This is a moving story based on events that took place in the American South in the 1970s. It deals with a shameful episode in the history of public health in the state of Alabama, with poor black women and even young girls being coerced or conned or blackmailed into consenting (in the loosest, most uninformed sense) to take untested contraception or submit to sterilisation.

The story is compellingly structured, recounted by sixty-something-year-old Civil Townsend and juxtaposing a journey she takes in the present day with events that unfolded in 1973 when she was a freshly graduated nurse. Her first job is in a clinic which does outreach sexual health work with the poorest black families, offering contraception to women and sexually active girls. Her first patients are two young girls, neither of whom is sexually active, and she soon starts to question the ethics not only of administering contraceptive injections, but also in fact of using a hormone that has not yet been approved by the FDA, and which may be carcinogenic.

She is young and imbued with a zeal to do good, and her naivety is an innocent manifestation of a more sinister institutional belief that the health system is justified in using methods that border on the coercive with a section of the population. Poverty and lack of education and black ethnicity are enough justification for a racist and misogynistic policy that smacks of eugenics, and interferes in people's lives to the extent of changing them forever without their consent.

As Civil's conscience and civic sense awakens, she becomes involved in a lawsuit that exposes what is happening, and draws comparisons with other shameful episodes such as the 40 years of withholding syphilis treatment from poor men in the name of research. The modern-day Civil's story shows us her political awakening as well as her personal development in terms of maturity and complexity of thinking.

The narrative style is readable, but not especially literary - this is all about the story being told, and style is less of a consideration. It can be a bit overstated at times, an a bit heightened. It wears its heart on its sleeve, and might have been more effective had the sentiment been toned down a bit. But there is a lot that makes this book worth reading, with worthy subject matter dealt with in a compelling way.

“A year never passes without me thinking of them. India. Erica. Their names are stitched inside every white coat I have ever worn. I tell this story to stitch their names inside your clothes, too. A reminder to never forget. Medicine has taught me, really taught me, to accept the things I cannot change. A difficult-to-swallow serenity prayer. I’m not trying to change the past. I’m telling it in order to lay these ghosts to rest.”

My thanks to Orion Publishing Group Phoenix for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘Take My Hand’ by Dolen Perkins-Valdez in exchange for an honest review.

This powerful novel was inspired by true events and is set primarily in Montgomery, Alabama during the early 1970s. Given the date and location it will come as no surprise that this was a harrowing tale.

The novel opens in 2016 as Dr. Civil Townsend begins to tell her adult daughter about the events of her early career when in 1973 fresh out of nursing school she was determined to make a difference in her community.

Civil begins working at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic where she intends to help women make their own choices. During her first week she is assigned to visit the Williams sisters, who live with their widowed father and grandmother in a tiny, tumbledown cabin.

Even though India and Erica are only eleven and thirteen because they are poor and black Social Services demand they be placed on birth control. Civil becomes close to the family and begins to question these policies including the safety of the shots they are given. Then things get worse. …

Civil’s voice throughout is very compelling. She describes with hindsight the events including the social issues of the day.

‘Take My Hand’ is no doubt a timely novel given the recent revelation about the possible overturning of Roe vs Wade, which in the timeline of this novel has only just been ruled on by the Supreme Court.

While its characters are fictional in her Author’s Note Dolen Perkins-Valdez writes of the legal case that had brought to light a shocking chapter of American history.

Overall, I found ‘Take My Hand’ not only an engaging read but one that highlighted this historical injustice but celebrated the power of friendship, love, and compassion. I would expect it to be popular with reading groups for its themes and scope for discussion.

Take My Hand is a histocal fiction book that first came on my radar some month's back and I immediately requested it on @netgalley as I knew it was right up my street.

It'a set in 1973 Montgomery, Alabama and is loosely based on the true story of the Relf sisters who were young girls sterilized without consent.

