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There are currently 44 member reviews
for Take My Hand
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Mary S. (Bow, NH)
Read this book!
Take my Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez is a tour de force of a novel. Inspired by true events, the story follows Civil Townsend, a fresh out of nursing school woman, working at a reproductive health clinic in Montgomery, AL. Civil quickly discovers that impoverished woman are being sterilized without their consent. When sterilization happens to two young sisters (her patients) she jumps into action and a law suit follows.
As Civil becomes more entwined with the sisters and their family, we also learn more about Civil's family. Each character in this novel is so well developed that you feel as if you know them. Watching Civil, as a young nurse, try to effect change in the sisters' lives is uplifting and painful as she struggles to come to grips with what she should and shouldn't do.
We also get to know Civil as a woman the verge of retirement from a successful career as a doctor. The author is skilled at working between the two eras and weaves the story line between the two.
The novel is ultimately about control and how the best intentions of people and the government can frequently end in tragic circumstances.
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Ilene M. (Longmont, CO)
Another dark moment in our hsitory
Well written historical fiction about another dark moment in American history. This is an open look at medical malpractice brought upon the poor and under-educated among our populace. I was unaware of the procedures that were done at this time in our history. Good for all of us to know.
The fictional part of the story felt very real. I could not stop reading this book.
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Julie W. (Stephenville, TX)
Disturbing premise, but deeply moving story
It's 2016 and Civil Townsend, now in retirement, feels compelled to share with her daughter, a piece of dark history in her life that took place in the early 1970s, when she took a job at a family planning clinic in Alabama…
Civil is fresh out of school, with big dreams for her future, when she is introduced to her first patients- two young girls who are to receive birth control injections.
Civil is shocked by their near homeless living conditions, and by the age of the girls- one of which was only eleven years old and hadn't even started menstruating.
Believing she was doing the right thing, she intervenes on the family's behalf, pushing the boundaries of her job description.
But she also begins to question the healthcare decisions made on behalf of these girls and others like them, once again taking matters into her own hands.
This novel is based on shocking true events, where the government, through the guise of free healthcare, manipulated both the poor women the clinic catered to, as well as the healthcare professionals who thought they were doing the best thing for their patients.
Emotional, terrifying and powerful- this rich novel remembers shocking atrocities, but also serves as an eye-opening and poignant cautionary tale. A must read!
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Janice A. (Colfax, WI)
Take my Hand
Take My Hand by Perkins-Valdez is a well written and interesting novel that brings to light an experimental medical treatment to which poor, Black women and young girls were exposed and, for some their future reproductive health was forever changed. The novel takes place in Alabama and focuses on two Black sisters, aged 11 and 13, and the nurse assigned to them. This abuse took place in the early 1970s, decades after experimental medical treatments were conducted on the Tuskegee airmen and Henrietta Lacks without their understanding and informed consent. I recommend this book to others interested in social justice issues as another glimpse in the struggle between the haves and have nots.
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Rebecca R. (Las Vegas, NV)
Oustanding! A New Favorite Book
The beautiful cover on this book hints at the beautiful writing inside. All of the events are not beautiful because this is historical fiction, based on real events which span a wide range of topics, from Civil Rights to gender rights and reproductive rights.
A reader of any background will immediately be drawn into the story of young Civil Townsend who is starting a new career as a nurse in the Family Planning Center of Montgomery, Alabama in 1973. There is a hint of some heartache with an opening statement by the adult Civil, " What we didn't know was that there would be skin left on the playground after it was all over and done with." Most likely, the reader is expecting this, given the location and time period, 1973; George Wallace is the governor of Alabama.
Civil is the first-person narrator, and the chapters occasionally alternate between 1973 -when Civil has recently graduated with her nursing degree- and 2016. The transition between time periods is seamless and easy to understand. There are no jarring interruptions to make a reader turn back a few pages and look to see which characters are being discussed.
For the eight young Black women (including Civil) who are staffing Montgomery's family planning center, there are, incredulously, additional janitorial duties of the building. Overseeing their work is a demanding red-haired woman who may remind readers of another cold-hearted nurse from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: Nursed Ratched. Despite Civil's upper-class background (her father is a doctor), she refuses to let any assignment bother her. However, the story is told honestly through Civil's eyes as events unfolded. So when the first home assignment takes Civil to the country, we readers are reminded that "country" back then and there meant outhouses and no running water and unpaved roads. In addition, poverty is neither glamorized (poor but so happy) nor glossed over; Civil is stunned by the ramshackle hut which a widowed father, two young daughters (ages 11 and 13), and an elderly grandmother call home. It smells like urine and "body funk."
I think readers will enjoy discovering this book for themselves, so no plot spoilers will be included. Suffice it to say that Civil has some personal heartbreaks and tough decisions that change the trajectory of her life forever. For anyone who has ever been an idealistic young employee, determined to make things good and right, you will be as outraged as Civil herself. This book is destined to be a modern classic!
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Gabi
Left Me Smarter and Needing to Know More
The highest praise I can give "Take My Hand" is that it left me a smarter person for having read it. This book engaged me from the very first page. The book made me think and opened my eyes, leaving me wanting, actually needing, to learn more about the historical backstory —- for me, the hallmarks of an exceptional book. I loved it!
Powerful, thought-provoking, beautifully written. The characters - their emotions, convictions, struggles, and relationships, came alive in the pages of "Take My Hand." The story, built around a candid and troubling look at a case of reproductive injustice in Alabama, flowed easily going back a forth between the 70's and current (2016).
This book, while historical fiction, tackles topics still very relevant to our time. It is "must read" for book clubs willing to have meaningful, and possibly tough, discussions - not only about the book, but about the topics of civil rights, structural racism, and women's reproductive rights.
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Phyllis P. (Hendersonville, TN)
Profound, enlightening and heartbreaking!
Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez was a profound, enlightening and heartbreaking book. I will never be the same after reading this book.
We have learned that many things in our history as a nation are unforgivable but yet they happened. We cannot forget these things otherwise, they may be repeated. Back in the early 70s it came out that our government run agencies for women were distributing birth control for women of color and poor families. In many instances women were sterilized without proper informed consent. In this book two young girls ages 11 and 13 were sterilized because they were poor and black even though they were not sexually active. There were more than 70,000 women who were victims of this abuse. I'm heartbroken that there are people who felt they knew what was best for the future of these women.
I was a young adult back then and for the life of me I can't remember this happening or the trial that took place. We can't forget these things. This broke the summer after we learned of the Tuskegee experiments. How could this happen in our great nation? This is a book I will never forget. It has changed me for the better.
I would highly recommend this book. Although, it is fiction, it is based on a trial and a sad part of our American history. I hope you take some time to look up Relf v. Weinberger and another trial Buck v. Bell. You will be astounded.
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