THE WOMEN BY KRISTIN HANNAH
A #1 bestseller on The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times!
From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah's The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.
Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances "Frankie" McGrath hears these words, 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. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed 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.
But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. 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.
BOOK CLUB ATMOSPHERE…Come grab a coffee and chat about your favorite parts of this month’s book. We are an informal group who often start on a topic originating in the book and run wildly on that tangent drawing connections to real life, individual experiences, and other favorite reads. We usually even continue that tangent a little further before coming back to the book again. Everyone gets a chance to share, no stringent rules here. No need to stress about finishing the book.
HOW TO FIND US…If we are a smaller group, we’ll stay in the main eating area to be easier to find. We’ll have a copy or two of the book on the table for easy identification. If we have a larger group, we’ll be in one of the private rooms, almost always E-6. If it is 11 o’clock and you don’t see us, ask the baristas where the book club is meeting.
PARKING...Can be a challenge depending if the gym or cafe has special events going on. If nothing is available out front, behind the buildings is more parking. There are several more buildings behind the front facing strip center. The gym RISE has several buildings back there RISE BARBELL and RISE FIT. Between those two buildings is some parking along one side that is not reserved. At the far end of the parking lot, on the far side of the gym/behind the gym/east side of RISE FIT is a strip of slanted parking that is not reserved. Sometimes parking is no problem, other times it takes more patience.
BOOK SELECTION… We end the book club meeting talking about what we’d like to read next. We bounce around, with popular best sellers being a commonality. We’ve read historical fiction, mainstream fiction, romantic fiction, mystery, fantasy, and non-fiction. We hop around through the genres. Your input for the next read is always welcome.
