Free Audiobook : The Women, By Kristin Hannah

Heroism is not gender-specific. This truth dawns on Frances “Frankie” McGrath, a twenty-year-old nursing student, like a revelation. Brought up in the sunny, picturesque landscape of Southern California and nurtured by her traditional parents, she has always been a stickler for righteousness. However, the year 1965 brings winds of change, and she dares to envision an alternate future for herself. As her brother departs to serve in Vietnam, she enlists in the Army Nurse Corps, tracing his footsteps.

As naive and unseasoned as the men dispatched to Vietnam for combat, Frankie is swamped by the pandemonium and devastation of war. Each day is a toss-up between life and death, hope and deceit; friendships are profound yet can be fractured in a heartbeat. In the throes of war, she encounters—and becomes one of—the fortunate, the valiant, the damaged, and the missing.

Yet, war is merely the prologue for Frankie and her veteran comrades. The real struggle is in returning to a transformed and divided America, to irate demonstrators, and to a nation that yearns to erase Vietnam from its memory.

“The Women” narrates the tale of a woman who goes to war, but it also illuminates the lives of all women who risk their lives and whose dedication and sacrifice to their nation are often overlooked. A narrative about profound friendships and audacious patriotism, “The Women” is a vividly portrayed story with a remarkable protagonist whose idealism and bravery in the face of conflict will characterize an epoch.