The Women
The Gulf Harbour Book club met on September 9 to discuss The Women by Kristin Hannah. There were 27 members involved in the discussion with five on Zoom. Diane Dinkins did a fabulous job on her author review. In addition to what is written here by her, she elaborated by visiting YouTube and other social media sites to gather more info. She has combined the author review with details of the book that also reviews the book.
The author of The Women is Kristin Hannah. She is a well- known author of over 20 novels of which many are historical fiction. She was born in Garden Grove, California, on Sept 25, 1960 (current age – nearly 64). She lived with her family in southern California until she was eight.
At that time, the family moved to western Washington state. Kristin earned a degree in communications from the University of Washington, worked in advertising for a short time and then obtained her law degree from the University of Puget Sound. She practiced law in the Seattle area before she began her writing career. She currently resides with her husband on Bainbridge Island in Washington. She has one son, Tucker. She began her writing career when her mother was dying from breast cancer, but this work was never published. She said she has left instructions that this novel, even after her death, will never be published. Her first novel, one of her best-known books, Firefly Lane was published in 2008. This book follows the lives and friendship of two teenage girls in the 1970s through their adulthood. It was the basis for a Netflix series in 2021.
Another of her most famous books is The Nightingale. This novel was the Goodreads Best Historical fiction novel for 2015 and won the People’s Choice award for best fiction in the same year. This book, set in WWII occupied France, is the story of two sisters. One sister joins the Resistance in an active role helping downed Allied soldiers escape to Spain, and the other sister just struggles to survive in occupied France. Eventually as conditions worsen, this sister helps fight the Nazi rule by hiding Jewish children. After writing this book, Kristin related that she became more focused on writing historical fiction. In writing the book The Women, Kristin Hannah states in her interviews that she wanted to tell the previously untold stories of strong courageous women especially in combat situations. She first discussed the idea of a Viet Nam book with her publisher in 1997. The publisher (who had attended the University of California at Berkeley) told her she was not ready to write this story and neither did she have the necessary life experience. The publisher also acknowledged that the world was not ready for this type of story. The idea for this book reemerged for Kristin in 2020 when she saw the divisiveness of the covid situation while
the country was in lockdown. She recognized the courageousness of the doctors and nurses on the front lines of fighting this disease who did not receive any recognition for their efforts. Her initial interest in the Viet Nam war began in the 4th grade when her friend’s Air Force father was shot down and reported as MIA. She wore a bracelet with his name on it for many years to support her friend. Hannah was asked why she elaborated on the gruesome medical injuries encountered in the surgical units. She explained that she wanted to answer those critics who said that nurses were not in combat by emphasizing the horrendous injuries they had seen in the combat hospitals. Most of them were unexperienced and often recent nursing graduates. The experiences of the main character Frankie in Viet Nam covers the first half of this novel.
The second phase centers on Frankie’s “homecoming” experiences. Viet Nam vets came home to be treated with scorn because of their service in this unpopular war. In the case of the nurses, they were not given any credibility for their experience,and they were just expected to go home and be wives and mothers. One female Viet Nam veteran told the author that she had been grieving in her shame for over fifty years because of this treatment. Many returning veterans both soldiers and nurses suffered PTSD with very few treatment options. Hannah did not base her main character on any one specific Viet Nam era nurse although she researched the memoirs of several nurses. Writing about the View Nam era presented a unique challenge to her since people of this era are still alive. She needed to be extra diligent in her factual content. She stated that her path in writing this book did not begin with the total plot established.
Hannah just knew she wanted to write about the lost historical stories of bravery, courage, and resilience in women. Kristin Hannah thinks that The Women is the best book that she has written and, in her words, “It will be a tough act to follow.” Our discussion was so emotional. The book is indicative of what is happening today. History sure does repeat itself. This is a must read book. The Gulf Harbour Book Club usually meets on the first Monday of each month in the club’s board room. If you want to join the book club email [email protected]. Zoom is available for members during the off season. October is The Paris Bookseller. Beginning in November we will have seven authors
on Zoom. November is Maria’s Scarf; December, The House on Biscayne Bay; January, Family, Family; February, Becoming Madam Secretary; March is the sequel to Ravenscraig; April, The Stolen Queen; and May, The End of Your Life Book Club. The famous authors are Zoro, Chanel Cleeton, Laurie Frankel, Stephanie Dray, Sandi Altner, Fiona Davis, and Will Schwalbe.
