"The Women" are three army nurses stationed together in Viet Nam. The main character, Francis (Frankie) McGrath lives in a beautiful house in Coronado California. She is 20, has a nursing degree and wants to make a difference, so she naively enlists in the army to follow in her older brother's footsteps. He dies in a helicopter accident, but she decides to go anyway-much to her parent's dismay. She becomes the greenhorn nurse and is adopted by Ethel and Barbara, her hoochmates who show her the ropes. If you've seen MASH or China Beach you have an idea what nurses went through-between 18 hour shifts assisting in trauma surgery and water skiing in the South China Sea, Frankie had experiences that a rich California girl would never have. The best piece of advice that her buddies gave her was that all the great guys are married, and they keep it a secret.
When her second tour of duty is finished and she returns to America, she is confronted with either disrespect or disbelief that she was there at all. She suffers from PTSD, a condition which hasn't been recognized yet and she can't act normal, get help, or even talk about her experiences and how they are affecting her. Her downward spiral is only understood by Ethel and Barbara, who also have problems, but seem to be coping better. Frankie has to find peace and a way to channel her experiences into a rational and productive life...the question is can she?
Having lived as a college girl in the Viet Nam era, I could relate to the contempt that Frankie experienced when she came home. I also knew ex-soldiers who returned and were changed for the worse by participating in the war. I am glad that Hannah wrote this book, especially for young women who only view the war as history, as this is a way to understand that this is a contemporary problem which should be addressed with compassion.
Reviewed by Donna Ballard
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