The Women: one woman's story in a war the country wanted to forget

The Women by Kristin Hannah is one woman’s story as she goes to war and must fight to have her and other women’s contributions in the war recognized. Twenty year old Frances “Frankie” McGrath is a nursing student who wants to make her family proud. So proud to be worthy of the heroes wall which serves as a memorial to the war heroes in the McGrath family. Someone tells her that even women can be heroes which brings a revelation, she will take her nursing skills to the war effort. She joins the Army Nurse Corps and she is not prepared for what she will encounter. With the help of her fellow nurses, Ethel and Barb, Frankie sees firsthand the chaos and destruction of war, the gamble of life and death. Little does she know that the war is just beginning as she heads home and finds a country even more divided, angry protesters as her contributions are essentially forgotten. 

I have loved Kristin Hannah’s stories since I first picked up Firefly Lane (2008). The Women is a hard hitting, gut wrenching, emotional story that shines a light on the women who put their lives on the line to serve their country only to have their country deny they were even there. It is a story of friendships and courage under fire. Part 1 focuses on the war itself as Frankie is not prepared for the carnage. It is emotional and heartbreaking, filled with moments of gasps and plenty of tears. Part 2 focuses on her return home and her struggles to return to civilian life. I was shocked to learn that for the longest time, no one knew or no one would acknowledge that women served in Vietnam. It pains me to know that the male veterans were vilified and yet the women were ignored and forgotten. Overall, The Women is another amazing story from Kristin Hannah. I highly, highly recommend it. 

The Women is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook

The Four Winds: a story of courage and survival during the Great Depression

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah is the story of the Great Depression and one family’s fight for survival. The story begins in Texas, 1921 when 25 year old Elsa Wolcott spent most of her time indoors, deemed too weak to venture outside by her overbearing parents. She is now considered unmarriageable until fate steps in and with one act of rebellion, Elsa’s world is turned upside down. Her act of rebellion leaves her married to Rafe Martinelli, a young man she barely knows and begins life on a farm she knows nothing about. Fast forward to 1934, the world is in a deep depression. Millions are out of work and a devastating drought has ravaged the once bountiful Great Plains to a wasteland. Everyone is faced with a choice: stay or take a chance on a better life elsewhere. Elsa is determined to stay on the land she has come to love. But when a horrific dust storm causes her young son to become gravely ill, she has no other choice. She packs her two children and takes the perilous journey into California. What will she find there? Will it be a land of plentiful? Will they find a way to survive? 

Growing up I knew my maternal grandmother lived on an Oklahoma farm during the Great Depression. Once I sat down with her and talked about her experiences. I have never forgotten what she told me. Her stories were in my mind as I read The Four Winds. It is a story about love, heroism and hope during a time when all hope seemed to be lost. The Four Winds is a story about the will to survive and a hope for a better future. It was a time of crisis and the harsh realities that divided the people and the battle between the haves and the have-nots, the powerful and the needy. Images from John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath (1939) also came to mind as Ms. Hannah described the conditions these people had to endure. It is also the story of a woman who thought she was nothing but discovers she is someone important. I had a love-hate relationship with Elsa and many of the characters. But they felt real with real flaws and made life and death decisions. The end was truly beautiful, a tear jerking moment, a thank you to those who fought and endured the Great Depression. I recommend The Four Winds. 

The Four Winds is available in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook. 

The Great Alone: where one mistake can cost you everything

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah is the story of Lenora “Leni” Allbright and her life in the Alaska wilderness. The story opens in 1974, Leni is 13 years old and her parents, Ernt and Coraline “Cora” Allbright are fighting. Her dad is a Vietnam vet and POW who has had a hard time adjusting to life after the war and has lost another job. Things look bleak until a letter arrives which offers the family a new start in Alaska. While life is hard as they learn to live in the wilderness, they are helped by their neighbors, Large Marge, who runs the local grocery story, and The Walker family, whose son, Matthew, is the same age as Leni. Through trial and error, the family learns to live in their new home. However, her father’s demons has seemed to follow them to Alaska and with the darkness and isolation of Alaska wilderness, Leni must learn to fight back and trust her instincts.

