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Take My Hand
A Historical Fiction Novel by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Subgenres:
- Based on a True Story,
- African American Historical Fiction,
- 1970s Alabama
This book is for you if you're into...
- Historical fiction confronting real-life medical injustice in the American South
- Stories about whistleblowers fighting systemic racism and eugenics
- Complex, compassionate protagonists navigating impossible moral choices
From Little Stack
Montgomery, Alabama, 1973. Civil Townsend is a newly qualified nurse working at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic who believes passionately in the work she’ll be doing serving poor Black women. But when she is given her first case, she is shocked to discover the patients are her sisters, who are just eleven and thirteen years old.
Based on a true story, what follows is a shocking story of eugenics, justice and equality that will leave you outraged, appalled and heartbroken. Intelligent, strong, brave and compassionate, Civil is a remarkable and unforgettable character who will stay with you long after reading.
Inspired by true events that rocked the nation, this searing and compassionate novel tells the story of a Black nurse in post-segregation Alabama who blows the whistle on a terrible injustice done to her patients.
Montgomery, Alabama, 1973. Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend intends to make a difference, especially in her African American community. At the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, she hopes to help women shape their destinies, to make their own choices for their lives and bodies.
But when her first week on the job takes her along a dusty country road to a worn-down one-room cabin, Civil is shocked to learn that her new patients, Erica and India, are children—just eleven and thirteen years old. Neither of the Williams sisters has even kissed a boy, but they are poor and Black, and for those handling the family's welfare benefits, that's reason enough to have the girls on birth control.
As Civil grapples with her role, she takes India, Erica, and their family into her heart. Until one day she arrives at their door to learn the unthinkable has happened, and nothing will ever be the same for any of them.
Decades later, with her daughter grown and a long career in her wake, Dr. Civil Townsend is ready to retire, to find her peace, and to leave the past behind. But there are people and stories that refuse to be forgotten. That must not be forgotten. Because history repeats what we don't remember.
Inspired by true events and brimming with hope, Take My Hand is a stirring exploration of accountability and redemption.
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