The Women, Kristin Hannah
The Women, Kristin Hannah
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The Women
A Novel

Bestseller

Author: Kristin Hannah

Narrator: Julia Whelan, Kristin Hannah

Unabridged: 14 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/06/2024

Categories: Fiction, Women, Family Life


Synopsis

A 2025 Audie Award winner for Best Fiction Narrator!

"Kristin Hannah’s potent storytelling skills are brilliantly served by narrator Julia Whelan, whose limber, low-pitched voice moves nimbly from person to person, capturing personality and mood, her empathy palpable." —The Washington Post

"A moving, skillfully narrated story about women’s friendships and the ongoing physical and mental consequences of war.”—Library Journal

From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah's The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.

About Kristin Hannah

Kristin Hannah was born in September 1960 in Southern California. At eight years old, her family moved to Western Washington. Kristin decided to become a lawyer and attended law school in Washington. While in her third-and final-year of law school, Kristin’s mom was in the hospital, facing the end of her long battle with cancer. Always knowing that her daughter was meant to be a writer, Kristin and her mother collaborated on a novel. After her mom's death, she packed up all those bits and pieces of paper and research they'd collected and put them in a box in the back of her closet. Kristin got married and continued practicing law.

Then, Kristin found out she was pregnant and was on bed rest for five months. It was during that time that her husband reminded her of the book she'd started with her mom. Kristin pulled out the boxes of research material, dusted them off and began writing. By the time their son was born, she'd finished a first draft and found an obsession.

After many rejections, Kristin finally got "the call," and in that moment, she went from a young mother with a cooler-than-average hobby to a professional writer, and has never looked back. In all the years between then and now, she has never lost her love of, or her enthusiasm for, telling stories. Kristin feels truly blessed to be a wife, a mother, and a writer. Her novel, Firefly Lane, became a runaway bestseller in 2009, a touchstone novel that brought women together.


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Quotes

"Hannah again shines her light on overlooked women in history" —People Magazine (Book of the Week)

"Hannah is in top form here... Hannah’s real superpower is her ability to hook you along from catastrophe to catastrophe, sometimes peering between your fingers, because you simply cannot give up on her characters. She gathers women into the (Vietnam) experience with moving conviction." —The New York Times

“The Women is historical fiction at its very best. So moving, so wrenching, and yet, in the end, uplifting. Brava! I loved The Nightingale and The Four Winds, but The Women is my favorite.” —Nicholas D. Kristof, Pulitzer Prize–winning coauthor of Half the Sky

“One of the greatest storytellers of our time, Kristin Hannah, tackles one of the most cruel and despicable wars of the last century, the Vietnam War. The Women reveals the powerful contributions and horrific sacrifices of the American military nurses who served in a war whose agencies refused to acknowledge that they were even there. Perhaps no words can bring closure to a nation still ashamed of booing our returning heroes, but the heroine, Frances McGrath, stirs a deep, overdue compassion and tears for every single soldier—and especially the forgotten women who sacrificed so much. Never has a novel of war metamorphosed so profoundly into a story of the human heart.” —Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing

“Stuns with sacrifice; uplifts with heroism . . . an important, long overdue tribute to the brave women nurses who served in Vietnam.” —Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry

"Hannah’s emotionally charged page-turner (after The Four Winds) centers on a young nurse whose life is changed by the Vietnam War. Fans of women’s historicals will enjoy this magnetic wartime story." —Publishers Weekly

"Many would say that the nurses who helped fight the Vietnam War were forgotten. Believe me, for those of us who were there, these women were never forgotten--and never will be. Kristin Hannah honors them with this novel." --Karl Marlantes, author of Matterhorn

"Hannah enjoys the authorial reach to educate legions of readers about the significant subjects she dramatizes. In doing so she demonstrates that, just like the women she writes about, she deserves to be recognized." -Minneapolis Star Tribune

"A moving, gripping tale that pays tribute to the under-appreciated skill and courage of combat nurses." --Booklist, starred review

"Hannah tells the story of real but unsung heroes" --Washington Post

"Enough time has passed that most people acknowledge the individual heroism that took place in Vietnam, even though history doesn't look kindly on the war itself," he wrote. "People over there did things that we can — and should — be proud of. That's one reason why I'm glad to see a book like 'The Women' doing so well. It's a beautifully written tribute to a group of veterans who deserve more appreciation for the incredible sacrifices they made." --Bill Gates


Awards

  • Amazon.com Best Books of the Year
  • NPR Best Book of the Year
  • Audible.com Best of the Year
  • New York Times Book Review Notable Books of the Year
  • Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year
  • Hudson Booksellers Best of the Year
  • Goodreads Choice Awards