The Reading Room discussion

1. How does Frankie grow as a nurse change throughout these chapters? What key moments mark her shift from naïve to a seasoned combat nurse?
2. Frankie witnesses horrifying injuries and death daily. Do you think she cope with the trauma well?
3. Frankie’s relationship with Rye deepens during this section. Do you think her feelings for him cloud her judgment or help her survive?
4. Frankie extends her time at war. How does that make you feel? Do you see her extension as an act of strength, guilt, or desperation?
5. Frankie finally makes it home from war. How do feel about her homecoming? The environment she has now reentered.

1. I think with all the death Frankie has witnessed in these chapters, along with the deepening of her relationships with Barb and Ethel, she’s really grown as a nurse. The constant exposure to loss seems to have hardened her in some ways but also made her more empathetic and capable. Barb and Ethel give her a support system that helps her process everything she’s experiencing, and through them, she’s finding both strength and a clearer sense of purpose.

2. I think Frankie is doing her best to cope, but the constant trauma is clearly wearing on her. She tries to stay strong and focus on her work, but the weight of what she’s seen is starting to change her.

3. I think her feelings for Rye help her survive because they give her hope and something to hold on to in the middle of so much pain. Caring for him motivates her to keep going, even when things are unbearable.

4. At first, I was frustrated with her decision to extend because I wanted her to return to the “real world” and find safety. But after seeing how disconnected she felt once she got home, I understood why she stayed. In Vietnam, she had a sense of purpose and belonging, and it was where she truly discovered who she was.

5. I felt really heartbroken and angry for Frankie during her homecoming. After everything she sacrificed, she deserved warmth and gratitude, not judgment and rejection. The cruelty from strangers and the lack of support from her parents made her return even more painful, showing how misunderstood and unappreciated many veterans were.

1. Frankie changed a lot, innocence lost. The world is no longer a gated community, a frilly pink bedroom. I think that in many ways was symbolic. She was an idealistic, young girl. She became a strong, independent woman.

2. I feel like Covid was mildly relatable. We were scanning people’s chest and could see the horrifying results, wondering if we would be next. It was far from a war time mascal, but I can see similarities. She handled well, did what she had to do to save as many as she could.

3. Ethel said not to trust any of them. She fell for Rye. I really think that they were what each other needed at the time.

4. Because I was invested in Frankie’s life, I needed her to pack a bag. She thrived in this world of chaos and made a difference. Honorably she signed on again. Could it have been fear of going home? A world now equally uncertain.

5. So many returning servicemen faced the same disgusting treatment. I was surprised by her parents, appalling! Even the government that sent her to war, let her down.

1. In Frankie’s early days, she’s timid and idealistic, shaken by the first sight of real battlefield injuries. But as the casualties keep occurring, she becomes more confident and decisive, moving from hesitating at the sight of blood to leading trauma care under fire. One key moment is when she stops freezing during triage and begins barking orders to stabilize patients. By the end of her second tour, she’s no longer the wide-eyed volunteer; she’s a battle-tested nurse
2. Frankie keeps working, jokes with her peers, and rarely lets emotion break through during duty. She’s compartmentalizing, pushing down fear and grief just to function. We see nightmares, drinking, and moments of numbness. She copes in the only way she can at the time—by focusing on the next wounded soldier. This is building quietly and setting up the deep emotional fallout she faces after the war.
3. Her bond with Rye is both a lifeline and a distraction. Emotionally, Rye gives Frankie comfort, validation, and a sense of being seen amid chaos. In a place where everything feels fragile, their connection reminds her she’s still a woman and not just the combat nurse. However, it also makes her vulnerable—her hope for a future with him blinds her at times to how uncertain everything is in war. I think her love for him ultimately helps her survive by giving her something to hold onto.
4. It feels like a mix of all three—strength because she refuses to abandon her patients and fellow nurses, guilt because she can’t shake the sense of duty to the soldiers still fighting, and desperation because she’s not ready to face a world that has no idea what she’s lived through. Staying feels safer than leaving. It’s heartbreaking but understandable; Vietnam has become her identity, and she’s terrified of losing her purpose once she goes home.
5. Frankie’s homecoming is devastating. Instead of the welcome she deserves, she’s met with hostility. The people around her don’t understand or acknowledge women who served. They refuses to see her as a veteran. I especially am angry at how her parents treated her when she came home and also the fact that they were not honest on where she has been for the last two years