The best-selling American book of 2024, also voted “best historical novel”, is finally available in France

It is a poignant novel which returns to one of the bloody conflicts which marked international politics. In The Song of the Forgottenor The Women In its original version, author Kristin Hannah tells the story of the Vietnam War from the point of view of a young nursing student, until then idealistic and patriotic, raised in a conservative family in California. But when her brother is enlisted to go to Asia, Frances McGrath, known as Frankie, decides to follow him. Forever traumatized by the reality of the fighting there, after having worked there, she returned home to find a country divided by hatred.

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“The Song of the Forgotten” by Kristin Hannah: an America fractured by the Vietnam War

Also marked by the Vietnam War when she was just a child, Kristin Hannah, who will celebrate her 65th birthday this year, had wanted to start writing this text at the end of the 90s before to realize “ that she wasn't ready to dive into that era “. As she confides on her official website, it is ultimately the pandemic, and the totally opposing points of view on vaccination and the dangerousness of the coronavirus, which will decide her to write about this fractured country, throughout history, which is his. If the stories of Vietnam veterans (including a decorated pilot!) and former nurses allowed her to tell the facts in a realistic manner, she also gave pride of place to the strength of female friendship even in the face of the horror.

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More than 800,000 copies of “Song of the Forgotten” sold in four months

Across the Atlantic, it was a real hit as soon as it was released. The Song of the Forgotten was thus the best-selling summer 2024 publication, selling more than 425,000 copies between the beginning of May and mid-August. Then, from June to September, no fewer than 800,000 Books found buyers! Highly recommended by Bill Gates and The New York Timesthe novel also made an impact on readers in the Goodreads community. At the Goodreads Choice Awards 2024, he was elected “ best historical novel » and was even crowned “ It-Book » of the year. The figures here too are dizzying: nearly 895,000 Goodreads members have read the book and given it an average rating of 4.62 out of 5. “ I am so happy that so many of you have read this book which honors the nurses who served in the Vietnam War. », she confided in mid-December on her Instagram account.