Preeta Chag

Pub by: St Martin Press

“Women can be heroes.”

Frankie McGrath is stung when she hears these words. Propelling her onto a tumultuous journey into the war and its tortuous after-ends.

“The Women” by Kristin Hannah is a conscious effort to acknowledge the role of women in the Vietnam War. It is an attempt to counter the refusal to recognise that women were in Vietnam, fighting and nursing. “There are men going home to their families because of us.” But this was never accepted or acknowledged.

The book is the journey of Frankie McGrath, who follows her brother to Vietnam, bravely goes on to nurse the wounded and returns home as an emotional wreck, desperately trying to fit her life together.

When Frankie comes back from war after displaying incredible grit and courage in healing the wounded, she is shattered by the reactions back home: contempt and a shocking denial of her (woman’s) role in Vietnam. Her father, too, is a prey to these, and she is unable to process such reactions.

Bravery. Indifference. Contempt. Heartbreak.  The book runs through a gamut of emotions, exploring PTSD in length, while narrating the journey of Frankie. Heartbreaks, suicide attempts, nightmares, insomnia, drinking… they all characterise Frankie’s desperate attempts to flee memories and the hate surrounding her.

The book captures the fragility and brittleness of war. Far away, distant … a world so surreal and far removed from what one has left behind … a time when only the present seems relevant and truth and fidelity are so far away.  When all that matters is the moment. “maybe happy now, happy for a moment, is all we really get. Happy forever seems a shitload to ask in the world of fire.” (page 168).

Friendships among women are a saviour for every crisis. Kristin Hannah brings forth the sheer resilience and determination of women friends in being her torchbearers on her journey to emotional and physical rescue and survival. Her attempted suicide and her admission into a psychiatric ward are a reflection on the status of war veterans then.

Anger about the war is well-expressed through Frankie’s voice. The frustration over the government’s apathy, the insensitivity towards the returnees, the senselessness of the battle.

The book is also about handling grief and anger intelligently… from wild, shrieking Frankie turning into a quiet, internalised and softer expression of grief,   “quiet was the perfect camouflage for pain.” (page 284)

The author has subtly given a halo to the medical community … Frankie sees the injured, the maimed, gut-hanging-out scenarios… even doctors in a non-war situation treating Frankie’s mother: tumours, fibroids, complications… each surgery and each healing is a tribute to human endeavour and spirit.

War is brutal and ambitious. It is about pain and loss. It is about winning and fighting. But it is also about vulnerabilities and insecurities.

Fragile emotions. Fragile relationships. Fragile conditions and above all, fragile outcomes.