by Tharien van Eck, AWC Antwerp and Health Team Co-Chair
The Women by Kristin Hannah
Being from South Africa, the Vietnam war is a relative unknown topic to me. Yes, I know that it occurred and that lots of innocent people (on both sides) were killed. And that it, like many other wars, was fought on ideology that was incompatible with the thinking of United States citizens and other people around the world. When The Women started appearing on bookshelves I took notice, not because of the topic, but because of the author. I enjoy Kristin Hannah’s books, and it was logical that I would read this one as well.
The Women is a well-written novel that tells the reader, in the words of Kristin Hannah, more about the lives of the “brave, unsung women” who served in the Vietnam War, a topic that I now realize has been overlooked by many. The setting of the novel is the Vietnam War. I only learnt while writing this review that the war took place over a period of more than 20 years (1954–1975).The Vietnam War was fought between the communist government of North Vietnam against South Vietnam and its principal ally, the United States, and was intensified by the ongoing Cold War. The story follows the journey of Frances “Frankie” Grace McGrath, a protected young woman from an affluent family who volunteers as a nurse in Vietnam. Frankie experiences the horrors of war, forms strong friendships and falls in love, and struggles enormously with the significant challenge of reintegration back into the society upon her return to the US.
The storyline is a very compelling one, and the characters are well researched and developed. The character development is excellent. Frankie is both strong and vulnerable. The other characters, from various backgrounds, add to the story and the different perspectives of the war. One has to have some empathy for Frankie’s parents, so ill-prepared to support their daughter who experienced a most horrendous period in her life. I enjoyed the development of female support throughout the book, demonstrating the importance of sisterhood.
The aspects that stood out to me are the unrecognized role of nurses in armed conflict, the impact on them, and the consequences of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on individuals. PTSD became a recognized psychiatric disorder in 1980, five years after the Vietnam War ended. PTSD doesn’t necessarily diminish over a period of time.
Finally, I read that Kristin Hannah did very extensive research on the topic and that it took her many years before she eventually felt that she was ready to write the book. This book, in my opinion, is a must-read to understand the complexities of war, its impact on society and the role of healthcare professionals, especially nurses.