Tour video and photos, book group materials, videos & podcasts...and lots more
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Wow...
Dear readers,
On this glorious spring day, I am sitting in my backyard, looking out at my familiar view, and I can’t help thinking what an amazing, humbling, exciting year 2024 has already proven to be. As many of you know, I have been on tour recently for The Women, and even for a writer, it’s difficult to put into words how meaningful these last three months have been for me. The response to my book has been nothing short of astounding.
I have been a writer for 35 years and have published more than 20 novels; I would have said I’d seen it all in that time, but the love shown to The Women is like nothing I have ever seen. When I started out on the lonely I-want-to-be-a-writer journey all those years ago, I never even dared to dream of being #1 on the New York Times bestseller list for one week, let alone 11. It’s proof to all of the dreamers out there. Life can surprise you at any age.
I wish you all had been able to join me for any one of my tour stops to hear what readers had to say, especially the Vietnam veterans and their families. Too many of them feel that their service and their stories have been forgotten. The Women is shining a light on their service, and they are talking again, to their friends and families and children. I especially love hearing that the war veterans and nurses are sharing their own personal histories.
If there’s one core message of this book, it is that remembrance and gratitude matter, especially toward people who sacrifice for the good of others. It’s vital for us, as Americans, to care for our veterans and their families. When one sacrifices so much for the sake of all, we owe them a great deal when they come home.
Diane Carlson Evans and me at the
30th Anniversary of the Women's Vietnam Memorial
I am also especially proud of my book mentor, Diane Carlson Evans, an Army nurse in Vietnam and the founder of the Women’s Vietnam Memorial. Her own book, Healing Wounds, about her service during the war and her fight for remembrance for her sister veterans at home is inspiring and important. Senator Jon Tester has recently nominated Diane for the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I can’t think of anyone more deserving. I am going to write a letter on her behalf, and I invite you to join me. Letters of support (with a limit of 2,000 characters) can be sent to https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/. We women need to fight for remembrance and our place in history and support each other. Right???
Tour Highlights
Here is a short video with a few tour highlights. I felt like Taylor Swift in some of these big rooms!!!
Praise
So many people have come forth to talk about The Women, and I am so grateful for each and every one. I think it’s because this story about the Vietnam veterans and their service during the war and their struggles upon coming home is one that we all needed to hear and needed to talk about. I am over the moon that the book has started long overdue conversations within families and communities.
And I just have to share this…I am a huge fan of Stephen King's writing, so seeing this tweet really made my day. My family was more impressed by his tweet than pretty much anything in my career! :)
"THE WOMEN, by Kristin Hannah: This war novel...is a fine piece of work about nurses in Vietnam in the late '60s. Bloody, moving, exceptionally well researched."
---Stephen King
Book Groups
I am hearing from many book clubs about this book! Thank you for choosing it for discussion. There are many topics in this novel that are ripe to be talked about. I especially love hearing the takeaways from women of all ages — those who remember this era and those who don’t. There’s much to learn...and sadly, much of it is still relevant today. We women always have to fight to have our stories told and remembered. One woman at a time. Below you can find discussion questions for your next book club meeting.
Spoiler Alert: Make sure you’ve read the book before you read the questions.
Also, there is an interview with me to give you and your group additional insight into the book.
For More Reading
I love the research that I do before I begin a book. For those of you who would like to do more reading, I created a list of the books that I read when I was researching and writing The Women.
A Spotify Playlist
The music in The Women is so important. If you want to listen along, there’s an hour-long playlist with 17 songs!
Videos and Podcasts
On stage with Adriana Trigiani
In addition to my in-person events, I was lucky enough to do a number of interviews for videos and podcasts. Here are some of them.
One More Exciting Piece of News
A few weeks before the book came out, Warner Brothers Motion Picture Group acquired rights to The Women. The adaptation will be overseen by Cate Adams and Diamond McNeil on behalf of Warner Brothers. Woman power!
I had the pleasure of being interviewed by Luis Alberto Urrea on my tour for The Four Winds. He's a great guy and a wonderful writer. From now through April 30th, Seattle Arts & Lectures is offering my newsletter readers 30% off all in-person or digital tickets to Luis Alberto Urrea’s talk on Monday, May 20th at 7:30pm PT by entering the code HANNAH30 upon checkout. Get tickets here.
About the Book
The missing. The forgotten. The brave… The women.
“Women can be heroes.”
When 20-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these unexpected words, it is a revelation. Raised on 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
choice for her life. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she impulsively joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.
As green and inexperienced as the 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 and politically divided America. She belongs to a generation that was fueled by dreams and lost on the battlefield.
This novel is about the brave, resilient young women — mostly nurses, but not all — who served in the Vietnam War. It is the story of their coming of age, their camaraderie, their experiences in combat hospitals, and their struggle for peace and acceptance when they came home. I really love this story and this novel, and I am in awe of the women who inspired it.
Photos from a Literary Salon
with Maria Bello
I was invited to a literary salon hosted by Maria Bello, and it was such a special day. Here are some photos.
Maria Bello and me
Longtime writing friends Megan Chance (left) and Tami Hoag (right)
Megan Chance and Maria Bello
Jeannine A. Cook from Ida's Bookshop and Maria Bello
"What About When You're Not Writing?"
As you can probably imagine, given my published book list, I am always writing in one way or another. Sometimes it’s a 9-5 kind of thing — that’s really when I’m either writing the first draft or editing. And sometimes it’s a quieter, easier kind of work — reading research material or books for fun. Lately, I have been in a new stage of writing. Publicity and social media and touring. It’s been quite the whirlwind. I have absolutely LOVED meeting with so many booksellers and readers and librarians. We who love books are our own tribe, and it’s always magic when we come together.
But now, as I go into the warm Seattle summer months, it’s time to turn my thoughts to the favorite reader question: What’s next?
To be honest, I’m not sure, but I’m definitely eager to find out. Wish me luck!
Cheers from my backyard...
