An epic, heartbreaking yet uplifting story, The Women by Kristin Hannah has topped multiple book charts and been recommended to friends, colleagues, neighbours, grocers and delivery drivers all over.
The Women follows a young nurse, Frankie, sent to the Vietnam War and deeply affected by what she sees. Returning to a changed America, she discovers the true value of female friendship and the heartbreak love can cause.
We recently spoke to lawyer-turned writer Kristin, gaining an insight into her influences. She told us, "As the child of a peripatetic adventurer, I longed for stability and certainty. I never dreamt of being a writer, or an astronaut or a ballet dancer.
"I wanted to be a small-town librarian. Books were my best friends back then and working among them sounded ideal."
Kristin listed Anne of Green Gables, The Wizard of Oz, and The Hobbit as formative books for her, called thriller novel It by Stephen King "a masterclass in how time and structure impact a story." She described The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy as "beautifully immersive and gorgeously written, with characters I truly care about. I use it as a study guide for the kind of writer I want to be."
Fellow author Taylor Jenkins Reid called The Women "Utterly absorbing... A triumph." And many readers have been left wanting more – including the movie adaptation, after the rights were bought by Warner Bros last year.
Aside from Kristin's other popular novels such as The Nightingale (also slated for a movie version), The Four Winds, and Firefly Lane (and the Netflix series of the same name), we've unearthed three other gems to immerse yourself in, with characters you'll care about intensely.
This year’s Women’s Prize for Fiction winner explores trauma, repressed desire and female resilience in post-war Netherlands. Isabel has lived alone for years in her late mother’s house – which was bequeathed to her brother Louis.
When Louis brings his girlfriend Eva to stay with Isabel for a month, she loathes Eva and is horrified at the disruption to her routine. But over time, the relationship between the two women takes a turn. A sensuous slow burn.
The sea is a central theme to this book, and at its heart are two sets of sisters, separated by time but connected by the power of the sea. In 1800, Mary and Eliza are on board a convict ship sailing to Australia from Ireland. Then 200 years later, fugitive Lucy searches for her sister Jess, who has inexplicably vanished.
Lyrical prose and the magic realism of sirens highlights female resilience. Bound by trauma, myth and love, this raises voices that refuse to be drowned out.
How far will the bonds of female friendship endure the strains of war and separation? It’s 1939, and two mothers face the reality of occupied Paris. Elise knows she must flee the invasion, but she only trusts one person with her child’s safety – Juliette, who has a daughter the same age.
But when she returns after the liberation, Elise finds no trace of either her friend or the children, and a search begins.
A moving tribute to motherhood and the hope and love that survives them all.
This article first appeared in the October 2025 issue of woman&home magazine. Subscribe to the magazine for £6 for 6 issues.
