Reviews of Her Own Vietnam

Foreword Reviews wrote, “Her Own Vietnam is well written, compassionate, and perceptively told, addressing the trauma felt by the ‘invisible’ women in Vietnam.” You can read the full review here.

In Fiction Writers Review, Eleanor J. Bader calls Her Own Vietnam “intense, gripping… and unsettling.” She writes, “Although Kanter herself did not serve in Vietnam, she spent years interviewing women who did… The facts she gleaned…[are] seamlessly woven into a story that touches themes as wide-ranging as mother-daughter conflict, parenting, divorce, alcoholism, friendship, forgiveness, sibling rivalry, Post Traumatic Brain Disorder, and military bombast. It’s a potent brew—a book I wish every kid being cajoled by military recruiters would read before signing on the dotted line and committing to fight.” Read her thoughtful review here.

The national magazine of the Vietnam Veterans of America reviewed Her Own Vietnam and wrote,”This novel is one of the best books about nurses in Vietnam.” You can read the full review.

The Military Spouse Book Review wrote: “Her Own Vietnam will captivate you, and bring you to tears. It will also give you a deeper understanding of what military nurses endure both when they care for injured service members and over the course of their lives, as well as some of the things family members who love them go through. I believe you, like me, will not want to put the book down.”

Blogs and Articles about Her Own Vietnam

Writer and book nerd G.G. Andrew interviews me on her Writers Who Read blog.

Best-selling novelist Caroline Leavitt interviews me on her blog.

On her blog Ph.D in Creative Writing, Kelcey Parker and I talk about how I became a writer and what in the world Rachel Carson and Edwidge Danticat have to do with me.

On the Book Puke blog, read about how I became an activist – and see a photo of the very fetching McDonald’s uniform of 1970.

Read an excerpt from Her Own Vietnam and see what I was thinking as I wrote it, on the Guiltless Reading blog.

The Next Best Book Club blog discussed my main character’s struggles to forgive, and  asked “What would you tell your 22-year-old self about forgiveness?” A dozen women answered in fascinating ways. Read their answers here.

On Amy Sue Nathan’s blog Women’s Fiction Writers, I talk about the travails of naming fictional characters. Read it here.

[Pank] Magazine conducts a Q&A interview about the writing and research process, and why Her Own Vietnam would be a good choice for a book club.

Advance Praise for Her Own Vietnam

“Kanter explores the life of Della Brown and the haunting effects of her time in Vietnam with great emotion and insight. This novel successfully captures a very specific time in history, but it also reveals the more subtle battles of a daughter, sister, wife, mother and friend.” – Jill McCorkle, author of Life After Life and Going Away Shoes

“How do you forget the experience of war – that ‘festival of hell,’ as Lynn Kanter so evocatively calls it? The answer is, of course, that you don’t. In her unflinching and eloquent novel, Kanter shows how one woman who served in the Vietnam War as a frontline nurse struggles with memories that become even more painful as the U.S. government takes us to war with Iraq. This book is a powerful and necessary reminder that the violence which happens in wars ‘over there’ never stays there – it echoes and rebounds throughout the world, creating wounds in the head and heart that never quite heal.” – Kristin Ohlson, author of The Soil Will Save Us and Stalking the Divine, coauthor of the New York Times bestseller The Kabul Beauty School

“Her Own Vietnam is a wonderful accomplishment — moving, tender, raw and finally redemptive. Della is authentic and complex, as is her family and her fellow vet, Charlene. Her Own Vietnam explores the horror of war itself, making Della’s story as important now as it ever was. I fell in love with these characters, and reached the end reluctantly, longing to know what happened to them next.” – Masha Hamilton, author of What Changes Everything and 31 Hours

“Lynn Kanter’s characters, Della and Charlene, could be anyone’s mother, sister, or daughter. Because they are so accessible, the reader finds it easy to journey with them. It should be a required trip for everyone, particularly those who think there is glory in war.” – Mary Reynolds Powell, Captain, U.S. Army Nurse Corps, Vietnam 1970–71, and author of A World of Hurt: Between Innocence and Arrogance in Vietnam