Beyond ‘The Women’: Must-Read Books for Fans of Kristin Hannah

Book Jacket: Sisters Under the Rising Sun

sisters under the rising sun by Heather Morris

In the midst of World War II, an English musician, Norah Chambers, places her eight-year-old daughter Sally on a ship leaving Singapore, desperate to keep her safe from the Japanese army as they advance through the Pacific. Norah remains to care for her husband and elderly parents, knowing she may never see her child again. Nesta James, a Welsh Australian nurse, has enlisted to tend to Allied troops. But as Singapore falls to the Japanese she joins the terrified cargo of people, including the heartbroken Norah, crammed aboard a merchant ship. Only two days later, they are bombarded from the air off the coast of Indonesia, and in a matter of hours, the ship sinks. After surviving a brutal 24 hours in the sea, Nesta and Norah reach the beaches of a remote island, only to be captured by the Japanese and held in one of their notorious POW camps. The camps are places of starvation and brutality, where disease runs rampant. Sisters in arms, Norah and Nesta fight side by side every day, helping whoever they can, and discovering in themselves and each other extraordinary reserves of courage, resourcefulness and determination

sunflower sisters by Martha Hall Kelly

"Georgeanna “Georgey” Woolsey isn’t meant for the world of lavish parties and the demure attitudes of women from wealthy families. So when war ignites the nation, Georgey follows her passion for nursing during a time when doctors considered women on the battlefront a bother. In proving them wrong, she and her sister Eliza venture from New York to Washington, D.C., to Gettysburg. In the South, Jemma is enslaved on the Peeler Plantation in Maryland, her sister, Patience, is enslaved on the plantation next door, and both live in fear of LeBaron, an abusive overseer who tracks their every move. When Jemma is sold at the same time the Union army comes through, she sees a chance to finally escape-but only by abandoning the family she loves.

china beach

Part EVAC hospital, part USO entertainment center--this outpost of craziness and compassion introduces us to the Vietnam War through the eyes of the women who served there.

when we had wings by Ariel Lawhon

The Philippines, 1941. When U.S. Navy nurse Eleanor Lindstrom, U.S. Army nurse Penny Franklin, and Filipina nurse Lita Capel forge a friendship at the Army Navy Club in Manila, they believe they’re living a paradise assignment. All three are seeking a way to escape their pasts, but soon the beauty of their surroundings gives way to the heavy mantle of war. Caught in the crosshairs of a fight between the U.S. and the Japanese for control of the Philippine Islands, the nurses are forced to serve under combat conditions and endure captivity as the first female prisoners of WWII. As their resiliency is tested in the face of squalid living arrangements, food shortages, and the enemy’s blatant disregard for the articles of the Geneva Convention, the women strive to keep their hope- and their fellow inmates-alive, though not without great cost. In this sweeping story based on the true experiences of nurses dubbed “the Angels of Bataan,” three women shift in and out of each other’s lives through the darkest days of the war, buoyed by their unwavering friendship and dreams of liberation.

you don't belong here by Elizabeth Becker

Elizabeth Becker traces the war in Vietnam from the Tet Offensive to the revolution in Cambodia to the American defeat and aftermath by following the lives of three women war reporters. One spent 23 days in captivity. Another jumped from planes to get the perfect aerial photo. The other reported from war-torn slums and villages. Kate Webb, an Australian reporter, was captured by the Vietcong only to continue her fearless reporting after her release. Frankie Fitzgerald arrived in Vietnam as a freelancer but her powerful coverage earned her bylines in The New Yorker, and she became the first woman war reporter for the magazine. And at only 22, the French Catherine Leroy was one of the only female photographers in Vietnam. Her work went on to win the highest accolades in photography, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal Award. But aside from their numerous recognitions, all three women achieved something else; they overcame various setbacks and limitations all in pursuit of the truth. Becker shares how these powerful female trailblazers forged a place for themselves and for generations of female reporters to come.

close-up on war by Mary Cronk Farrell

French-born Catherine Leroy, one of the Vietnam War's few woman photographers, documented some of the fiercest fighting in the 20-year conflict. Despite being told that women didn't belong in a "man's world," she was cool under fire, gravitated toward the thickest battles, went along on the soldiers' slogs through the heat and mud of the jungle, and became the only official photojournalist to parachute into combat with American soldiers. Later, Leroy was gravely wounded from shrapnel, but that didn't keep her down more than a month. When captured by the North Vietnamese in 1968, she talked herself free after photographing her captors, scoring a cover story in Life magazine. A recipient of the George Polk Award, one of the most prestigious awards in journalism, Leroy was one of the most well-known photographers in the world during her time.

