You Don't Belong Here

how three women rewrote the story of war

Plot

"One spent 23 days in captivity. Another jumped off planes to get the perfect aerial shot. The other reported from war-torn slums and villages. Catherine Leroy, Frankie Fitzgerald and Kate Webb were the first female frontline journalists in the history of US war reporting. Over the course of the Vietnam War they challenged the rules and expectations imposed on them, all in an effort to get the story right. Using the stories of Catherine, Frankie and Kate, Elizabeth Becker traces the war in Vietnam from the Tet Offensive to the revolution in Cambodia to the American defeat and aftermath. Kate Webb, an Australian reporter, was captured by the Vietcong only to continue her fearless reporting after her release. Frankie Fitzgerald arrived in Vietnam as a freelancer but her powerful coverage earned her bylines in The New Yorker, and she became the first woman war reporter for the magazine. And at only 22, the French Catherine Leroy was one of the only female photographers in Vietnam. Her work went on to win the highest accolades in photography, including the Robert Capa Gold Medal Award. But aside from their numerous recognitions, all three women achieved something else; they overcame various setbacks and limitations all in pursuit of the truth. In You Don't Belong Here, Becker presents powerful female characters in a trailblazing narrative telling the story of how three women forged a place for themselves and for generations of female reporters to come"--