The Great Alone is another amazing story by Ms. Hannah. It has heartbreaking drama, love and hopes for survival. The story immediately pulls you in by Leni’s narration. The reader will laugh with her, cry with her and feel her fear as it grips the heart. It is a page turner as you cannot wait to see if she survives. Ms. Hannah’s descriptions of the Alaska wilderness and its cold winters are so vivid, you can almost feel the icy wind. Behind the stunning beauty of Alaska, there is a harshness that very few learn to survive. I highly, highly recommend The Great Alone.

The Great Alone

will be available February 6, 2018

in hardcover and eBook

The Nightingale: the story of two sisters during the French Resistance of World War II

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah is the story of two sisters during the French Resistance movement fighting the German occupation of France in World War II. After the sudden death of the mother, sisters, Vianne and Isabelle were separated as their father couldn’t bear to see their faces and take care of their needs. Vianne soon gets married and starts her family while Isabelle is set to one boarding school after another. War is brewing in Europe and Vianne doesn’t want to think about the possibility that her husband will go to war until he is sent to the Maginot Line. Isabelle is in Paris when the Germans invade and she is among the refugees who flee the city. She makes her way to Vianne’s home in the Loire Valley. Isabelle feels the desire to matter, to do something important during the war. She soon becomes a part of the French Resistance, a network of men and women determined to fight off the Germans. While Vianne is dealing with the German occupation of her town and her home as she is forced to house a German officer. As Isabelle becomes a vital part of the resistance, Vianne discovers she can no longer sit by and let the horrors she sees continue. She helps fight the Germans in her own way. Will the two sisters be discovered? Will they live to see the end of the war and each other again?

Once again, Ms. Hannah has created a beautiful story with a deep emotional impact. Every one of her books has a surprising twist at the end and even though I knew this, the twist in The Nightingale I truly did not see coming. There’s so much to talk about with this book but I can’t because it would give away too much. The historical detail is very well done and as we all know the horrors the Nazis did during the war, Ms. Hannah’s descriptions give the horrors a new light and you are shocked and horrified all over again. I highly, highly recommend The Nightingale.

The Nightingale

is available at all major booksellers

Winter Garden: a story of a mother, her daughters and a painful secret

Winter Garden by Kristin Hannah is a story about two sisters who try to reconnect with a mother who shut them out many years ago. When a fairy tale from their childhood is retold, they discover that their mother was hiding a deep and painful secret.

Meredith and Nina Witson are daughter of Evan and Anya. The story begins in December 1972 as Meredith writes a play based on a fairy tale her mother tells her. After her mother abruptly stops the play and vows to never tell the fairy tale again, a wedge is placed between Anya and her daughters. Fast forward to 2000, Meredith is now married to her childhood sweetheart with two grown daughters and Nina is a world traveling photographer. When Evan suddenly dies, Nina is determined to hear the fairy tale again. At first Anya is resistant but soon she begins to tell the story again, Meredith and Nina realize that more and more elements of the story are different. They begin to realize that this story is no fairy tale but a story of their mother’s deepest secret. A secret she wanted to die with her. Will Meredith and Nina get the real story? Or will their mother keep her wall of secrecy?

I’ve been a fan of Kristin Hannah for many years and have read nearly all of her books. None of her books have affected me more than Winter Garden. The reader discovers the facts of the story along with Meredith and Nina and there are a great many heart gasping moments. I can’t give too many details about the fairy tale as it will ruin the course of discovery. I can say that this book is among the few in which I cried. My heart broke for Anya as she finally reveals the painful secret of many years ago. Events are described in vivid detail. My favorite line in the book is from Anya who tells her daughters, “You would be amazed at what the human heart can endure.” I highly recommend Winter Garden as it is a story of a mother and her daughters and the painful events in which human often must endure.

Winter Garden and other titles by Kristin Hannah

are available on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and a bookstore near you.