Kristin Hannah, best-selling author of “The Nightingale,” “The Great Alone” and “The Four Winds,” has recently released “The Women,” a novel about the experience of a US Army nurse in the Vietnam War during the late 1960s.
In this engrossing war novel, Hannah brought back the politics of the time, the confusion, the growing public consciousness about the extent of battle casualties and the military’s impending defeat.
All of this was seen through the eyes of a young nurse who enlisted in the Army to follow her older brother and serve her country. Hannah captured the naivete of this young nurse, who was soon to be confronted with the controversies and harsh realities of war.
The nurse’s shock as she encountered the horror of an Army hospital in wartime was compounded by personal hardships. In her struggle, she grew to appreciate the power of camaraderie for survival, both physical and psychological.
Upon return to civilian life in the US, she quickly learned that public opinion had turned against US involvement in Vietnam and those associated with it.
Rather than being welcomed home and thanked for her service, she faced a social and familial rejection common to war veterans at that time.
That rejection was amplified for women, whose participation in the military was not widely recognized or valued.
The story then turned to the challenges of rebuilding a normal civilian life after the impact of wartime trauma and betrayals. Hannah tackled this difficult topic with sympathy and skill.
Overall, “The Women” is a tough read. Kristin Hannah’s style is straight talk, with no relief in its pacing or cushion of metaphor.
My only concern is that the interwoven story of the nurse’s tumultuous love life, while probably appealing to many women readers, might make this novel of less interest to men.
It would be a loss if a book about the Vietnam War this compelling and sympathetic became limited to female audiences.
“The Women,” by Kristin Hannah, can be found at our local libraries.
