The Women: A Novel

The wounded Jamie will likely die but is still readied for transport to a better-equipped hospital. Frankie writes a message on the stone given to her by the Vietnamese boy and slips it into Jamie’s duffle bag. Later, she exchanges letters with Ethel, lamenting Jamie; Barb is also scheduled to return home soon. One day, Frankie is told she is being transferred to the 71st Evacuation Hospital, a mobile unit near the Cambodian border; Barb transfers as well, wanting to spend the end of her tour with Frankie. At the hospital—infested with insects, rodent droppings, and mold—Frankie and Barb work in the OR while under mortar attack. When the mass casualties finally end, Frankie joins Barb in smoking marijuana, uncertain how she will survive alone.

Frankie becomes accustomed to the unrelenting pace of the 71st Evacuation Unit. For the first time, she tells her mother of the war’s atrocities in a letter. Barb tells her of a march in Washington DC, and Frankie wonders if the war is in vain. One day, the women are invited to a party by the pilot, Coyote. They board a jeep and are taken to a hotel in Saigon, where they have lunch in the French Quarter and shop.