The Women: A Novel

Finley leaves to serve in the Vietnam War; while in Vietnam, he and Frankie exchange letters. Frankie graduates with a nursing degree, but her senior at the local hospital is reluctant to let her be. She enters the room of a patient who lost his leg in combat; he explains he will be transferred to a mental facility because of his attempt to die by suicide. The patient asks Frankie to stay with him while he falls asleep. She wonders if she might serve as a nurse in Vietnam. She visits the Navy recruitment office a few days later but is told she needs to complete two years of hospital work to be eligible to become a combat nurse. Frankie visits the Air Force but is told the same. The Army accepts her upon completion of training.

Frankie returns home to tell her parents that she joined the Nurse’s Army Corp. She is confused by their anger, having expected them to be excited given their family’s history of military service; however, they disapprove because she is a woman. Frankie insists she will return safely, and then there is a knock at the door. Two Naval officers inform Frankie’s father that Finley was killed, and his body couldn’t be recovered. Still, Frankie feels she cannot change her plan.

Frankie finishes nurse training and flies to Honolulu, then Saigon; she is the only woman aboard the plane. Upon arrival, the plane cannot land because enemies are firing at it. Once it lands, Frankie is instructed to exit before the men do. She is brought to a base to sleep but given no information. She drinks from a bathroom faucet, and the water makes her sick. In the morning, Frankie is transported to a hospital, where nurses reset dressings for the wounded. She is shown to her living quarters, a “hooch” or small hut with three beds. She unpacks a Polaroid camera and thinks she made a mistake.

Two nurses enter Frankie’s hooch and introduce themselves as Ethel and Barbara (Barb). Ethel tells Frankie to change clothes. Frankie is hesitant, not wanting to violate regulations by not wearing her nurse’s uniform, but Ethel and Barb scoff. Ethel walks her around the base, mostly filled with hastily placed huts, and reveals there are a total of nine nurses. The pair enter a building that functions as a bar (O Club), where music plays and men smoke. Suddenly, an alarm sounds, informing the base that they are under rocket fire. A flirty surgeon offers to protect Frankie, but she is dubious. When the firing ends, the surgeon—Jamie Callahan—suggests she have whiskey to calm herself.

Frankie wakes the next morning, sick from Jamie’s whiskey. Her supervisor is angry when she reports for duty three minutes late. Before she can receive an assignment, helicopters arrive with wounded soldiers. Frankie is told to rush to the emergency room (ER), and she holds the hand of a soldier as he dies. Nine hours later, she is shaken by the sight of so many casualties. Ethel assures her that no one can prepare for this experience. Frankie learns Ethel’s boyfriend was killed in action, and that she came to Saigon hoping to make a difference. After dinner, Ethel suggests they have a drink at the O Club, but Frankie is too tired. Later, Frankie leaves the hooch in search of a bathroom and runs into Jamie, who was unable to save a wounded friend.

Frankie is assigned to the neuro ward for the night shift. The presiding doctor, Ted Smith, explains this ward’s patients—American and Vietnamese—are brain dead and awaiting transport to a permanent hospital. It is mostly quiet, and Frankie hones her nursing skills without the stress of emergencies. She rarely sees Ethel and Barb, as they both work day shifts. One day, Ethel wakes Frankie and tells her that she and Barb are taking her on a field trip to the Medical Civic Action Program (MEDCAP)—which provides medical care to local civilians. They ride in a truck to a small village. There, Frankie and others treat minor ailments. A young boy gets Frankie’s attention, leading her to his house. There, she finds a young girl with gangrene. Dr. Smith advises amputating the girl’s hand and instructs Frankie to assist. Afterward, the boy gives Frankie a stone, and she gifts him a Saint Christopher medallion.

A month passes, and Frankie is assigned a day shift. One day, Ethel and Barb take her via helicopter to the Officer’s Club and Long Binh for Captain Smith’s going-away party. Jamie is there and asks Frankie to dance. While they dance, he asks if she will transfer to the OR. She protests due to her inexperience. Jamie says Captain Smith praised her as a fast learner, so she agrees to submit a transfer request. Upon being transferred, Frankie’s first day in surgery is tiring, and Jamie convinces her to accompany him to the O Club after their shift. As he gets drinks, Ethel and Barb warn Frankie that he is married. She confronts him, and he admits to being married. Jamie pleads with her to stay and talk with him, saying he simply needs a friend.

Monsoon season makes Frankie’s work more stressful. One day, there are too many casualties for Jamie, so he instructs her to close his incisions. He continues to express romantic interest, but she resists. Meanwhile, Frankie exchanges letters with her mother, who is upset about America’s anti-war protests. One day, she joins the MEDCAP trip to an orphanage, where the children are given vaccinations and lollipops. A nun beckons Frankie to treat a girl with a fever. The girl, found with her dead mother after a bombing, is mute and malnourished. She allows Frankie to rock and sing to her, and Frankie instructs the nun on how to administer medication.

Monsoon season ends, but the heat is oppressive. One afternoon, while Frankie is sleeping off a 14-hour shift, Barb awakens her for Ethel’s going-home party—telling her to change into a swimsuit. They take a helicopter to a river, where several Navy members and nurses await. Frankie is invited aboard a speedboat to try water skiing. Ethel’s party continues into the night. Jamie, who has three months left of his tour, convinces Frankie to dance with him. The staff return to the hospital and are awakened at 3 am by sirens announcing helicopters carrying wounded. After the night ends, Jamie asks Frankie to accompany him to Hawaii for his recuperation, claiming he loves her—but she refuses. Over the next week, the OR is short-staffed. One day, Barb asks for Frankie’s help treating a man without a leg: She realizes it is Jamie, whose helicopter was shot down.