The Nightingale: A Novel

Narrator Julia Whelan's limber, low-pitched voice brilliantly serves Kristin Hannah's potent storytelling skills, moving nimbly from person to person, capturing personality and mood, with her empathy palpable, as The Washington Post has noted. From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah's The Women, an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath hears the words "Women can be heroes," it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. As her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, Frankie joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

However, the real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam. The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm's way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

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