The book is based about Civil Townsend, a young idealistic nurse who have just got her first job in a family planning clinic which she thinks is going to help women in her community control their reproductive lives.

She is put in charge of the Williams sisters Erica and India, who are an abjectly poor Black family and she quickly learns that they have been put on birth control, despite having not even started their cycles. This becomes a case thar haunts her for the rest of her lifetime.

The book explores what does mean to help people in need especially when they are the most vulnerable to exploitation.

It's a wonderfully told retelling of how thousands of impoverished vulnerable women were sterilized without any consent.
A wonderful historical fiction book that I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys that genre.

Civil Townsend is a newly qualified nurse in Montgomery, Alabama. in 1973. A middle class and educated young black woman, she wants to help her community. She gets a job at a family planning clinic and it is there that she meets the Williams sisters and is confronted with the type of discrimination and racism that she had so far been largely protected from. I was cheering her on in her determination to stop the practice of sterilizing poor, young and vulnerable women without proper consent.
Clearly based on fact, (thank you Google!) the book taught me so much about the US South post the civil rights movement, and it drew so many parallels with what is continuing over the Pond in the current debate about rescinding Roe v Wade. Shocking and moving - this is a story that needs telling and is brought to life by the author who has done a really good job of combining fact and fiction.
This is Civil's story, but it is so much more than that. I definitely recommend Take My Hand, and think that every book club and every teenager should read it.

I cannot recommend Take My Hand enough which follows Civil, a young nurse who gets caught up in the forced sterilization movement in 1970s America. While reading I kept picturing myself as both the victims and the nurses who became complicit within the system. This haunting and necessary read will stay with me.

An absolutely wonderful book. An emotive subject, but one I’m so glad I got to read. Thank you to the author for writing such a brilliant book.

Civil Townsend doesn't realise how sheltered she is from the struggles of other members of the Black community until she is forced to meet them. As a new nurse at the Family Planning Clinic in 1973, she has every intention of improving the world. Yet, when she meets the two impoverished young girls she is charged with putting on birth control, she learns that the federal influence over Black people is still prevalent.

The content of this book is broad and, potentially, tries to explore too many avenues but all are important and worth the exploration. The discussion regarding women's choices and the opinions of their society are impactful and thought-provoking.

'There is no greater right for a woman that having a choice' 8%

However, the writing is lacking. It is consistently prosaic, never generating any emotional depth, so the characters remain just figures on a page. Many of their actions, especially Civil's, seem strange or unexpected, which help progress the plot but don't help establish their personalities.

Wow, the books I am reading are intforming me of various atrocities committed in the past and this novel is no exception. It's shocking that some women in the 1960-1970's in America were sterilised without their knowledge or consent. A very well written and empathic book.

There are some books you read and know, instantly, it’s going to stay with you for a long time to come. That is definitely true of Take My Hand, the story of Civil Townsend, a nurse in Montgomery, Alabama, and two of her patients, who suffered from governmental overreach. That’s putting the events of this novel really simply, by the way. Perkins-Valdaz focuses the story on Civil, India and Erica, but the forced sterilization the girls experience was an injustice committed against many Black women during this time.

For me, I find Historical fiction to be hit or miss. It takes a skilled writer to fix the reader at that point in time, without becoming too bogged down in details and world-building, and Perkins-Valdaz does it really well here. Civil’s voice is engaging and real, as she begins to have the world around her peeled back, allowing her to see deeper than her upbringing has previously allowed. When she meets India and Erica, she is touched by these two young girls, and comes to care deeply for them. It’s a lovely relationship, though Civil does have to be reminded at times that although they are ‘her girls’, she has to learn to step back.

It’s not an easy read, and a book like this isn’t necessarily ‘enjoyable’, but it’s far from being a chore. It flows, shifting from the past to ‘present’ (in this instance, 2016) as Civil tries to make sense of what happened to these two girls, partly for herself and partly for her daughter. It makes an important point about passing on history, too, especially the type of history often ‘overlooked’ by the ‘mainstream’ (aka, swept under the carpet). The story is passed down to her daughter with the intention of it being remembered, and protected, and retold, and in doing so, Civil is able to pass the story to us, too.

