The Women by Kristen Hannah

​The Women would make an excellent book club selection. There is so much to discuss. There are the obvious topics such as the US invasion of Vietnam and the atrocities committed there. Public opinion on the war and the peace movement. The disrespect veterans coming home suffered. PTSD. Sexual mores of the 70s and the revolution it spurred.   It astonished me how—not so ago—women were not taken seriously, treated more like pets than functioning humans, and had so few options. 
 
Frankie, the main character, struggles to find herself after returning from two tours as a combat nurse in Vietnam. At every turn she is told there were no women in Vietnam—her service is ignored and denied. Her PTSD dismissed. Kristin Hannah takes us on Frankie’s journey from her pampered (stifling) upbringing through the horrors of war where Frankie finds purpose. But when Frankie returns home she no longer fits society’s (or her parents’) expectations, and she spirals in a battle to find meaning again. Buckle up, it’s a rocky road!