know this is technically categorized as women’s fiction, the frequent oscillation between boy crazy and bad ass was ridiculous. I’m not saying that someone in the throes of war or PTSD is not interested in romance, but Frankie’s inner dialogue towards men and her surroundings were not consistently presented.
Final thoughts
I’m probably being harsher on the author than other writers, because I know she has it in her to deliver an all-engrossing, stellar read. While “The Women” had its moments, I was ready for it to end.
With that said, I never considered giving up on it, because I knew Hannah would make the journey pay off for the reader — and she did with an understated, full circle ending.
This novel will undoubtedly stir difficult and complicated feelings for Boomer readers as she holds no punches documenting the backlash that returning American soldiers faced as the war grew in unpopularity. As a Millennial whose immediate family members were not drafted, it was a surprising and dark footnote.
While Hannah stated a few instances of fudging facts to fit her narrative, this is essentially a true to life recounting of various Vietnam War conflicts — both “in country” and on the homefront. It will anger, challenge and inform readers too young to live through this era, and it certainly piqued my interest to seek out additional perspectives, with several spotlighted in the author’s note.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with an advanced reader copy. This exchange of goods did not influence my review.
Rating (story): 4/5 stars
Rating (narration): N/A
Format: eBook (ARC)
Dates read: November 15 – December 17, 2023
Multi-tasking: N/A
