Inspired by true events that rocked the nation, a profoundly moving novel about a Black nurse in post-segregation Alabama who blows the whistle on a terrible wrong done to her patients, from the New York Times bestselling author of Wench.
Montgomery, Alabama 1973. Fresh out of nursing school, Civil Townsend has big plans to make a difference, especially in her African American community. At the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, she intends to help women make their own choices for their lives and bodies.
But when her first week on the job takes her down a dusty country road to a worn down one-room cabin, she’s shocked to learn that her new patients are children—just 11 and 13 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 the 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.
MY THOUGHTS
A few years ago I learned about the Tuskegee study and I was mortified. Now reading this book and now learning that it was loosely based on a true story made me pause. In "Take My Hand", we meet Civil Townsend, a black nurse working for a family planning clinic in Montgomery Alabama. Excited to prove herself in her new role, Civil was eager to do her work with passion and efficiency. However, upon realising that Depo Provera shots was being administered to children from low income homes from as low as twelve years of age, she became concerned.
Civil's concern grew upon meeting the Williams' sisters Erica and India, both of whom were much too young (12 and 13) respectively to receive the shot of Depo Provera. After once administering the shot, this did not sit well with the new nurse Civil, who after some research realised that this situation was a ticking time bomb. Civil began a quest to right some wrongs and in so doing this led to a series of events that took the reader on a whirlwind of emotions.
Again I cannot say it enough, one of my favourite genres to read are historical fiction novels mainly because it makes you think about the past, the things different people went through and even the future. Take My Hand is a MUST READ, there were all the elements of a solid tale wrapped in one, and reading that it was loosely based on true events, well for me at least. made it even better. Civil represented what a nurse should be and if you read this you would definitely connect with her character.
A well written and well put together novel. I will definitely recommend this.
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