Take My Hand

Written by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Narrated by Lauren J. Daggett

Winner of the 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work - Fiction

“Deeply empathetic yet unflinching in its gaze…an unforgettable exploration of responsibility and redemption.”—Celeste Ng

Inspired by true events that rocked the nation, a searing and compassionate new novel about a Black nurse in post-segregation Alabama who blows the whistle on a terrible injustice done to her patients, from the New York Times bestselling author of Wench

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.

“Highlights the horrific discrepancies in our healthcare system and illustrates their heartbreaking consequences.”—Essence

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Audio
• Release date: Apr 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9780593552247

Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Dolen Perkins-Valdez is the author of the New York Times bestselling novel Wench. In 2011 she was a finalist for two NAACP Image Awards and the Hurston-Wright Legacy Award for fiction. She was also awarded the First Novelist Award by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. She lives in Washington, D.C. @Dolen / dolenperkinsvaldez.com

Reviews for Take My Hand

[Joyce Harout · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very nice story. Informative and historical. The only problem I had with it was the main character. She was so full of herself that she annoyed me.

[jordantipton · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a wonderful story that gives the American people insight on how deceitful our government can be especially when it comes to minorities in this country. The author did an amazing job portraying her storyline and helping us get a full emotional insight into the lives that we affected by the choices made in this book.

[cmjenkins122 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If I Could Give It 10 Stars, I Would


Take My Hand is one of those rare books that leaves you gutted, enlightened, and forever changed. If I could give it 10 stars, I would. The writing is powerful, but it’s the truth beneath the fiction that makes this story unforgettable.

Dolen Perkins-Valdez masterfully blends historical fiction with devastating realism, shedding light on a painful chapter of American history that is too often buried or ignored. This isn’t just a novel—it’s a reckoning. The story reveals the horrific injustices inflicted on Black girls and women in the name of "care," and it makes you realize that in many ways, this is still happening today.

It broke my heart not because it was dramatic, but because it was real—rooted in what was actually done to our people. The characters stay with you, the rage lingers, and the urgency to never forget burns deep.

Everyone needs to read this. Everyone.

[8f8pzzkshq · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Phenomenal!! Very well written , I could feel all the emotions of each character

[yarncatsnbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Powerful story about a part of US History not talked about.

[Francine Reece · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

After reading Wench, I can definitely say this is her BEST novel.

[bookconcierge · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Digital audiobook narrated by Lauren J Daggett.


In 2016, Dr Civil Townsend, reflects on her time three decades previously when she worked with Montgomery (Alabama) Family Planning. In 1973, she was a nurse and hoping to help women take some control over their destinies. She was particularly involved with the Williams family, and horrified at how the two young daughters were treated.

Perkins-Valdez took inspiration from a shameful episode in America’s history, when poor, Black people were used as subjects for medical studies without their informed consent.

Additionally, Perkins-Valdez looks at the class distinctions between poor, rural Blacks and the wealthier professional Blacks. Civil belongs to this latter social class and she has to make a conscious effort to hide her judgment of the way her patients live. She behaves compassionately towards them and even risks her career to fight on their behalf, but she has never encountered these conditions and it is difficult for her to hide her reaction.

I was certainly aware of the syphilis study done at Tuskegee, but I was not aware of the studies and policies on birth control and sterilization perpetrated against women of color. Kudos to Perkins-Valdez for shining a light on these policies in our history.

Lauren J Daggett does a fine job of narrating the audiobook. I did get confused a few times when the storyline jumped from 2016 to 1973 and back again. But context usually made it clear in which era the story was taking place.

[dknight0918 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Such an important book with all of the recent events going on. Perkins-Valdez is an amazing writer and you can tell she does a lot of research when writing her books. Can’t wait to read whatever she writes next.

[anamie-694496 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Take My Hand is a well written story that has an empowering message. Civil, a nurse working in a low income clinic connects with two young patients, Erica and India. She feels compelled to save them from poverty but it turns into something bigger than she imagined. It is a story not of just moral dilemmas but how our relationships have lasting impacts.

[niquetteb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Civil is a Black nurse in 1970s Mississippi. The story is a letter to her daughter written in 2016 about her southern roots including the realization of unjust sterilization of two young Black girls.

[donnasbookaddiction · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I possess a hardcover copy, but I decided to listen to the book in audio, narrated by Lauren J. Daggett, who brings the characters to life. The story alternated from 1973 and 2016, between Montgomery Alabama and Memphis, Tennessee mostly, as Civil is telling the story to her daughter.

