The Women – Summer Reading List 2026

Description

Adored by millions and soon to be a major motion picture, The Women is an unforgettable, captivating novel. A sweeping epic love, heart breaking loss, extraordinary bravery and the unbreakable bond of female friendship about the women who answered the call of the Vietnam War and paid the price. ‘Utterly absorbing .

. . A triumph’ – Taylor Jenkins Reid ‘Stuns with sacrifice.

Uplifts with heroism’ – Bonnie Garmus ‘Never has a novel of war metamorphosed so profoundly into a story of the human heart. The female heart’ – Delia Owens.

They answered the call. Then they fought to be remembered. When twenty-year-old nursing student, Frances “Frankie” McGrath, hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on California’s idyllic Coronado Island and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing, being a good girl.

But in 1965 the world is changing, and she suddenly imagines a different path for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurses Corps and follows his path. As green and inexperienced as the young men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is overwhelmed by the chaos and destruction of war, as well as the unexpected trauma of coming home to a changed America.

But Frankie will also discover the true value of female friendship and the heartbreak that love can cause. ‘Thank God for girlfriends. In this crazy, chaotic, divided world that was run by men, you could count on the women’** The Women has two covers in different colours.

Colour is selected randomly upon fulfillment. **Readers love The Women:’Three little words. “They were there.” Superb.

Immersive. Shocking”This book turned me into an absolute sobbing mess . .

. So well written and utterly heartbreaking as well as uplifting, joyful and empowering’‘An authentic account of an unforgotten and untold story. Sometimes brutal, sometimes beautiful’’Compelling and heartbreaking.

It released all kinds of emotions in me, and has left me wanting to know more about the Vietnam war”Wow! One that you dream about at night and think about all day’‘One of the most gripping historical fiction books I’ve ever read’‘Enlightening, informative and a fitting tribute to the female service women and medical staff who served in Vietnam’‘The story and the characters within will forever be imprinted on my soul’‘This isn’t just a story of the past, it’s a reminder of what we should not forget in the present’