Review of THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah

On February 9, 2024February 9, 2024 By vickleaIn Book ReviewLeave a comment

ABOUT THE BOOK

ISBN-13:9781250178633

Publication date:02/06/2024

Pages:480

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

My Thoughts

I literally could not put this book down and then when I forced myself to go to bed, scenes from the book continued to run through my mind. This is a realistically told and emotional novel about the Vietnam War era and how the lives of people were changed because of their involvement in the war, specifically the lives of the women who volunteered to serve. Frankie McGrath is a sympathetic character who wants nothing more than her beloved father’s approval, so when she volunteers to be a nurse in the war zone, she had no idea what she was getting into. Young, innocent and patriotic, Frankie quickly has her eyes opened to the brutality of war and I got to travel back in time to when my friends were being drafted or volunteering and the news reports that were given nightly about how we were “winning the war.” The research in the book is impeccable, transporting my mind completely to that troubled time and the years afterwards when the veterans of the war were ridiculed rather than welcomed. I thoroughly enjoyed the point of view of Frankie and all she suffered as a result of her choice and also how she was ultimately able to overcome and move on in her life. The characters were all dynamic and realistically flawed. The plot moved along quickly, keeping pace with the action on the front lines. This is a remarkable story that needs to be read and is written in such a brilliant way that it held my attention and caused me to cry, cheer and get outraged, sometimes all within the same chapter. With a tight plot and the signature style of a master of historical fiction, this book deserves many kudos for embracing a topic that is thought-provoking and complex. I highly recommend this book for all who want to know what the late 60’s and 70’s were like and how the women who served were treated, both on the battlefield and afterwards. There is so much to love about this book, but I must warn readers that it can be disturbing with the realistic details of war and the wounded and dying. I used to say that my all-time favorite book was “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell. I have a new favorite, more timely and suited for my generation. Captivating, insightful and well-crafted, this is one that I definitely want to own and read again. An epic novel worth reading and remembering!
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

Rated M for mature audiences. This book deals with war, violence and has some graphic descriptions of the events in Vietnam. It also has sexual scenes and some harsh language.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

**Kristin Hannah** is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels including the international blockbuster, *TheNightingale*, which was named Goodreads Best Historical fiction novel for 2015 and won the coveted People’s Choice award for best fiction in the same year. Additionally, it was a selection of the Reese Witherspoon Book Club in 2023. It was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, iTunes, Buzzfeed, the *Wall Street Journal*, *Paste*, and *The Week*. In 2018, *The Great Alone* became an instant *New York Times* #1 bestseller and was named the Best Historical Novel of the Year by Goodreads.
*The Four Winds* was published in February of 2021 and immediately hit #1 on the *New York Times*, *Wall Street Journal*, *USA Today*, and Indie bookstores’ bestseller lists. Additionally, it was selected as a book club pick by the both Today Show and the Book Of the Month club, which named it the best book of 2021.
*The Nightingale* is currently in production at Tri Star, with Dakota and Elle Fanning set to star. Tri Star has also optioned *The Great Alone*and it is in development. *Firefly Lane*, her beloved novel about two best friends, was the #1 Netflix series around the world, in the week it came out. The popular tv show stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke and Season Two is currently set to conclude the series on April 27, 2023.
A former attorney, Kristin lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Purchase Links:

Choose to Forgive

On February 8, 2024 By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App3 Comments

www.bible.com/reading-plans/11667/day/19

I had a real problem with forgiveness for a really long time. First, I had to forgive my mother who was emotionally and physically abusive to me. Now, I can write those words without my heart racing and bitterness consuming me. My mom was a human with a lot of problems and she took them out on me. So, I forgave her. Then, many years after I was an adult and had my own family, my mom died in a suspicious manner. Unproven though it was, it looked a lot like the father who had protected me so many years from my mom, had committed the ultimate act of hatred by withholding her seizure medication and letting her die an excruciating death. We couldn’t prove it, but daddy came just short of admitting it. He himself was a drug addict and I am not sure what led him to do such an awful thing. My siblings and I were devastated. I lost my mom when I was in my 30’s, just when she and I were getting to know each other as friends and mothers. For many years, I carried the burden of knowing what daddy did and not being able to forgive him. Then the Lord spoke to me clearly and told me that He had given His Son so I could be forgiven. There is no other sacrifice and I was only hurting myself by not forgiving my father. God’s word to me was helped along by my father’s sister, a woman who loved the Lord and who on her deathbed begged me not to give up on my father. So, after almost a decade of distancing myself from my father, I started calling him and checking on him. My siblings were mostly outraged that I would contact him, but I continued my pursuit of re-establishing a relationship with him. Finally, in my 60’s, my husband and I traveled to Florida where daddy lived and went to visit him. His dwelling was awful, in a terrible neighborhood and barely livable. We took him out that day to the aquarium and to lunch and I told him that I forgave him. I don’t think he really understood in his drug-addled state what I was forgiving him for, but I had to say the words for me. I then pestered my siblings to let daddy back into their lives. One at a time, they all did, except for my older sister. They each visited daddy, the siblings in Florida checking on him and making sure he had groceries and other necessities. My youngest brother, the one who swore never to forgive daddy, was with him and prayed with daddy when he died in the VA hospital in Tampa. So, I am here to tell you that forgiveness is absolutely necessary, not to free the other person from the sin against you, but to free you from the destruction of bitterness that will eat your soul alive. My father died, knowing he was a sinner saved by grace. Will he pay for killing our mom? I don’t know. God is the final judge, and I will leave that in His capable hands. I loved and forgave, even when I didn’t feel like it.

