Bestselling Books
The Women: A Novel
The Women is a historical novel set during the Vietnam War, following Frankie McGrath, a young woman who enlists in the Army Nurse Corps in 1965. Hannah builds the story around the experience of women who served — a largely overlooked piece of American war history — and the difficulty of re-entering civilian life afterward. It reached #1 on the New York Times bestseller list in 2024 and sustained its ranking through strong reader word-of-mouth. The structure alternates between the war years and Frankie's return, using that contrast to make the cost of service concrete rather than abstract. Readers who responded to The Nightingale will recognize Hannah's approach: historical setting, a female protagonist navigating a male-dominated environment, high emotional stakes. The period research is thorough enough to feel lived-in rather than decorative. At 480 pages it is the slower kind of epic — the pacing rewards commitment rather than sprinting through it.
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What we like
- + Covers the Vietnam War from a female perspective that most war narratives miss — nurses, not soldiers
- + Period research is thorough enough to feel lived-in rather than decorative
- + #1 New York Times bestseller with sustained word-of-mouth through 2024 and beyond
- + Alternating timelines between the war years and the return home make the emotional cost concrete
Watch out for
- - 480 pages — pacing is deliberate and rewards patience rather than sprint reading
- - Readers who found The Nightingale too emotionally heavy will have the same experience here
Our verdict
Best historical fiction of 2024 for readers who want something substantive. Hannah's focus on the overlooked story of women who served in Vietnam sets it apart from other war narratives in the category.