There are those much more knowledgeable about these events than I. I was aware of some of this, but there’s a huge difference in being aware – or having read about an event previously, such as the forced sterilisation programmes – and fully seeing it, and Perkins-Valdez does an excellent job of showing it to the reader and allowing us to really completely connect with these characters, all of whom it’s hard not to feel for, not to root for.

Take My Hand is a fictional account of a very real event, and highlights the very real people at its centre. It is wonderfully written and beautifully executed, and heart wrenchingly painful, and without a doubt one to pick up soon as you can.

Thank you to Orion Publishing for providing me a copy of this book via NetGalley – views remain my own.

Take My Hand is set in Montgomery, Alabama in two time periods, 1973 and 2016 and it’s historical fiction based on the true story of the Relf sisters, Minnie Lee and Mary Alice. I’ve tried to keep this review spoiler-free so do avoid googling those names until you’ve read the book.

Civil Townsend is a young, Black woman fresh out of nursing school and eager to make a difference in her community working at a family planning clinic. One of her responsibilities includes administering a new contraceptive injection Depo Provera.

Civil’s work takes her out a dirt road to a dilapidated house on a farm, housing a Black family with two daughters, Erica and India, aged 13 and 11, living in poverty. Civil takes it upon herself to go the extra mile to help the family but when the unthinkable happens, Civil finds herself at the centre of a legal dispute and nothing will ever be the same again.

This might sound a little cryptic but I think the less you know about this book going into it, the better. It’s a brilliant story about a shameful episode in American history that I knew nothing about and which enraged me. The story is told tenderly and carefully and it brought me to tears.

Civil is a wonderful character - a strong feminist with hope in her heart for her community but an awareness that deeply ingrained prejudices exist. The book is set in the late stages of Dr King’s civil rights movement and the way in which the author transports us to that time and place is brilliantly done with a keen eye for detail. A really important book, I’m keen to read some non-fiction on the subject. Recommended. 4/5⭐️

Wow. I don’t even know where to begin except to say BUY THIS BOOK NOW!

Thank you so so much to Netgalley @orionbooks and of course the author for gifting me this amazing book about an amazing family.

This emphatic heartbreaking story contains so much grace, love, friendship, beauty that I have devoured it but with such a unique , beautiful, gut wrenching plot how could I not. Some books just make you fall in love all over again with reading and this little gem definitely fits into that category.

I really don’t want to say much as I don’t want to give any spoilers but trust me and order now

It’s actually astounding to think this book is based on a true story. Shocking in parts, this is the story of two black schoolgirls who are forcibly sterilised. Told from a nurses viewpoint, I felt swept along by this terrible heart wrenching story. A must read.

What an eye opening read. We tend to think that after MLK jnr things were better for black people of America. But that isn't the case, and this story casts a light on the continued prejudices in America's deep South.

The story focuses on the Government program to sterilize people living in poverty. The story is told through the eyes of a newly qualified black nurse, Civil, and it does an excellent job of highlighting how prejudice against the poor transcended colour. Civil's first patients are 11 and 13 year old Erica and India. We see how Civil's attitude towards them develops and how she overcomes her own stereotypes and ore judgements, ones she never even realised she held.

The first part of the book focuses on the developing relationships up until the fateful day. Afterwards we are thrust I to the court case and fight for justice. Interspersed is the story of Civil now as she goes back to visit these characters.