The Sufficiency of God’s Grace

On February 8, 2024 By vickleaIn Reblog1 Comment

narrowpathministries.wordpress.com/2024/02/08/the-sufficiency-of-gods-grace/

Please go to Bruce Cooper’s original post and follow him. He studies the Word diligently and presents it clearly and truthfully.

A Balanced Life

On February 7, 2024 By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App4 Comments

www.bible.com/reading-plans/11667/day/18

For many years, my priorities were out of balance. My military husband was absent frequently from our home, so the children we had became a priority over him. I was busy building my career, so that too superseded my thoughts of our marriage. It was only when I had a stroke and I recognized his loving care for me that God pointed out that Harry had been there all along, waiting for me to notice him. I think God has always been my first priority, but I confess that my husband was not in his proper place until the last ten years. We missed a lot of time together because I just didn’t make that a priority. May God redeem the time and may our years together be filled with joy, peace and love!

Love to Love Me

On February 6, 2024 By vickleaIn ReblogLeave a comment

becominghistapestry.com/2024/02/06/love-to-love-me/

Please go to the original blog and follow Brenda. What an amazing testimony about what real love is!

A Balanced Use of Time

On February 6, 2024 By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/11667/day/17

It seems that no matter how hard I try to get all of my to-do list done daily, I just don’t succeed. So instead of getting frustrated about it, I have turned my list over to God and asked Him to help me to prioritize it. On days like today, with over a dozen books published that I have reviewed, I feel anxiety creeping in to get that all-important review copied over to Amazon and other big publishers. But the priority is my time with God. Then, the rest of the day falls into place better. Time in His Word, time in prayer, time just telling Him how I am feeling and what I need help with. Then, the obstacles that seem so insurmountable become little anthills and I am happier tackling those chores. God is good…He gives each of us twenty four hours every day, and it is our choice what we do with them.

The Paint Isn’t Dry

On February 5, 2024 By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App4 Comments

www.bible.com/reading-plans/11667/day/16

I love the analogy of being a work of art, a masterpiece as it were. But the addition to that is that the paint isn’t dry because God continues to work on us daily to make us more like Jesus. I don’t know about you, but when I start a project, I am anxious to finish it, to see the completed work and to be able to use it for what I made it for. I can just imagine God starting the project on me over fifty years ago and still patiently working to complete it, knowing what His ultimate purpose is for me. When I get frustrated because I keep making the same mistakes, God lovingly corrects and brings me back around to try again. He just wants me to be more like Jesus, like the person He created me to be. It boggles my mind that God pays attention to me and my growth in Christ. My paint may not be dry, but I am so thankful that God still sees a canvas worth working on!

Scared or Sacred?

On February 4, 2024 By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion AppLeave a comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/11667/day/15

What an eye-opening message today! We are worthy because God created us and He will work on us, tuning all of the keys of our lives, and ultimately completing His work in us so that we are perfect for the work He wants us to do. There is only one me…there is only one you. So, take time today to ask God what He wants you to do with the life he has gifted you and then get started doing it.

Pause and Listen

On February 3, 2024 By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

www.bible.com/en/videos/44588

In our busy world with media and other people there with us all the time, we have to purposely pause in life’s busyness and just listen to God. We need to hear God’s Word but we cannot really get anything from it unless we are really listening.

Review of THE DIVINE PROVERB OF STREUSEL by Sara Brunsvold

On February 2, 2024 By vickleaIn Book Review2 Comments

ABOUT THE BOOK

ISBN-13:9780800742997

Publisher:Baker Publishing Group

Publication date:01/16/2024

Pages:336

Shaken by her parents’ divorce and discouraged by the growing chasm between herself and her serious boyfriend, Nikki Werner seeks solace at her uncle’s farm in a small Missouri hamlet. She’ll spend the summer there, picking up the pieces of her shattered present so she can plan a better future. But what awaits her at the ancestral farm is a past she barely knows.

Among her late grandmother’s belongings, Nikki finds an old notebook filled with handwritten German recipes and wise sayings pulled from the book of Proverbs. With each recipe she makes, she invites locals to the family table to hear their stories about the town’s history, her ancestors—and her estranged father.

What started as a cathartic way to connect to her heritage soon becomes the means through which she learns how the women before her endured—with the help of their cooking prowess. Nikki realizes how delicious streusel with a healthy dollop of faith can serve as a guide to heal wounds of the past.

My Thoughts

This book is like a primer on establishing relationships with the past and improving current ones. Nikki Werner flees to her Uncle Wes’s property in rural Missouri when her father’s leaving her mom breaks her heart, followed by a her boyfriend not being someone she can count on right now. At Uncle Wes’s farm, Nikki finds an old notebook that belonged to her grandmother and that contains handwritten recipes along with proverbs. As Nikki lovingly prepares the old recipes, she learns to put heart into her cooking as she thinks about all of the challenges in life that she is now facing. She meets new people, makes new friends and gets insight into what she is facing and how to face it. During the reading of this book, I was challenged to think about my own past and its effect on my present and apply God’s truth to what has happened and is happening. This is a book that teaches lessons about redemption, forgiveness, looking for the path God wants for you and not accepting less than God’s peace and His best in your life. I loved all of the characters, especially Aunt Emma who dispensed wisdom as well as unconditional love. The plot was well-paced and totally engrossing as Nikki invites one person after another and learns a lot about her past from each of them, all while pondering in her mind about what to do about her father and her boyfriend. The recipes are fascinating, too, making me want to try a few of them like the pancakes and the streusel. I am impressed with the author’s story within a story and the depth of her research. All in all, this is a wonderful book with a story clamoring to be read again and again and enjoyed by book clubs as they discuss the recipes, the importance of connection to the past and forgiving even when it’s hard.
Disclaimer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell, the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16th CFR, Part 255, “Guidelines Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertisng.”