It’s hard to think of a time when this book would not have been topical but, given the current clampdown on reproductive freedom in the US, ongoing race relations crises in many countries, and in the aftermath of the pandemic, the low vaccine take up in some societies as a result of the appalling history of state funded medical experimentations and in many cases forced sterilisation, it ticks so many boxes.

The book is based on a true story and sometimes wears its research and sense of moral outrage very clunkily, though this is forgivable and understandable.

Civil Townsend is a nurse, freshly qualified, in 1970s Montgomery, Alabama. At the sexual health clinic where she works, she is asked to give shots of birth control medicine to poor black women in the local area, including two young girls Erica and her mute sister India. The girls live in a shack on a farm with their father, who has just lost his job, and their widowed grandmother. Civil’s discovery that the drug she administers may not be safe leads to a tragic series of events that change all their lives. Years later, Civil reappears to try and give personal testimony, explain to her daughter and to find forgiveness and understanding for the part she played.

I thought Civil was very well written, indignant and loving, making mistakes and blundering at times, very realistic. I think I would have liked some more characterisation of the other people in the story, everyone else felt like a bit part. I’m also not entirely sure the parts told in the latter years were necessary as a framing device.

Having said all that, I thought this was a really good read and a powerful way to tell this story which I don’t think is widely known. It deserves to do well.

I was given an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Take my Hand is a powerful and shocking personal account of post-segregation Alabama society and courtroom drama during a grim period of American history. The haunting personal story of a young nurse and her resolve to right the wrongs of a prejudiced and self-righteous society.

Take My Hand is an intimate and emotive exploration of the shameful coercive sterilisations forced on poor black women in twentieth century America.

I knew quite a bit about this part of our recent history, but this is the first time I've seen it portrayed in a novel. Although Perkins-Valdez' story is clearly fiction, she captures the very real injustice and trauma this policy inflicted on so many women.

I felt the characterisation could have been a bit stronger: Perkins-Valdez has some great ideas about her characters, but they just fall short of full development. I didn't get much sense of any meaningful growth from Civil, the main protagonist, who seems to face the same personal dilemnas repeatedly without making much progress. The side plots around her family and romantic life also fail to lead anywhere, and I simply didn't get a clear enough sense of why she was telling this story now, 30 years on.

Take My Hand may be a historical novel, exploring a particularly damaging part of recent history, but Perkins-Valdez' exploration of some weighty themes - responsibility, complicity and redemption - and the way her story shines a light on the disturbing mechanisms of institutional racism continue to resonate today.

Wow! What an emotional read. I was hooked from start and to finish and devoured this, feeling totally invested in the story and characters.

We follow Civil Townsend, a nurse at a Family Planning Clinic in Montgomery, Alabama in the 1970s in her quest for justice. On her first week in the job, Civil is shocked to find her first patients to be two young girls, Erica and India, aged 13 and 11. They are poor and black and despite having never been near a boy, are receiving birth control shots. Civil does all she can to help improve the girls’ lives and when unthinkable tragedy hits, her missions grows to unimaginable proportions to highlight the injustices against poor, mainly black or disabled women and girls. I won’t say more to avoid any spoilers but as each revelation hits civil, it hits us as a reader just as hard.

Perkins-Valdez uses incredible writing to highlight how being disadvantaged, whether by race, class or gender, can be taken to the extreme, in this case a loss of body autonomy for young girls and the devastating consequences. But more than that this book also highlights hope, the desire to fight for what’s right and human kindness.

I was gobsmacked when I realised this was based on true events, what a truly horrific and shameful period of American history. An eye opener for me that was raw and moved me to tears. I will most definitely need to educate myself on this topic more. This is a book I will not forget in a hurry and will recommend to everyone I know. Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow this book should be on everyone's to read pile. As it shines a light on so many important issues and how people are treated, laws that have been imposed and the events in history. It's is profoundly moving, beautiful, raw and emotional. You really need tissues with this one. Really well written with great characters. Beautiful

I really liked this book. Set in Alabama in 1973, Civil Townsend has just started working for the family planning clinic, believing strongly that she will be enabling women to make choices about their own bodies. However, one day she is sent out to a poor area to give contraceptive shots to 2 girls, Erica and India Williams. These girls are only 11 and 13 and the younger one hasn't even started menstruating, and neither of them has even kissed a boy. But because they are poor and black, the state believes this is the way to keep them out of trouble. Civil takes the family to her heart, and when the girls are taken to hospital and sterilised, there begins a court case that will shock the country. The characters are fictional but this story is true, which makes it even more shocking. I recommend it. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

4.5 rounded up.

