Kristin Hannah is a beloved author who has written many successful and thought-provoking novels, such as The Nightingale and The Great Alone.
Each and every novel I have read by Hannah centers around a strong protagonist who exhibits an enormous amount of courage, which is one of the contributing factors that makes her such a fan favorite.
However, I do not recall such a fevered frenzy from so many regarding a love and need to read any novel, let alone a Hannah publication as of late than with her Vietnam-era, The Women.
The protagonist of the novel is a 20-year-old nurse, Frankie McGrath. She is a conservative, southern California girl swept up in the changing world of 1963 and called to duty after her brother deploys to Vietnam.
The novel’s first half is set in Vietnam after Frankie joins the Army Nurse Corps, but the war is only the beginning. Hannah follows Frankie and her friends after their return when the inner battles began for so many returning service people.
“Women can be heroes.”
This sentence ultimately changes the trajectory of Frankie’s life and is also the underlying current of the novel. Thematically, it leads to the ideas of patriotism, friendship, mental health, idealism, and courage.
Hannah is not a stranger to exploring the thematic landscape of women with courage despite the context. However, it is this theme and this novel that I believe is truly what is inspiring women across the internet to go viral with this book club selection.
Yes, women can be heroes.
Every. Single. Day.
Women can be and are heroes, historically the ones who are silently serving while others receive the accolades. Yes, Hannah definitely explores this with Frankie and her fellow nurses as they save so many lives of the young men who, as one character phrases it, “gets to return home because of them.” However, it is the heroic aspects on the homefront that are just as poignant.
There is a line in the novel: “The women had a story to tell, even if the world wasn’t quite yet ready to hear it, and their story began with three simple words. We were there.””
Metaphorically, this is where Hannah reaches the heart of the book.
They were there. We are here.
The PMC Book Club really relished this selection and enjoyed discussing the ideas of family dynamics, the evolution of mental health awareness, and the different forms of love.
I thank the author for penning such a thought-provoking tale of courage and love in a time when we all could use that reminder that is given to us throughout the novel that women can be and always have been heroes.
The PMC Book Club’s next pick is First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston.
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