The Women by Kristin Hannah
Week 10: The Long Arc — Frankie in the 1980s and Beyond
Read the chapters covering Frankie's life in the years following the memorial, as she works toward advocacy, purpose, and reconnection.
Previewing Week 10 of The Women
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 14-week guide when you’re ready.
Hannah gives Frankie a life beyond survival — a sense of purpose that grows out of her pain rather than in spite of it.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Frankie's advocacy work on behalf of women veterans gives her a new sense of purpose in these chapters. How does Hannah connect that external work to Frankie's internal healing? Is it presented as a solution or as one piece of a larger puzzle?
2.The relationships Frankie has with the surviving members of her Vietnam circle — particularly Barb and Ethel — have evolved significantly by this point in the novel. How does Hannah show the way deep friendships change over decades without losing their essential quality?
3.Frankie's relationship with her parents — particularly her father — is one of the novel's long, slow-burning emotional arcs. How does it evolve in these later chapters, and what does its evolution reveal about the generational and gender divides the novel has been exploring all along?
a.Does her father come to understand what Frankie went through? What would that understanding require of him?
b.Is a full reconciliation possible — or desirable — given what has passed between them?