This powerful novel is based on a true story with the central character being Civil Townsend and is told in two timelines. The first is 1973 when she’s a nurse and newly employed by the Montgomery family planning clinic which takes her to the Williams farm where she is to administer Depo-Provera to Erica aged 13 and India aged 11. These girls live in terrible poverty in a one room cabin, neither have ever kissed a boy never mind anything else and one of them is incredibly young. The second timeline is 2016 and Civil is now a doctor considering retirement and is trying to come to terms with what unfolds in 1973 but some things are just too big to ever leave behind .

This is an emotional and incredibly sad tale which the author tells well. Although I knew some things about the eugenics program (it’s also covered in Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain) but the author fills in a lot of details I don’t know such as Depo-Provera. These girls are almost lab rats as at the time it’s not even FDA approved. Civil tries to do good, to do what she believes is the right thing which she will come to regret bitterly. The novel starts slowly but builds as a horrifying tale emerges evoking a whole range of feelings. There are some courtroom scenes that are utterly riveting, the pathos of the girls situation strikes a heartbreaking unforgettable blow.

This is one book you won’t forget in a hurry and nor should it be so as it’s deeply profound and tragic raising a multitude of questions not least on human rights. It’s compelling, raw, disturbing and very well written as the two timelines flow very well, weaving the past with present.

This book led me to some additional reading especially on the Relf versus Weinberger case of 1973 and on the early use of Depo-Provera and any book that leads you to further research has to be worth reading in my opinion.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Orion for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

What a beautiful, heartbreaking novel! Based on true events that are hard to believe. I had no idea that forced/coerced sterilisation of poor black people happened in America…when I looked at the dates of the books events i was even more sickened to realise they took place in 1973!
An important book that we need to read and learn from.

Fiction based on shocking facts, a great dual timeline. A harsh reality of inequality, however great characters and a well researched, compelling read.

This was an eye-opener for me, with a feel of ‘The Help’ to it. Set in Alabama in the early 1970s, it tells the story of Civil who starts her career in a family planning clinic which caters for poor black women. Civil is black herself, but comes from a well-off professional family and the social differences between her and her patients are stark. Based on a true story, this novel taught me a lot about a period of American history I knew nothing about. It is well written and engaging and I would definitely recommend it

Told through a split time perspective of 2016 and the early 1970s, we are forced to watch as the story unfolds through the eyes of Civil Townsend. Cleverly intertwined, there is enough information omitted or withheld by the narrator to create a suspense surrounding the lineage of her child and also the fate of the Erica and India, the poverty-stricken sisters who are unintentionally dragged through a civil rights legal battle.

Civil, tasked with administering the girls with birth control shots (despite being minors and unable to give their consent), starts out believing she is doing good. But what starts as a moral questioning of her actions quickly gathers momentum into something more sinister and far reaching.

Dolen Perkins-Valdez shines attention on a time and place once the world’s news stations had moved on.

Whilst it seems almost unbelievable that a programme of forced sterilisation could have taken place only a few generations ago, Dolen Perkins-Valdez has created a poignant tale which shows how easily those in power can coerce those without it.

Those who enjoyed Brit Bennett’s The Mothers will enjoy the exploration of motherhood as well as a woman’s right to make decisions about her own body.

This was a good read that was uncomfortable to read sometimes, simply because it is a reminder of the suffering in the fight for civil rights. It is such a sad story but one that is very important too. It was such a captivating read and I loved the protagonist. A book that everyone should read

This novel really brought home to me how many injustices there are in the world 0f which I am ignorant. It's a powerful story of medical discrimination against poor black people in America's south, not only the forced sterilization of under-age girls which is at the heart of the book, but also the experiments involving black men, denied treatment for STDs without their knowledge. It is truly horrifying that the time is 1973, and even worse to think that discrimination is still so prevalent today.

There are some powerful characters in this book, Civil of course whose life story is complex and multi-layered, but equally interesting is Mrs Williams, the powerful proud grandmother of the family at the centre of the novel.

