Point of View

The Women is written from the third person limited point of view. It follows the perspective of Frankie McGrath, the protagonist. This third person point of view allows Kristin Hannah to explore Frankie’s feelings while also describing all that is going on outside of her. Frankie’s mental state is the primary focus of the second part of the novel and this third person perspective gives a bit more distance from Frankie’s mental processes than a first person perspective would have. This distance allows the reader to understand Frankie’s thoughts without getting lost in them. It also more easily enables Hannah to tell the story of the action that happens in Vietnam.

The whole novel is told from the perspective of Frankie, and this is important because much of the second half of the novel deals with interpersonal relationships and conflict. Frankie...