The chapters are short, but relative to the current issues in our conversation and government policies in 2023, were a federal abortion ban. On April 18, 2007, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the first-ever federal law banning abortion procedures and gave politicians the green light to interfere in people's reproductive health care decisions. The federal abortion ban criminalizes abortions in the second trimester of pregnancy that doctors say are often the safest and best way to protect a pregnant person's health.
Physician and Hospital Requirements: 32 states require an abortion to be performed by a licensed physician. 20 states require an abortion to be performed in a hospital after a specified point in the pregnancy, and 17 states require the involvement of a second physician after a specified point.

Civil’s father is so reminiscent of my father and husband. I truly adored his character. I prized how she was patient with her mother and cared for her despite her mental health. The familiar landscapes in the novel resonated with me, Wetumpka, crepe myrtles, cotton fields, Montgomery, Selma, the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tide versus Auburn Tigers, and the Magic City Classic in Birmingham. The major crux of this whole novel was defined in chapter 31, when the testimony was brought before a subcommittee in Washington DC. There were a lot of jaw dropping moments while reading this historical fiction. A constant page turner.

You can anticipate that there will be disappointments but you wish for the better as you progress in the story. I appreciate the three years of research that the author put into writing this novel, and taking creative licenses to imagine what the nurses had to contend with. Superb character building and historical content. The story took me on an emotional journey. This was a five star read for me.

[janismack · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Civil is fresh oit of nursing school and goes to work at the Momtgomery Family Planning Clinic. While there she learns that the government is systematically sterilising young poor girls without their consent. A work of fiction but mirroring true facts.

[romonko · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book should have gotten five stars from me, but I just couldn't do it. The story that is told here is an important one.. It's a fictional take on actual occurrences that occurred in the early 70's in Alabama. The furor that arose from this court case and from the plaintiffs involved, brought outrage and shock which spread across the US. It was discovered that the federal government was actively involved in sterilization of women and sadly, teens as well. The court case brought to light that this was occurring in very high rates throughout the United States in black, hispanic and poverty stricken areas, A nurse discovers that two underage girls were sterilized without informed consent, and she took it upon herself to try to get them justice. The author does a good job with her characterizations and her fictionalized versions of the real story are believable and enlightening, but I just could not warm up to Civil Townsend. In fact, her given name is a misnomer because she is anything but civil. She is pushy, demanding and quite obviously spoiled by her family. She reminds me of people that set out to help others when that is the last thing they want. There are quite a few of them in the real world, and we see them on television regularly. These are the ones that always think that their way is the right way, and everyone else is wrong. Yes, Civil was trying to right an obvious wrong. Her heart told her that she must do something, but her approach was over the top. But Civil does learn a lot about the trials and tribulations these very unfortunate people face each day, while at the same time she learns a lot about herself. At 23 years old (how old she was when she discovered Erica and India Williams), until she is in her 70's. That is when she finally finds peace within herself, and can examine her motives and actions objectively. All in all, this was a good book to read during Black History Month, and I appreciated the insight it provided into an area that I had not really thought much about before. As far as I'm concerned governments can do a lot of harm with their rules and edicts. Health care and humanity can often get lost in the process.

[bangerlm · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Terrific historical fiction. The characters were really well done.

[bookbets50 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like most of us, the horrors portrayed in Take My Hand are not things we knew about when they were happening. This author uses historical fiction to tell the story about two very young girls who are subjected to birth control shots and then sterilization...all because they were poor and black and assumptions were made that they should not bear children. Nurse Civil, who comes from a much "better" background makes the welfare of these children and her family her mission in life,

Although I appreciated the story and the revelations of these shameful acts in the past, I felt a little like this was non-fiction at times because the characters felt flat to me.

[shazjhb · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Such a heartbreaking story based on true facts. There were major holes in the story concerning Civil.

[dianekeenoy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Civil Townsend has just graduated from nursing school and wants to make a difference in her African American community. This book was inspired by true events that happened in 1973 when two sisters, one twelve and the other fourteen were sterilized without their consent. The author captures the horror of the government deciding who should be sterilized based on their circumstances. The fact that this really happened only a year after the news had reported about the hundreds of Black men in Alabama were left untreated for syphilis in a study that lasted for 40 years is just staggering. A book not to be missed.

