The Women: A Novel

Despite her mother’s urging, Frankie refuses to leave her bed. One day, Ethel and Barb wake her up; Barb was concerned about not hearing from Frankie. Ethel and Barb take Frankie to the beach and talk about how she might healthily cope with her grief. They remind her that nursing once brought meaning to her life, so she applies for a job at a local hospital. The head nurse is dismayed by her lack of civilian nursing experience but gives her a job. Frankie is assigned to a third shift and told she will be helping patients to the bathroom and answering phones. She initially protests but knows she has to prove herself in a civilian setting.

A newspaper article reports the death of a nurse in Vietnam. Frankie’s mother tries to hide the article, but Frankie reads it. Though she did not know the nurse, she is shaken. She agrees to attend a high school friend’s party and is greeted by old friends—most of them married and some with children. When Frankie realizes the party is a wedding shower for a young woman named Dana, she grows uncomfortable. When asked about her time in Florence, she shouts about Vietnam and rushes to the beach.