The Women – Kristin Hannah

Summary

Frances McGrath, a 20-year-old South California girl, decides to put her training as a nurse to good use and, like her brother, enrols to serve in the Vietnam War. However, nothing prepares her for the brutality and chaos of the war, and the animosity of her own countrymen when she comes back home.

Quote

“In this crazy, chaotic, divided world that was run by men, you could count on the women.”

Interesting Facts

  • About 11,000 women served in the Vietnam War, and 90% of them were nurses. Kristin Hannah was able to talk to veteran nurses to do her research, but not many are left, as the majority of them died of cancer due to Agent Orange exposure1.
  • A doctor and surgical nurses read the author’s manuscript to make sure the medical descriptions were accurate1.
  • Kristin Hannah used to be a lawyer. Her mother encouraged her to write, but unfortunately, she didn’t live to see her daughter’s first book published2.
  • The author loves to do research and to edit her manuscript. Her least favorite part of the writing process is to come up for an idea for a new book. She writes with pen and paper, as it allows her to write from anywhere she wants2.
  • The Vietnam War went on during Kristin Hannah’s childhood, and she remembered all the protests, the anger and the unrest of the time. In this book, she wanted to talk about the women’s part in the war and how they were even less supported than the men when they returned3.
  • Two of the author’s books have been adapted for the screens: Firefly Lane is a series on Netflix with Sarah Chalke and Katherine Heigl, and The Nightingale is a movie starring Dakota and Elle Fanning.
  • On Kristin Hannah’s website, you can read some fun facts about the author.

1 Source: today.com
2 Source: Woman’s World
3 Source: kristinhannah.com

Kristin Hannah

Cecile

Cécile Sune was born in Lyon, France, and her obsession with books started when she was 14. Her grandparents had lent her Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell, and she spent part of the summer indoors reading. Needless to say, her tan didn't really improve that year! It was also around that time that Cécile fell in love with the English language. Several years later, in 1999, Cécile moved to Toronto, Canada, with her cat and 5 suitcases. Her love of reading greatly increased when she discovered that English books were much cheaper than French novels. In 2013, she decided to start a blog to share her passion. Cécile now lives in Ottawa, Canada, with her husband and their daughter, and works as a freelance translator (CS Revision).