I really enjoyed the storyline. I too fell for Mace, and I admired Civil's determination and liked the fact that she too, made mistakes. The lawyer, Lou, was straight out of a grisham novel, I could picture him perfectly and whilst reading I thought what a good movie this would make. I wasn't entirely convinced about the dual timeline. I was expecting more of a revelation given the opening chapter. I wasn't sure why Civil was visiting, but then again, neither was she. I also wasn't sure about Erica's disappearance. It felt like it was building to something and then didn't

Overall this was a really good novel. It perfectly crossed the lines of fiction and fact and kept the reader engaged. It has made me want to learn more and I suppose the dual timelines allowed for some sort of closure. I would definitely recommend this book.

🏥Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins Valdez | Book Review🏥
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Inspired by true events in a shocking period of American history, this book is based on the groundbreaking prosecution of the former U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare after it neglected to protect thousands of poor, black, and mentally challenged girls and women from surgical sterilization without their consent.

Readers are plunged deep into the late stages of the civil rights movement through the interwoven stories of 23-year-old Civil Townsend, a newly qualified nurse working at a family planning clinic in Montgomery, Alabama; a strong feminist who intends to help women make their own choices for their lives and bodies. Yet her first patients, India and Erica Williams are poor rural black girls aged 11 and 13.

Civil is assigned to administer Depo-Provera contraceptive injections to the pre-teen girls, but when she realises how young her patients are and is then made aware of research showing these drugs may be carcinogenic, she begins to question the underlying motives of the clinic and government. The final straw in Civil’s moral dilemma is when she finds out the girls have undergone non-consensual ‘tubal ligation’ (sterilisation).

Decades later, Civil is ready to retire, find her peace, and leave the past behind. But some people and stories refuse to be forgotten. That must not be overlooked because history repeats what we don't remember.

In this exploration of right and wrong, attention and carelessness, racism and justice, there are plenty of questions, guilt, and regret to go around.

Not only does Perkins-Valdez grasp the historical themes meticulously, but this is matched by her attention to her characters’ lives, painting their lives so vividly that you can almost smell the fetid air of Williams’s country hovel, the scent of Civil’s much loved cocoa butter and feel the sweltering heat of an Alabama summer.

Take My Hand is eye-opening and heartbreaking in equal measure. This tender, unforgettable story of love, sisterhood, and fierce courage, is a reminder that it only takes one person to be the catalyst to bring about change for the better.

This is a book that really has a powerful message. Civil Townsend is fresh out of nursing school and ready to make a difference at The Montgomery Alabama Family Planning Clinic. She is assigned to visit homes and give young girls shots of Depo Provera. This is a form of longer lasting birth control. She meets with two sisters, India, 11 and Erica, 13. They are black and poor. It is just assumed that this means they will be sexually active. India has not even gotten her period yet, so can’t get pregnant. Civil thinks she is helping, but starts to check into exactly what she is injecting these girls with. Things get much worse after this.

I think the powerful message is if you know something is wrong, speak up. It is so much easier to be quiet or get pulled along with others who try to convince you that everything is being done correctly and for a reason. It is much harder to speak up and yes, there is a price to pay for doing so. Yet, I do not know of any acts of social injustice that get changed without someone refusing to keep quiet and knows it is necessary to bring about change so that is the motivation to say something.

Civil is outraged by the cruelty toward India and Erica and really loves these girls. It is always hard to be the first to speak out and not tolerate horrendous acts, yet for Civil it is not a choice. She can’t drop this. She is not going to let these girls and their family be hurt anymore. I was incredibly moved by the courage Civil shows. This is how we make a difference, this is how we try in our flawed way to bring about change, and it was a tremendous book to read.

It will disturb you. It should disturb you. It will also inspire you. I read to remind myself that it is important to remember my role and to be brave and not allow injustice to continue because I am complacent. I think I should strive to be aware and leave the world a little better then when I stepped into it. Something to think about and this book certainly will make you do that. The author does an outstanding job and I can not recommend this book enough.

Take My Hand

"A year never passes without me thinking of them. India. Erica. Their names are stitched inside every white coat I have ever worn. I tell this story to stitch their names inside your clothes, too."

