The Women - Kristin Hannah

 Kristin Hannah has a long list of bestselling books and I am glad i finally got this copy. 'The Women' is the story of women who fought in the Vietnam war as nurses and how the world treated them before and after. Its a story about patriarchy, about gender, about people in general.

The heroine of the story of Frankie Mcgrath, a young girl from a wealthy family in California. The time is about 1966 in the middle of the Vietnam war (1955-75). Frankie's brother Fin is going to Vietnam and his father throws a party. There's a huge wall of fame at home for war heroes from the family and Fin has just joined the wall. As Frankie is staring at the wall, a friend of her brother, Rye, steps up and tells her she could get on the wall too - as a war hero. That's news to her, she thought only men enlisted for war. he tells her that the war needs nurses. Frankie is surprised.

Fin dies soon after in combat and a distressed Frankie gets into the army as a nurse. The reception at home is cold - they do not think of women as war heroes and do not want to lose both children to the war. Frankie drops right into the middle of action - in neurosurgery where patients are screaming with half their heads blown off and then into surgical theatre where soldiers with fresh and gory wounds show up at every raid. Frankie's two friends Ethel and Barb take her under their wing and she soon shapes up into a fabulous combat nurse. In the middle of the war she falls in love with all the wrong men, experiences trauma but somehow survives.

On her return home she finds people who are anti-war calling her a baby killer and murderer and stuff like that. She is not seen as a war veteran because she was not in combat. Her father rejects her, mother cannot understand her. She cannot cope with her PTSD and does all sorts of things from attempting suicide to taking prescription drugs to alcohol. But she survives it all thanks to the friends she has and finally makes peace with her family who recognises her effort and with society which finally recognises them as war heroes. The last scene where a soldier holds her hands and says 'thank you' says it all. All the times she spoke softly to dying soldiers, held their hands when they were shivering in fear of death, took pictures for their mothers. offered to write letters knowing they will die without seeing their loved ones, worked through grievous wounds until she dropped because she could not bear to see them dying unattended, losing loved ones come rushing back.  

Its simply written and flows nicely. If I had not read this book I would not have understood this perspective. Never thought how nurses (and blacks) were treated during those times despite their immense contribution. Several times during the book when she keeps repeating patterns with her lovers I was tempted to say - girl you need therapy. And the one therapist she meets and has a fling with - she ditches. People really don't know what is good for them.