2024 Book Review #40:The Women

 

I waited since last May for this book to be available via the town library. I finally got my turn a couple weeks ago and just finished it.  I enjoy this author's books and this was a good one, although a bit predictable. 

STORY SUMMARY

 Frances aka Frankie McGrath is the daughter of wealthy Southern California parents. Her older brother Finley is going off to fight in the Army in Vietnam. They have been both been sheltered by their conservative Catholic parents their entire lives, and have never lacked anything. They even belong to a country club. It is 1965 and Frankie has always been a "good girl" doing what she's told.

But the world is changing. She suddenly begins to imagine a life of her own. She wants to also join the fight in Vietnam.  She is a student at nursing school and only 20 years old but when she hears the words "Women can be heroes" it feels like a revelation of sorts. She joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows her brother's footsteps into Vietnam. 

She is very inexperienced and is quickly overwhelmed by the horrible destruction going on around the Army hospital and her new surroundings. Each day is like a gamble of life or death. 

She begins to form bonds with 2 other nurses, Barb (a Black woman from Georgia)  and Ethel, a farmer's daughter from Virginia. Friendships run deep in the war.....and there is hope, betrayal, love, and loss. She meets someone and falls in love. And soon she is immersed in all things war.  The loss, the brave, the broken and the lucky. 

But then Ethel, then Barb, and finally Frankie are done with their tour of duty. 

And life will not be the same. America is under turmoil with so many divisions: hippies against the war, Republicans for the war, free love, drugs, sex outside of marriage becomes the norm; equal rights; the birth control pill.......all of these things come into play during the 1960s......and the Vietnam Vets are not always welcomed home with open arms. They are called baby killers by some. And even worse names by others. Even their own government doesn't realize just how devastating this war is. 

Frankie is torn.  She knows she did heroic deeds in Vietnam and that she deserves to be recognized yet she also knows it was not a good thing.  What really makes her angry though, is that Americans seem to want to forget about Vietnam. 

Frankie turns to prescription pills and alcohol to soothe the angst inside of her.  When she faces her biggest battles, who will be there for her??

MY THOUGHTS

I wanted to love this book. I did like it and it does make my list of "good books by this author" but my faves still stand at The Nightingale and The Great Alone.  I have read nine of this author's novels. Most were great. 

This book was super predictable in the sub-plot of Frankie and Rye. I won't go into details but let's just say I figured out what was going to happen long before it did.  I was actually disappointed in that predictability because the author was going a different way with Frankie and the character Henry. Sadly, this is a trope that is vastly overused, particularly in historical fiction, based on many books I've read. 

The characters are very well developed.  I particularly enjoyed Barb and Henry. 

Frankie drove me nuts by the last third of the book. She was a nurse! She knew the dangers of over-using pills and taking them with alcohol. I get what the author was doing: Frankie was a mess after the war.  Her fiance was presumed dead and no body was found. Another man liked her but he was married. She was a "good girl" who turned wild. I totally get it. But by the end of the book I found myself skimming the last few chapters. I just wanted the story to end. Her naivete about Rye was just getting on my very last nerve. HOW was she this naive??? 

It ended on a good note......which I did appreciate. 

The book was graphic in war details and some might  find that disturbing. Then again, war is disturbing, isn't it?? 

I did like this story overall though and the fact that women finally have a memorial to them in Washington, D.C. for the Vietnam War service they provided made me feel good. I honestly didn't know that. The author includes a photo of it at the end of the book. 

This story is a powerful look at women and the bonds they form when under pressure. The bonds of true friendship. 

One thing that bugged me was the "relationship/love drama' which turned into trauma of a sort, and PTSD which is a true disorder. I feel like the author was mixing up the two in Frankie.  Frankie really did suffer from PTSD which made all the other angst in her life that much harder. But relationship trauma is vastly different from war trauma. 

The author doesn't hesitate to share all the crimes committed during the Vietnam War. It's well researched!  It's a story that's heartbreaking and heart-warming all at the same time.  It's hard to explain. 

It's definitely a book I can recommend but again, not my fave of hers. 

In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 17 and older (due to mature content). 

On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this an 8.