Wow! This novel absolutely blew me away. In fact I loved it so much that my other half kept asking whether I was ok and I couldn’t understand why, until I looked at the clock and three hours had gone past without me speaking. I was three quarters of the way through the book and even went to bed early so I could finish the story. This writer pulled me in from the very first page and Civil was as real to me as my poor other half. I’ve been interested in eugenics since I wrote my undergraduate dissertation on disability and 20th Century literature. I knew a lot about the movement in the U.K., US and Germany in the lead up to WW2, but this book shocked me because I had no idea that forced sterilisations were still happening in the 1960s. I knew this had happened in earlier in the century with Native American communities, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that it was still happening to African American women, especially where the woman has a disability too. I think this jumped out at me, because people with disabilities are having a very hard time currently, something that able-bodied people aren’t always aware about. For example, the University of York published research in the BMJ Open that concluded the joint impact of cuts to healthcare, public health and social care since 2010 caused at least 57,550 more deaths of disabled people than would normally have been expected between 2010 and 2014. Disability groups place the figure at 120,000 deaths over a seven year period and some activists even think that the government’s COVID policies were based on herd immunity and eugenics. It seems like eugenics never really goes away.

This novel shows how our biases and emotions feed into the work we do within the caring professions. Having worked in mental health and disability as a support worker, advocate and counsellor, I did identify strongly with Civil and the way she became involved with the Williams family. As a nurse, Civil is professional and is aware of things like codes of practice and ethics, but we are never the finished article and Civil’s naïvety plays a huge part in how she works. Civil has been brought up to care for and look after others as part of her Christian faith. However, there are other personal circumstances that she isn’t aware of taking into work with her. Civil’s mother struggles with depression and events that took place in her personal life have also left her vulnerable, particularly where it comes to her nurturing instincts. Her very name brings to mind civil rights, equality and fairness, so it’s not a surprise that where she sees injustice she’s willing to fight. The Williams girls are her very first patients and she is sent out on a home visit to give them a Depo Provera injection, a long term method of contraception. When she notices that India is only 11 years old her brain immediately starts questioning, who put this little girl on this injection, has anyone asked if she has a boyfriend or worse, is she being preyed upon? We are privy to her thoughts and her shock at the way the family are living is evident. Her first thought is that she must do something for them, get them away from the dirty shack where their clothes seem to be stored on the floor. What she does notice is that the girls smell and when she finds out they don’t have sanitary towels, she decides to buy some for them from her own money. This is the first line crossed and although Civil’s actions are generous and could change the family’s lives for the better, it’s a boundary crossed. This makes it so much easier to cross even further as time goes on.

I thought the author grasped the complexity of Civil’s feelings and her role in the girl’s lives beautifully. Civil knows that she should be following instructions, asking her supervisor the questions that have come to mind, and advocating for the girls. Yet she knows that just by talking to the right people and calling in a few favours she could get the girls some clothes, find a job for their father, perhaps get them a new flat in town. What she doesn’t realise is that she’s acting from a bias, not racism but a classism of sorts. Civil’s parents are a doctor and an artist, they live in a nice home and have a certain status. She has walked in to the Williams’s home and assumed they want to move, go to school, and have better things. She’s looking at them through her own world view, instead of moving into theirs and then takes their agency away by filling in forms on their behalf. Her heart is in the right place, but she’s mothering the girls; the girls have lost their mother and Civil has maternal feelings to spare. It’s a co-dependent dynamic that could get complicated and painful on both sides. Her nursing instinct is to gain the girl’s trust and find out who put them on contraceptive injections, especially when India hasn’t even started her period. There are no boys around where they live and neither girl goes to school. As she confides in fellow nurse Alicia and friend Ty, they start doing some research. There are many conclusions they could draw: the federal government could be experimenting on poor black communities; there could be a programme of stopping certain groups in society from reproducing; the government are leaving local employees to make decisions based on their own biases about poor communities; their supervisor believes the Williams girls aren’t safe and could be open to abuse from within the family. All are based on so many assumptions, but what was angering me was that no one had sat down with the family and asked the questions about the girl’s development, access to the opposite sex, or India’s ability to make decisions. Life changing decisions are being made, based on judgments made with no real evidence.

