In the chaos of the Vietnam War, four Black women find themselves fighting battles far beyond the enemy lines. Set during the late 1960s, this emotionally charged and unflinching novel follows Captain Kathleen Carter-a devoted Baptist woman from Shreveport, Louisiana, and Army nurse assigned to the 99th Evacuation Hospital-as she enters a war zone believing she is serving her country with honor, purpose, and pride. Alongside First Lieutenant Gracie Palmer, the sharp-witted and fearless combat nurse; Major Carolyn Jenkins, a hardened officer struggling to maintain discipline and dignity in a military institution riddled with prejudice; and Betty Cardwell, a sheltered Red Cross volunteer whose innocence is quickly shattered by the brutal realities of war, these women endure the horrors of Vietnam from perspectives rarely told. Inside overcrowded operating rooms flooded with wounded soldiers, amid the deafening sounds of helicopters and mortar fire, the women work tirelessly to save lives while confronting another enemy within their own ranks-racism, sexism, and the painful isolation of being Black women serving a country that often refused to fully acknowledge their sacrifice. As Kathleen Carter witnesses young men die in her arms and struggles to reconcile her Christian faith with the violence surrounding her, the war changes her forever. But the greatest shock comes after Vietnam, when returning home proves even more disorienting than the battlefield itself. Haunted by memories she cannot escape and burdened by PTSD before the condition was fully understood, Carter discovers that survival is only the beginning of her journey. Powerful, heartbreaking, and deeply human, this novel shines a long-overdue light on the untold experiences of Black military women during the Vietnam War-their courage, pain, sisterhood, and resilience in the face of war abroad and injustice at home.
