We could all relate to the period in which The Women was set. We learned a lot about the way that returning military personnel were treated when they arrived back in the USA and, in particular how the women who had served were completely ignored - we found this shocking, harrowing in places!

The book felt into two parts: Part 1, 1966 -1971 set in California and Vietnam follows Frankie's journey to, and time in Vietnam; Part 2, 1971 -1982 set in Virginia, California and Montana follows Frankie on her return from Vietnam.

The group felt that the nurses in Vietnam were given enormous amounts of responsibility and then asked to empty bedpans on their return to nursing in the USA reflected the experience of women at the end of WWII when, have contributed so much to the 'war machine', were expected meekly to return to their pre-war lives.

Group Review:  The average score for this novel was 9/10.  Members remarked on the enormous amount of research we felt the book was informative, with excellent descriptions.

A favourite quote: "He was sad , and Frankie knew every nuance of sorrow; he just didn't know how to act without Mom, who to be, what to say. This locomotive of a man who'd rumbled so loudly through her childhood had derailed."