The Women, by Kristin Hannah

 

Characters
Frances Grace McGrath Bette – mother Father Finley – brother, killed in Vietnam
Vietnam – late 1960’s	US - early 1970’s
Thirty-Sixth Evac Hospital   Major Wendy Goldstein – chief nurse   Roommates: Ethel Flint Barb Johnson   Dr. Jamie Callahan – doctor in OR Sarah - wife   Rye Walsh – Finley’s friend, Army officer, shot down and presumed dead Melissa – wife Affair with Frankie while on leave in Hawaii   Pleiku – Seventy-First Evac, near Cambodian border Frankie transferred here October 1967   My Lai massacre March 1968 Lt. William Calley convicted	Rye – not killed in action   Drunk driving and hit man on bicycle – lost nursing license   Inpatient therapeutic drug and alcohol treatment facility: Henry Acevedo – psychiatrist, met at protest   Dr. Alden – specializes in Vietnam vets   Frankie pregnant with Henry, planning to get married, miscarriage, wedding called off - 1972   PTSD – post-traumatic stress disorder – new and controversial   The Last Best Place – 1974, ranch in Missoula, Montana: Donna Janet Other women who had been to Vietnam   Master’s in clinical psychology – Frankie and Donna   1982 – Vietnam Memorial dedicated Met Dr. Jamie Callahan   1983 – Vietnam Women’s Memorial

 

 

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition.

1.      When Frankie’s first tour was coming to an end, she re-upped.  Why do you think she did that?

2.      Were you surprised that the Veteran’s Administration would not treat Frankie in the early 1970’s?  They said it was only for veterans who had seen action.  What was the difference between the action seen by soldiers in the field and the wounds seen by the nurses in the hospitals?

3.      Did you understand the difficulties Frankie had when trying to reenter into her old life?  Do you think it would be possible to not have difficulty?

4.      Ethel and Barb seemed to reenter their lives easier than Frankie.   Why do you think this was?

5.      Frankie did not tell her parents she was coming home, she just walked into the house and surprised them.   Were you surprised at their reactions?   Would it have been different if they had known she was coming?

6.      Did you understand why her parents lied about where she was?   Why was it not admirable for women to go to Vietnam?

7.      Given the time period, what did you think about Frankie not being included in her father’s “Wall of Honor” until she was planning to get married?

8.      Did you learn anything new about the war and how the men and women were treated after coming home?

9.      Discuss your reading experience.  What were you doing in your life during the Vietnam War?  Were you aware of the controversy?

10. In the author’s note on page 471, the author said that when she was in elementary school, she got Colonel Robert John Welsh’s POW bracelet and wore it for several years.  That was the same name on the POW bracelet Frankie got on page 301 during the protest in Washington DC in 1971.  What were some of the small details from the novel that you remember and that you thought were meaningful?

11. How would this book have been received 10 years ago?  Would it be as popular?