If You Like The Women…
The Women by Kristin Hannah (2024) was one of the most popular books to check out at libraries in 2025. I thought I’d see what all the excitement was about by listening to the audiobook narrated by Julia Whelan. The book did not disappoint. Frankie is just out of nursing college when her brother leaves to serve in the navy in the Vietnam War. When he is killed in action, she is propelled to serve herself, as an army nurse. The book follows Frankie’s tours in Vietnam — the skills she learns, the trauma she endures, the friends and lovers she bonds with — and continues as she returns home to face prejudice and unwelcoming family and public. The U.S. is divided about the war and Frankie discovers that her service was invisible as she keeps being told there were no women in Vietnam.
The suggestions below show women in other wars, facing barriers and prejudice, as well as Vietnamese perspectives on the Vietnam War.
Note: My apologies that the blog font doesn’t allow me to include all the diacriticals in the Vietnamese names.
Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith (2008)
Ida’s has loved to fly since her dad taught her how with his crop duster. When racism and sexism keep her from getting her pilot’s license, she makes a radical choice. She passes for white, “borrows” her dad’s license, and enters the WASPs. The training is challenging, but she makes friends who get her through it. As Ida continues hiding her true self, she feels the strain. She can either do what she loves and fly or be who she really is and be grounded forever.
Butterfly Yellow by Thanhhà Lai (2019)
Hang is determined to get herself and her little brother Linh out of the country at the end of the Vietnam War. The siblings are separated; Linh is taken to the United States and Hang remains in Vietnam for another six years. When she finally makes it to Texas she searches for Linh only to find a stranger.
The Mountains Sing by Nguyên Phan Quê Mai (2020)
This family saga spans many decades of Vietnamese history. The novel is told from two perspectives: Diêu Lan, born in 1920, and her granddaughter Huong, born in 1960. Diêu Lan is on her own — the men of the family lost to death or war — and she begins working in the black market to support the family. She wants nothing more than to protect her children, yet finds herself giving them up, hoping faintly that they will reunite in better times. Huong is coming of age as the adults in her family leave to fight in the Vietnam War. When Huong’s mother returns, she is traumatized and unavailable.
The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein (2020)
Louisa, who is half-Jamaican, gets a job taking care of an elderly German woman in Scotland near a British army base. When a German pilot and an Enigma machine cross Louisa’s path, she is entwined in the mystery to understand the machine and help the British win the war.
Something Worth Doing by Jane Kirkpatrick (2020)
This historical fiction novel follows the life of Abigail Scott Duniway, an early suffragette. As she tries to make a life that works for her — fighting for rights for women, writing, and having a family — she also deals with the twin feelings of guilt and entrapment that mothers can experience. If she had been less of an activist, would her children have been better off? she wonders.