THE WOMEN

The sure touch of Golden Voice narrator Julia Whelan transforms Kristin Hannah’s absorbing novel about Vietnam War combat nurses into an addictive listen. An intimate portrait and a sprawling account of a searing time, the story focuses on 20-year-old Frances McGrath, who, in 1965, impetuously chooses the Army Nurse Corps over cotillions and marriage. Whelan brings believable characterizations and evocative pacing to her performance of Frankie’s experiences—whether in a bloody MASH operating room or talking truth with her best nursing friends, a Black woman from Georgia and a white woman from Virginia. As the novel interweaves historical research with the characters’ Vietnam and postwar lives, Whelan’s intensity and warmth help listeners empathize with the personal and understand the big picture. A.C.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2024 Best Audiobook © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2024]