Book Club: January 2026

Born in 1960, Kristin Hannah is the American author of 15 books, with a frequent central theme of ordinary women in challenging circumstances. Here she’s taken the theme of the American nurses who served in the American vs Vietnam war but who often returned home traumatised by their experiences, and the widespread denial that any women served in the conflict.

The central character, young well-to-do Frankie McGrath, straight out of nurse training, joins a nursing corps in the Vietnam War, spurred on by a wish to follow in the footsteps of her soldier brother and make her family proud. The words “women can be heroes” used at this point by a romantic character, was a theme throughout the novel. 

Frankie is shown having her naivety challenged, and facing up to the horror of war, treating those with appalling injuries in extreme and exhausting conditions until she became hardened to it. Frankie makes friends with 2 experienced nurses from more impoverished backgrounds, and this intense friendship helps each other cope.

Romance, often with duplicitous doctors is an important theme, along with the impact on the innocent Vietnamese villagers collaterally injured by the war around them, extreme weather

and the chaos of the treatment rooms. Key music of time, such as the protest songs against the war are described, as well as the use of drink and drugs to dull the senses of the staff when they’re off duty. Once demobbed Frankie struggles to cope with PTSD, addiction, less-demanding work and a family who won’t accept what she’s been through. Some of our group thought some of the plot was obvious and there were other criticisms of the last section where loose ends were quickly tied.

The book was a compelling read which drew many of us in, but some felt the romance was Mills & Boon, or chick lit with as many shocks and surprises as possible, which detracted from the seriousness of the trauma experienced by those who served in ‘Nam. We talked about the fact that all wars encourage the search for love or just comfort, as well as alcohol and drugs, in order to get through the horror, and the anti-war protesters. There was some brief mention of this by the author although the dominant narrative is Frankie's experiences.

Christine Smith