Judgement is at the heart of this terrible case, I won’t reveal more about the decisions made, but it does lead to a court case and repercussions for everyone involved. The colour of the family’s skin, their poverty and the death of the girl’s mother has led to assumptions about the girl’s morals and safety but also the possibility that a black man is not safe, even around his own children. India is non-verbal, but whether that’s through trauma or a learning disability is not clear. Civil’s superiors have decided that it would be disastrous to bring a child into this family, but it’s amazing to see how much the Williams do change over the course of the novel. Civil has taken the decision to act on behalf of the girls, rather than making suggestions and motivating them to advocate for themselves. The changes we see in them, just from having different surroundings, is incredible. Civil believes that we adjust our standards according to where are in life, so once their home becomes a clean, dry space they start to look after it. Civil’s happiness when she sees the girl’s grandmother has bought guest towels for the bathroom is so funny, because these are her standards, what she sees as the correct way to do things, without question. I could see her attachment to the girls growing, the way she brings her support network into their lives also leaves their lives further enmeshed with hers. How will they separate themselves? If Civil takes their part in their court case, she may lose everything, so what happens when the Williams start to have confidence to make their own decisions? What if Mace meets a woman - a potential stepmom for the girls? I wondered if Civil would cope were these girls taken away from her, whether by her work or by changes in the Williams’s circumstances.

The author weaves fact into fiction so seamlessly here, with contemporary medical research questioned and the family’s meeting with real life senator Teddy Kennedy. This grounds the book beautifully and it feels even more true to life; the girls aren’t real, but I’m guessing that this story could be the reality for many poor, young, African American women. I thought Civil’s home life was really interesting, especially when her Aunty arrived and talked plainly about her Mum’s depression. Even in a household where there are always guest towels, there are struggles and issues that are overlooked, either due lack of understanding or through avoidance of something too painful to acknowledge. In fact there’s a way this whole episode is fuelled by avoidance, because if Civil buried herself in this family’s trouble she could avoid her own loss. The present day sections are evidence of that avoidance, because we see Civil finally having to confront and process feelings long buried. She’s close to retirement, yet is still haunted by what happened back then. There are positives in her visit back home, in that her relationships have adjusted so there’s more equality with some people than there was back then. I was left with a sense of how incredible women are, the strength we have to survive life altering circumstances and what can be achieved when we support each other.

I’ve seen two different covers for this book, the Phoenix Books one which is the UK version and the Berkely, US one. Whilst I do really like both covers and feel they both fit the book very well. If I had to choose a favourite cover, the one that would immediately make me pick it up from a book store shelf it would be the Berkley, US one. I love the image of Civil Townsend, the central character of the book. It also features the two sisters from within the book who quickly become a large part of Civil’s life.