Book Jacket: The Woman With A Purple Heart

the woman with a purple heart by Diane Hanks

In November 1941, Annie Fox, an Army nurse, is transferred to Hickam Field, an air force base in Honolulu. The others on her transport plane are thrilled to work in paradise, but Annie sees her new duty station as the Army's way of leading to her retirement. On December 7, Annie's on her way to work when the first Japanese Zero fighter plane flies low overhead. The death and destruction that follow leave her no time to process what's happening. She rallies her nurses, and they work to save as many lives as they can. But soon their small hospital is overwhelmed. Annie drives into Honolulu to gather supplies, nurses, and several women who will donate blood. However, the nurses are Japanese Americans, and the blood donors are prostitutes. Under Annie's leadership and working together in unexpected ways, they make it through that horrific day, when one of the Japanese American nurses and Annie's friend, Kay, is arrested as a suspected subversive. Annie works to find her friend and return Kay to her family. But Annie's love for her country is put to the test. How can she reconcile the American bravery and resilience she saw on December 7 with the prejudice and injustice she witnesses just a few months later?

and if i perish by Evelyn Monahan

In World War II, 59,000 women voluntarily risked their lives for their country as U.S. Army nurses. When the war began, some of them had so little idea of what to expect that they packed party dresses; but the reality of service quickly caught up with them, whether they waded through the water in the historic landings on North African and Normandy beaches, or worked around the clock in hospital tents on the Italian front as bombs fell all around them. For more than half a century these women’s experiences remained untold, almost without reference in books, historical societies, or military archives. After years of research and hundreds of hours of interviews, "And If I Perish..." creates a dramatic narrative that at last brings to light the critical role that women played throughout the war. From the North African and Italian Campaigns to the Liberation of France and the Conquest of Germany, U.S. Army nurses rose to the demands of war on the frontlines with grit, humor, and great heroism. These are their stories.

a ballad of love and glory by Reyna Grande

After the controversial annexation of Texas in 1846, the US Army marches south to provoke war with México over the disputed Río Grande boundary. Ximena Salomé is a gifted Mexican healer who dreams of building a family, but when Texas Rangers storm her ranch and shoot her husband dead, her dreams are burned to ashes. Vowing to honor her husband’s memory and defend her country, Ximena uses her healing skills as an army nurse on the frontlines of the ravaging war. Meanwhile, John Riley, an Irish immigrant in the Yankee army desperate to help his family escape the famine devastating his homeland, is sickened by the unjust war and the unspeakable atrocities against his countrymen by nativist officers. In a bold act of defiance, he swims across the Río Grande and joins the Mexican Army-a desertion punishable by execution. He forms the St. Patrick’s Battalion, a band of Irish soldiers willing to fight to the death for México’s freedom. When Ximena and John meet, a dangerous attraction blooms between them. Swept up by forces with the power to change history, they fight not only for the fate of a nation but also for their future together.

pure grit by Mary Cronk Farrell

In the early 1940s, young women enlisted for peacetime duty as U.S. Army nurses. But when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 blasted the United States into World War II, 101 American Army and Navy nurses serving in the Philippines were suddenly treating wounded and dying soldiers while bombs exploded all around them. The women served in jerry-rigged jungle hospitals on the Bataan Peninsula and in underground tunnels on Corregidor Island. Later, when most of them were captured by the Japanese as prisoners of war, they suffered disease and near-starvation for three years. Pure Grit is a story of sisterhood and suffering, of tragedy and betrayal, of death and life. The women cared for one another, maintained discipline, and honored their vocation to nurse anyone in need, with all 101 coming home alive.

it's my country too

This anthology shares the contributions of women in the American military in their own words-from the Revolutionary War to the present wars in the Middle East. Serving with the Union Army during the Civil War as a nurse, scout, spy, and soldier, Harriet Tubman tells what it was like to be the first American woman to lead a raid against an enemy, freeing some 750 slaves. Busting gender stereotypes, Josette Dermody Wingo enlisted as a gunner’s mate in the navy in World War II to teach sailors to fire Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns. Marine Barbara Dulinsky recalls serving under fire in Saigon during the Tet Offensive of 1968, and Brooke King describes the aftermath of her experiences outside the wire with the army in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In excerpts from their diaries, letters, oral histories, and pension depositions-as well as from published and unpublished memoirs-generations of women reveal why and how they chose to serve their country, often breaking with social norms, even at great personal peril.

the woman at the front by Lecia Cornwall

When Eleanor Atherton graduates from medical school near the top of her class in 1917, she dreams of going overseas to help the wounded, but her ambition is thwarted at every turn. Eleanor's parents insist she must give up medicine, marry a respectable man, and assume her proper place. While women might serve as ambulance drivers or nurses at the front, they cannot be physicians - that work is too dangerous and frightening. Nevertheless, Eleanor is determined to make more of a contribution than sitting at home knitting for the troops. When an unexpected twist of fate sends Eleanor to the battlefields of France as the private doctor of a British peer, she seizes the opportunity for what it is - the chance to finally prove herself. But there's a war on, and a casualty clearing station close to the front lines is an unforgiving place. Facing skeptical commanders who question her skills, scores of wounded men needing care, underhanded efforts by her family to bring her back home, and a blossoming romance, Eleanor must decide if she's brave enough to break the rules, face her darkest fears, and take the chance to win the career - and the love - she's always wanted.

