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Take My Hand
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Original price was: $17.00.$11.99Current price is: $11.99.
Detailed description:
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
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Categories: Women Writers
Product name:
Take My Hand
Price:
Original price was: $17.00.$11.99Current price is: $11.99.
Kristina Anderson –
Yay! I have finally had my first 5 star read of 2024 and what a beautifully captivating read it is! Take My Hand is an incredibly written, devastating book that I absolutely devoured. It’s the type of book that changes how you think of different aspects of life and makes you feel yourself grow as a person through understanding.
I think I read this book at such a relevant time (although that being said, when in recent years hasn’t been relevant?) what with all the discourse around abortion and fertility laws over the last few years it just made me really reflect on how far we have come in some ways whilst how much the same everything is in others. It really was heart wrenching to think about.
I think one thing that I found really compelling about this book was how toxic the desire to be a ‘saviour’ can be. Of course I have thought about this before in bigger ways but I had not really appreciated it from an ‘acts of kindness’ perspective, it was an element of this book that really made me think and reflect on life and just how important it is to not sweep in and try to improve a situation for someone even if you think you can or should but instead letting them tell you what they need/want from you.
Mace and Mrs Williams were both such great characters to get to know, I think they really shone a light on the disadvantages they faced and how it continued the cycle, their girls were so much more exposed to the cruelness of the world because of them being uneducated and it just then feeds the whole cycle. It honestly just broke my heart.
I think the story being told from Civil’s perspective worked really well, she was navigating growing up but also learning about the cruelties of the world at the same time. I liked that she didn’t just go through it without mistakes, but that she learnt from them and tried to do better. I liked that she had her own emotions and feelings alongside the storyline of the sisters. The set up was just perfect to be honest.
Overall this book was absolutely devastating, it tore out my heart and made me feel such a deep sadness for humanity but at the same time it was filled with pockets of love and hope for better and that is just so true to life, it worked so well and will stay with me for a really long time. All of the stars!!
Paige Normand –
The setting is 1973, Montgomery, Alabama. I live right outside of Montgomery and I work in Montgomery. This book was very moving and sad, partly because it felt so close to home. I knew the street names, I could picture the scene very easily. This is a fictional novel loosely based on events that actually occurred in Montgomery. I have lived in Alabama my whole life, but I did not know any of the history about the sterilization of women/children who were black/poor/disabled. 1973 was not long ago and these events were occurring. A very good read in a very sad way.
Gina –
The historical part of this book was eye opening. The injustices that occurred not all that long ago are unbelievable. That’s what makes this book worth the read. Know better, do better.
Evie –
An outstanding and heartfelt book. This should be on every school syllabus. A lesson to us all with so many layers.
Lynda Wolters –
Take my Hand is set mainly in the year 1973, Montgomery, Alabama, at a time where segregation, while no longer ‘legal’ was still prominent. It was felt in the jobs colored people could get, where they could live, how they were treated in schools, and the way the government took advantage of the often impoverished and under or uneducated people within that community.
The novel, while fiction, is, as Dolen Perkins-Valdez states, loosely inspired by the real case, Relf v. Weinberger. In Relf, as in Take My Hand, two black sisters, aged twelve and fourteen were sterilized without informed consent. The remainder of the book follows the books sisters, Erica and India, and their nurse, Civil Townsend, through the girls’ recovery and following court battle regarding not only their sterilization but those of hundreds, if not thousands of others who were also unwittingly sterilized with the use of federal funds: Read, the government.
The book is, no surprise, difficult at times to imagine, to read, and to lean into – I mean, really? Who could/would do this to anyone, let alone children? For me, and I like to think I am fairly versed with the atrocities my country has inflicted on others, I was astounded to (a) learn about this, and (b) learn I didn’t know about this.
As with many of the difficult subject books that have been released in the recent past, this book will make you swallow hard, look inwardly, and get angry.
An incredibly well-written book, I highly recommend Take My Hand. It NEEDS to be read, especially in the recent overturning of Roe v. Wade. It is timely.
This is the second book I have purchased; gave one to a new MD student hoping to pass along how things “used” to be and still might become again if we don’t stay vigilant.
Anna –
This book was an eye opener as to what was happening to the black women and men in the 60’s and 70’s here in the U.S.
Terri Stewart –
This was such a moving story. It was based on events that occurred in this country during the earlier time period covered in the story. It’s difficult now to believe such a thing could have happened, sad!y it did.
Corinne04 –
It was interesting to read about the inhumane approach to address poverty in the US. I enjoyed the parts of the book which were based on the events, however I found the modern day commentary did not add a great deal.
Amazon Customer –
I love how this book was written and I didn’t know they were doing this to poor women. So sad but a good read.
Paige Normand –
This was an awesome book. It was historical fiction based on true events. It was very touching and enlightening at the same time. I didn’t realize that sterilization of young black girls was a thing. It’s a very powerful book that will stay with me forever. I highly recommend this book. A definite 5 star rating from me!
Pam –
I really enjoyed this book. It is a glimpse into the medical freedom movement. It is a piece of historical fiction. The characters were well-developed and the book kept my interest.
Neil Davis –
I did not like the fact the book represented a manifesto against racism. This activism took away from the literary interest.
Luz Gonzalez-Jorges –
This novel broke my heart. This book illustrates a horrific and shameful part of American history through the lives of two young girls from Alabama. It describes the injustices done to poor women during the 50s and 60s. Woven into the novel is the institutional racism prevalent among the American systems of power. News of what was done to black men during the Tuskegee Experiments was coming to light, but heinous things were being done to the women and girls also.
This story will stay with me forever and it is a must read.