The book begins with a newly qualified nurse Civil starting her first nursing job at Montgomery Family Planning Clinic. Civil is about to make her first home call, which is to two young sisters, Erica 13years old and India 11years old, to give them their second birth control injection. Civil is shocked to see the conditions the two girls are living in. From the description in the book, I visualised a broken down, shed like building. The home is given to them to live in whilst their father Mace Williams works for the local white landowner Mr Adair. Also living in this downtrodden home is the girl’s grandmother who manages to cook and feed the girls though it soon becomes apparent they do not attend school. Civil quickly makes it her mission to help this family out of their current dilapidated home. Civil looks into getting the Williams a new home and succeeds just in time as it turns out Mr Adair no longer needs Mace working for him. At times it seems an uphill battle for Civil, going round in circles getting the paperwork, then getting it signed. Organising the moving and some simple furnishings for the new home. Civil also finds school places for the girls. India needs a specialised school as she doesn’t speak, but that doesn’t deter Civil and she finds a place run by Nuns that have the necessary tools to teach India. Mrs Williams loved her new kitchen, cooking meals for her family and enjoys adding things to the new family home. Unfortunately, along with improving certain things for this family Civil unwittingly makes life harder for them in certain ways. When Civil’s boss at the clinic, Miss Seager, the only white woman at the clinic becomes aware of Civil not continuing with the birth control regime laid out for Erica & India by one of the other nurses, she takes it upon herself to turn up at the William’s home under the pretences of taking the girls for injections and coerces the girls Grandmother, and Father to sign papers knowing neither can read them, and takes the girls off to a nearby hospital to be sterilised. Civil blames herself for not pre-empting this move by her boss and helps the Williams take their case to court. The case soon becomes a hornet’s nest when it is discovered that William’s girls aren’t the only ones that have been sterilised. Though Alicia and the other nurses had made it clear to Civil, they could not risk losing their jobs and didn’t want to “rock the boat” they do turn up at the courtroom to be there for the conclusion of the case.

I adored the character of Civil, despite pressure from her parents wanting her to become a Doctor, or at the very least work with her father who is a Doctor and has his own practice she is determined and is successful in becoming a nurse. Civil wants to become a Nurse as she feels they make more of a difference. Civil really is quite a tough young woman who knows her own mind. In fact, her attitude is quite progressive for that era and the society. Civil is determined to become a nurse and to genuinely help people, despite a few alternatives being available to her. Civil takes a hard decision whilst at nursing school, an even that opens her eyes to the injustices women encounter all the time. Civil could marry and settle down into a “family” life but she doesn’t want that her sights are set on being a nurse who makes differences for her patients. Civil may have had some advantages in life in that her father is a Doctor with his own practice. However, Civil’s mother June hasn’t always been “there” or seemingly “present” during Civil’s childhood. June does provide help and contacts for Civil when she is trying to re-home the Williams family. Civil also relies on her ex-boyfriend, though remaining close friend, Tyler and his Solicitor parents for help with the Williams family situation too. I kind of felt sorry for Civil when the Williams make the decision to move away so she will no longer have regular contact with Erica and India. The matriarch, grandmother, Mrs Williams does come across a little harsh with Civil sternly reminding her that they are and always will be grateful for the help she has given but Erica and India are not Civil’s responsibility or family.

I also liked Tyler Ralsey, always seeming to want to do the right thing by Civil. Despite what has gone on between them he is there with a few of his friends to help Civil move furniture into the new home for the William’s family. Civil is regularly invited to Sunday dinner with him and his parents. Both Tyler and his parents are there to offer advice and support during the court case. I think Tylers parents always thought Tyler and Civil would marry, but they never put any pressure on the pair. Having said that, the young couple Civil and Tyler do not reveal their “secret” otherwise I think there would have been pressure from the Ralsey and Townsend parents.

I wasn’t totally sure of what I thought to Alicia Downs who started working at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic the same day as Civil. Though they both agree that giving contraceptive injections to minors doesn’t seem right and nor does talking and at times really pressurising other women into tubal ligations I wonder if Alice would have made a stand like Civil, or would she have just continued going to work, following her instructions, collecting her wage and not thinking about what was happening. When Civil starts researching, Alicia joins in. In fact, she becomes a part of the Ralsey Sunday dinners too.

The only slight negative I have was how the book started I had thought that Civil’s adopted daughter, Anne, was somehow involved in the story, but she isn’t really and we don’t find out how Civil came to adopt her. The way Civil’s daughter Anne is involved is that who Civil is telling the story too.