a time remembered by Olga Gruhzit-Hoyt

Some 10,000 US women served in the Vietnam War. Based on interviews with armed forces nurses, Red Cross volunteers and others, the author of They Also Served: American Women in World War II conveys their wartime and postwar experiences.

the daughters of mars by Thomas Keneally

In 1915, Naomi and Sally Durance, two spirited Australian sisters, join the war effort as nurses, escaping the confines of their fathers farm and carrying a guilty secret with them. Though they are used to tending the sick, nothing could have prepared them for what they confront, first on a hospital ship near Gallipoli, then on the Western Front. Yet amid the carnage, the sisters become the friends they never were at home and find themselves courageous in the face of extreme danger and also the hostility from some on their own side.

home before morning by Lynda Van Devanter

Lynda Van Devanter was the girl next door, the cheerleader who enjoyed sports, and got along well with her sisters and parents. After high school she attended nursing school and then in 1969, she joined the army and was shipped to Vietnam where her idealistic view of the war vanished quickly. She worked long and arduous hours in cramped, ill-equipped, understaffed operating rooms. She saw friends die and witnessed the war close-up, operating on soldiers and civilians whose injuries were catastrophic. After one traumatic year, she came home and found it was nearly as devastating as the time she spent in Asia. Viewed by many as a murderer instead of a healer, she felt isolated and angry. The anger turned to depression; like many other Vietnam veterans she suffered from PTSD. Working in hospitals brought back chilling scenes of hopelessly wounded soldiers. A marriage ended in divorce. The war that was fought physically halfway around the world had become a personal, internal battle. This is an awesome account of war through a woman's eyes.

front lines by Michael Grant

1942, World War II. The most terrible war in human history. A court decision makes females subject to the draft and eligible for service. So in this World War II, women and girls fight, too. Three young women sign up to fight. Rio Richlin, Frangie Marr, and Rainy Schulterman are average girls with dreams and aspirations, at the start of their lives. Each has her own reasons for volunteering. Rio, Frangie, and Rainy will play their parts in the war to defeat evil and save the future of the human race.

Book Jacket: To Serve My Country, to Serve My Race

to serve my country, to serve my race by Brenda L. Moore

The story of the historic 6888th, the first United States Women's Army Corps unit composed of African-American women to serve overseas. While African-American men and white women were invited, if belatedly, to serve their country abroad, African-American women were excluded for overseas duty throughout most of WWII. Under political pressure from legislators like Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., the NAACP, the black press, and even President Roosevelt, the U.S. War Department finally deployed African-American women to the European theater in 1945. African-American women answered the call from all over the country, from every socioeconomic stratum. Despite the social, political, and economic restrictions imposed upon these African-American women in their own country, they were eager to serve, not only out of patriotism but out of a desire to uplift their race and dispell bigoted preconceptions about their abilities.

the healer's war by Elizabeth Ann Scarborough

A former military nurse in Vietnam, Scarborough's novel focuses on Army nurse Kathleen McCulley's coming of age. Her tour of duty at China Beach puts the young woman from Kansas through the usual mixture of empathy for the Vietnamese and anger at the indifference or outright racism of army personnel. The unanticipated twist is a hallucinatory journey through the jungle with a one-legged Vietnamese boy, a battle-seasoned but crazy soldier and a magic amulet given her by a dying holy man. Scarborough's light, fluid storytelling and authentic background make this novel fantastic reading.

they fought like demons by DeAnne Blanton

Popular images of women during the American Civil War include self-sacrificing nurses, romantic spies, and brave ladies maintaining hearth and home in the absence of their men. However, as DeAnne Blanton and Lauren M. Cook show in their remarkable new study, that conventional picture does not tell the entire story. Hundreds of women assumed male aliases, disguised themselves in men’s uniforms, and charged into battle as Union and Confederate soldiers-facing down not only the guns of the adversary but also the gender prejudices of society. This is the first book to fully explore and explain these women, their experiences as combatants, and the controversial issues surrounding their military service.

under the cover of mercy by Rebecca Connolly

Skilled British nurse and courageous resistance fighter, Edith Cavell was head of an institute for nurses in the suburbs of Brussels at the outbreak of World War I. Dedicated to the methods of Florence Nightingale, her intelligence and ferocious sense of duty had transformed the institute into a leading training center. When the Germans captured Belgium in the fall of 1914, an organization to assist British and French soldiers trapped behind German lines was formed and Edith sheltered escaping soldiers in her hospital, using trickery to keep the suspicious Germans from discovering them. She helped arrange a secret route to neutral Holland and back to England at great personal risk, enabling soldiers of all ranks to slip through German lines. Using the institute as part of an elaborate Allied escape route, Edith Cavell was responsible for one thousand soldiers eventually making their way home. Cavell’s role was discovered and a German military court put her on trial in Brussels, where she was sentenced to be executed by firing squad. On October 12, 1915, she put on her nurse’s uniform and met her fate, immediately becoming a worldwide martyr and rallying point for the British in their war against Germany.

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