[hccpsk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Shortly after the exposure of the horrific experimentation on Black men at Tuskegee, it was discovered that government clinics were sterilizing young Black women under very dubious circumstances. Dolen Perkins-Valdez’s Take My Hand fictionalizes the details of these events through the eyes of Civil Townsend, a Black nurse working at a Montgomery, Alabama clinic who discovers that two young girls she cares for have been sterilized against their family’s wishes. Take My Hand is an excellent example of historical fiction with solid writing, and an interesting plot line that examines a difficult moment in US history with a very keen eye.

[bookwyrmm_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Very powerful story about a topic that is not often covered but should be brought to light.

[technodiabla · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This fantastic novel set in 1973 Birmingham tells of a young upper class black woman who takes a poor black family under her wing. The family falls victim to a horrendous government-run medical practice resulting a major federal lawsuit. There are so many themes in this novel: the role of privilege, trust in government, helping v. controlling, how to overcome guilt. It is a very well written engaging book. I would highly recommend this book to a broad audience.

[micareads · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Civil Townsend is freshly out of nursing school and ready to make a difference in her African American community in Alabama. She works at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic and her first patients are Erica and India Williams, ages 13 and 11. She is to give each child Depo-Provera, an injectable birth control. It is discovered that the shots are not FDA approved and that neither child is sexually active. Upon hearing this, Civil takes it upon herself to stop giving the girls their shots. One day Civil goes to see the girls and discovers that her supervisor has taken them to the hospital "for their shots". It is discovered that the girls have had their tubes tied without their guardians being fully informed. What ensues next is a class action suit that takes on the federal government and those who did everything they could to hide the truth of what was really happening.

Based on the true story of poor minority women and how they were treated by the federal government. On the heels of the Tuskegee experiment, this new scandal is just as terrible as children were also victimized. The horrors that were inflicted on these poor women ranged from uninformed sterilization to tubal ligations that the women believed could be reversed.

I had heard wonderful things about this book and I was afraid that it would not live up to the hype but it very much did. This was a well-researched, well-written account of what could have happened when the government's behavior was discovered. I look forward to reading more thought provoking historical fiction from Dolen Perkins-Valdez.

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Powerful! This book is loosely based on the forced sterilization of poor black women in the south, court case Relf vs. Weinberger. In this novel, Civil is a doctor looking back on the time when she was a nurse working for a clinic, and meeting Erika and India who were young girls getting a birth control drug. When she discovers their living conditions, and the danger of the drug, she tries to intervene.
This book is extremely important, and sadly, forced sterilization is still prevalent today, including immigrants crossing the southern border being involuntarily sterilized. I thought the author brought a unique voice to this novel in telling the story of the desperate living situations, and how these children and their families were misled. Everyone should read this.

[janarose1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

At the beginning of her nursing career, Civil Townsend begins work at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic. At the clinic, she is horrified to discover that young girls are being put on unnecessary birth control. When she takes two of her patients, 11 and 13 year old sisters, off the shot, her supervisor has the young girls sterilized. Civil, is ready to fight. Alternating with that story, Civil is at the end of her career as a doctor, and is making a trip back to Alabama where everything started.

Wow, I am still horrified at what happened to those two little girls. I am glad that Civil was willing to fight back. I thought this was a very interesting and well paced read. The modern day story wasn't really necessary, an epilogue would have served just as well. I found myself researching sterilization and the Tuskegee Syphilis Studies after reading this book. I hope it brings attention to both of these horrifying issues. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars.

[nadinec.keels · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the most disturbing aspects of this novel is that it just barely earns the classification of "historical" fiction. It can make a lot of Americans feel more comfortable to think of certain American atrocities to be safely in the distant past: "It's a shame, what happened. That was a much different time, though, involving different people than who we are today. We'd never let something that terrible happen in our modern time and culture."

But this story is loosely based on true events that didn't happen that long ago. To say the least, it can be less than comfortable to think of a number of people who were wrong or wronged in an atrocity like this as people who are still alive today, and abuses like it did not come to an end back in the far, far history of old, twentieth-century America.

Even coming to this story with prior knowledge of the real-life events it addresses, I still cringed while reading about the abominable Tuskegee Syphilis Study/Experiment on Black men, the "coerced sterilization" of disadvantaged women (and girls) in the United States, and "the history of medical experimentation on Black people."

I suspected this book wouldn't be an easy read for me, and it wasn't.

I read it anyway.