I feel like I could go on and on about this book, all the different threads of Civils life, it’s almost her coming of age tale running alongside all the other aspects of the plot. There’s Civils relationships with her parents, Tyler, the Ralseys, the Williams and the other characters. Along with the Williams tale, there’s the horror of how the medical community thought it perfectly acceptable to treat anyone they thought “lesser” in any way, be that wealth, health, race, or in intelligence, in whatever way they wished to. It was acceptable that these people thought of as “lesser” have their rights and abilities to procreate taken away from them.

It was difficult to understand and comprehend that this book and its characters are based on things that really, really happened, and not so long ago either. I can’t believe all this was going on in my lifetime, I was born in 1971 and this book begins in 1973 with Civil, a newly qualified nurse first meeting those two young girls who are part of a family that hasn’t got a lot going for them, who live in awe of the government and are perhaps a little too trusting.

My immediate thoughts upon finishing the book were that it was a highly emotional read set in an era that was skewed heavily against you if you were black and even more so if you were also poor. It’s even more disturbing when you realise that this book is based on something that really happened to a lot of young girls and women like the Williams featured in the book.

Summing up, I loved reading this book, it took me through a whole range of emotions, shock, disbelief, horror, anger and sadness that this sort of thing occurred not all that long ago and that very little was actually done about it. It’s even more shocking that this subject was not even mentioned during history lessons at school. I had never heard about such medical trials and certainly not the ones spoken about in the book before.

This book will be one of the stand out stars of 2022 and it will be utterly well deserved. I had heard about this heinous piece of history, but history gains impact by being told first person and as first person narrators go, you can’t beat Civil! Perkins-Valdez has very cleverly placed Civil right smack in the middle of the story; both as the character who relates to the victims and their family but also as a colleague and employee of some of the culprits but also as a wealthy African American. She hasn’t grown up in poverty, is well educated and has a responsible job but will never have white privileged and nor will she fully understand what Mrs Williams and Mace have been through. It gave a truly unique perspective and one that meant the story was truly examine on and reported on all angles. Blame is apportioned calmly and squarely and forgiveness easily and with grace. It is a shame that when the crimes went to court the perpetrators were barely punished as the fight moved to those higher up the chain.
Civil’s compassion for the girls, and for her own mother and her forgiveness of the nurses sets a good example in a present day society obsessed with vengeance and punishment.
I could easily read another 2 or 3 books with these characters in, and I’m sure I won’t be the only reader.
In a #metoo #blm world our youngsters should be reading this book in high school.

If you read one book this year, please read "Take My Hand" by Dolen Perkins-Valdez. It is incredibly upsetting and heart-warming at the same time. Civil is a nurse at a family planning clinic, a black nurse, employed to treat female black patients. She is allocated two young girls of 11 and 13, and asked to give them contraceptive jabs despite them not being sexually active. This is shocking in itself but then there is a major incident which forms the crux of the rest of the story, and I still can't believe I read what happened. And sadly, this was based on a true story. The friendship that Civil has with the family lasts a lifetime, and it is wonderful to see her reunited with the sisters 40 years later, although tinged with sadness.

This is a story based on fact and real events (Relf v. Weinberger June 1973 ) it is told in the first person by Dr Civil Townsend spanning over two periods of time, 1973 and 2006.

In 1973 Civil is a newly qualified nurse, she is black but comes from a middle class back family with a history of supporting the black civil right movement, she takes a position in family planning clinic she hopes this is best way she can care and support her community. After meeting her first charges she soon realises that something is going on, there starts her journey to undercover and expose the terrible things happening. In 2016 we see her travelling back to her hometown to try and make peace with her past.

This book is powerful, it’s profound, it is a education on black history that we all need to know, it’s tender, heartbreaking, moving, it is beautifully written. You won’t forget this book for a long time, you will want to learn more and you will want others to read it. It is an outstanding novel.

Fans of The Colour Purple, The Help, Where Crawdads Sing and To Kill A Mocking Bird will love this

Thanks to NetGalley, Orion and the author for the advanced copy it is a book that will remain in my thoughts and heart for all long time