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| not those women |
Dear Bookclub,
Kirstin Hannah's, "The Women" caught me off-guard. Not expecting the page-turner surrounding the saga of the women serving in Vietnam, Hannah skillfully developed the protagnist, Frances Grace* - a.k.a Frankie, while vividly immersing the reader in the horrors of the war. We all were taken with the depictions of the war along with the perspective of women, which instigated great discussion.
Martha's Vietnamese dinner served on her family's antique Chinese porcelain, superior to fare in the historic novel, elevated our discussion even more. Her parents collected the dishes, transported from China in the cargo hold of ships as ballast, from shops in Los Angeles. Please read more about these dishes in the link below:
https://www.drloriv.com/antique-tips/chinese-export-porcelain-and-canton-ware/#google_vignette
According to the Merriam Webster dictionary:
Cad - a man who acts with deliberate disregard for another's feelings or rights
(and interestingly..... Cadet - a person in training for a military or naval commission)
Frankie's involvement with cad after cad became a bit tiresome to me. It was pointed out that Hanna's men are often not the finest. I would have welcomed some editing in this department.
Realizing that "The Women" is a great book to introduce newer generations to the realities of the Vietnam War, we recognized our schooling through the many historic novels of WWII we'd read over the years and hope that many younger readers will follow suit.
Hanna's inclusion of the Vietnam Women's Memorial was much appreciated.
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| Diane Carlson Evans, former Vietnam Nurse at the Vietnam Women's Memorial |
More on Evans' story:
Martha's suggestions for an upcoming read:
"Circle of Women" Lisa See
"Demon Copperhead" Barbara Kingsolver
"The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto" Mitch Albom *chosen
Up next:
Happy reading,
Lynn Frances Grace* Kaufman