Now, what I was glad to find here is that this book is well-written fiction by a skilled novelist. Granted, some of the story's points are a bit repetitive; I found the characters pretty difficult to connect with and wound up feeling neutral about the heroine at times when I wanted to feel more; and it seems this novel just misses ending on an especially downbeat, even rather pessimistic note.

Still, the characters are layered, and the story critically explores a range of effects on human bodies, minds, and hearts in the midst of some complex issues. Yes, the issues of ethnicity, class, sex, healthcare, and justice are complex, and in light of the need for further social change in these areas, we accordingly need novels like this.

[cassiesbooksreader · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez is Historical Fiction about a black nurse in 1973 Montgomery, Alabama. Civil, a new nurse, thinks she can make a difference by working in a Family Planning Clinic. Civil had an unwanted pregnancy and wished to teach and encourage her patients prevention rather than use abortion as birth control knowing her own difficult experience.
A brilliantly written book that describes evil, poverty and conditions that most will find difficult to believe. It reminds us how government agencies and others have used their power to control people and achieve their goals. Have the medical methods and experiments with people really changed in the last hundred years? Does any government have the right to make choices for us or is it our right to make our own choices for our lives? Experimentation starts with those who are considered lower class, weak, poor, uneducated, and will eventually come for all of us except those considered the elite. I appreciated the author sharing all the long lasting impacts on each person and each family involved.
Ms Perkins-Valdez has written a story based on real history that makes it clear that we must watch for any government treatments, medicine, and experiments, especially those forced without any real informed consent.
For anyone who is not aware of what our government was capable of in the past and is capable of today, don't miss Take My Hand and the author’s note. Beware your eyes will be opened and this story will haunt you.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I appreciate the opportunity and thank the author and publisher for allowing me to read, enjoy and review this book. Unforgettable! Bravo! 5 Stars

[librarycin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In the early 1970s, the Montgomery [Alabama] Family Planning Clinic was “helping” poor families with birth control. When new nurse Civil starts working there, she thinks she is doing a good thing and really wants to help. Civil is assigned to go to the home of two young black girls (only 11 and 13) to give them both shots of Depo-Provera to prevent pregnancy. It’s only after she gives them those shots that she thinks to ask more questions. The girls are so young – do they really need this already? Then it gets worse…

This was really good. I wasn’t surprised to read, at the end, that this was based on a real life story of two young girls that ultimately led to a trial and changes in laws. I was surprised to learn that Depo-Provera was available in the 70s. I hadn’t realized it had been around that long. There was a current-day story (2016) to go with the ‘70s flashbacks, but I’m not sure the current storyline really added anything to it – at least not for me. I did feel like, although Civil was trying to help, it got to a point where there was a bit too much overreach. That being said, she really did help that family.

[gpangel_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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!

[dianelouise100 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

As in many other fine novels about the south, the importance of remembering the past is stressed in Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez; in the very first paragraph, the narrator describes her story as "a reminder to never forget." And that story is a horrific one, made more appalling by the fact that it is based in truth—as any reader who reads the jacket material will know beforehand.

Moving between 2016 and 1973, first person narrator Civil Townsend tells the story of an experience some fifty years in her past that continues to haunt her life and to influence every decision she makes. The setting is Montgomery, Alabama, 1973, a time and place still steeped in prejudice and racial injustice. Civil is a young black nurse stepping into her first job at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, a Federal agency whose clients were mostly from poor black families.

The setting created by Perkins-Valdez is remarkable for its verisimilitude. A native Montgomerian myself, I was quickly drawn back to 1973, to a Montgomery inhabited by black families, many of them impoverished, a few relatively affluent; and by white people, many motivated by ingrained, often paternalistic, racism, others by idealistic passion for bringing real change to Alabama. The well-paced narrative moving between past and present kept me immersed in the unfolding events and in the development of Civil's character as she struggled to deal with them. And the theme of the destroying presence of racial and sexual injustice and its enduring impact on those caught up in it is as timely now as it was forty-eight years ago.

Take My Hand should be read and appreciated and remembered, not only because it is based on a significant landmark case that advanced women's fight for the right to control their own bodies, but also because it is a well written, compelling, highly readable novel. Anyone who enjoys reading southern fiction, reading about the civil rights movement and/or the women's movement, or just reading a good novel with strong character development and a heartrending plot should immediately add Take My Hand to their TBR.

(Thank you to Bookbrowse and to NetGalley for this ARC)