The fight for justice is tense, with the young lawyer Lou sometimes seemingly out of his depth, but with strong convictions which lead him to mount a powerful case against the authorities.

I’m ashamed to say that before reading this, I was unaware of these atrocities. Reading this book really opened my eyes to the suffering and abuse of black communities in regard to birth control and government support.

Thank you to the author for writing this really important novel. It’s well crafted with good characterisation and I’m honoured to have read it in advance of publication.

Take my hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez is an important story, beautifully told.

Snippet moments remind us that this whole narrative is a mother telling her daughter the story of her lineage (of sorts), but it is much more than this too and Perkins-Valdez’s device here is brilliant for this reason. It is also about understanding a shared history that shapes us all – the mistakes made, and atrocities committed sometimes in the name of good, but ultimately led by misguided ideas fuelled by prejudice and racism.

The idea that we may think we know what is best for others runs throughout the story and is so expertly captured in how Civil grows and comes to understand her own actions too. There’s a lot of commentary on the misconceptions about welfare and assistance and the dehumanisation of those of us who might need it. The story offers insights that still apply today with regard to race, disability and financial inequality and it challenges all this as well as outing the violation of human rights - the theft of women’s rights to choose for themselves and their own bodies - that lies in this true story of medical aid in the US in the 1970s.

Civil is a satisfyingly complex character - young, well-meaning but with her own ghosts to face. I quickly fell in love with her and her love for the Williams girls and rushed to return to her story whenever I could.

The time slip device also works really well - Civil’s cross country trip as a mature woman unravelling alongside the story of her 23-year-old self. It was confidently handled and lovingly told, and I was enthralled.

I highly recommend this as one to watch in 2022 and I really hope it gains the attention and love it deserves. These stories of injustice - that reveal and challenge racism and prejudice - help us to understand our world and ourselves better and to learn from past mistakes. It’s also a beautiful story full of heart and complexity with wonderful characters to fall in love with.

Read it!!

Jeepers this is a book that needs to be read. Topics that need to be discussed. Inspired by a very sad true story in Alabama USA where apparently it is law for the legal system to decide who lives and who dies depending on disability! OF course it is more complicated than that but evil in the extreme!. So much sadly topical here such as racial prejudice, sexism, the way we look at disabled people, people who are slightly different to the 'norm' Well this was an eye opener . Good if if starts discussions for people to keep their eyes open.

I stayed up way past my bedtime to get past the critical point of this book,I just couldn't put it down not knowing what happened next.

At times its a heartbreaks,at others it just fuels the fires of anger,to think things like this happen in the not too distant past. That people found it acceptable...
I got a lot more out of the first half of the book,as we got to know the characters and the circumstances,rather than the court rooms.

It's a book I'll be talking to a lot of people about.

I loved the drama and ethical dilemmas behind this book where a family planning nurse discovers that the poor black women and girls she is looking after are not fully giving consent to the treatment they receive .When this is potentially dangerous she becomes concerned and determined to do something about it
The dilemma dramatically increases when underage girls she is treating are sterilised without parental consent .
The historical setting is described beautifully and the larger background to the unethical treatment of black people st this stage in American history is woven into the story .I was aware of these issues but I think if I wasn’t I would have not felt I was being lectured to which is sometimes the feeling one gets with similar ethical moral issues novels .The author should be proud of this as it is not easy to achieve
I loved the characters particular the main nurse and felt she was believable.
Deep South poverty is extensive throughout the novel but not depressing to the tone which remains warm
I would recommend to those who like a historical novel with a giant ethical dilemma in the middle
I read an early copy on NetGalley Uk

A spirited look at the long shadow of medical racism in the United States, told through narrator Civil and her experiences as a nurse in 1970s Alabama, discovering young Black girls being sterilised without their consent. An important story but the storytelling often felt a bit too neat and the dialogue was stilted, but it still recounts an important and often-ignored chapter of history.

This once again, feels quite topical at the moment and stories like this, as sad and tragic as they are give us a healthy reminder on basic human rights, racial prejudices and class.
This is disturbing, shocking, and one that you can't turn away from. Civil is a great female protagonist and the name cleverly also serves as a reminder.
As a feminist, this enraged me and I was appalled by it. So clever is the writing you really feel it, like Erica and India are your sisters, or friends.
Absorbing and captivating.