The Women by Kristin Hannah
Week 2: Arrival — Vietnam and the 36th Evacuation Hospital
Read the chapters covering Frankie's arrival in Vietnam and her first weeks at the 36th Evacuation Hospital.
Previewing Week 2 of The Women
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 14-week guide when you’re ready.
Nothing Frankie's training prepared her for looks or sounds or smells like what she finds in Vietnam — and Hannah makes sure the reader feels that disorientation alongside her.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Hannah describes Frankie's arrival in Vietnam with careful sensory detail — the heat, the noise, the smell. How does the physical environment of Vietnam function as a character in these chapters, and what does it do to Frankie's sense of self?
2.Frankie meets her fellow nurses, including the more experienced women who will become her closest friends. What is your first impression of these women as Hannah introduces them, and what roles do they seem to occupy in Frankie's education?
3.The chaos and pace of the evacuation hospital — the mass casualty events, the impossible triage decisions — is rendered in vivid, often harrowing detail. What specific scene in this section hit you hardest, and what technique does Hannah use to make it land?