BLOG TOUR: Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

 I'm excited to be a part of the Blog Tour for Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez! I received an electronic copy for honest review from the publisher. Thanks so much to Berkley and Dolen Perkins-Valdez for letting me be a part of the tour!

Title: Take My Hand

Author: Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Published by: Berkley

Released: April 12, 2022

Source: Electronic Review Copy Provided by Publisher through Netgalley

Goodreads      Amazon

 

Synopsis: 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. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

 

My Thoughts: A very interesting a heart wrenching story. I really enjoyed reading this one. I also appreciated learning about this important part of history. It was hard to read it, hard to think about this happening to innocents. It's crazy to see that this wasn't even that far in the past. 

This story was well told and very emotional. It is definitely a story that we need not to forget.

Dolen Perkins-Valdez is the New York Times bestselling author of Wench and Balm. She was a finalist for two NAACP Image Awards and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for fiction, and she was awarded the First Novelist Award by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. She lives in Washington, DC with her family.

Thanks so much for checking out my Blog Tour Stop for Take My Hand by Dolen Perkins-Valdez. Thank you to Berkley and Dolen Perkins-Valdez for having me on the tour! Make sure to look for this one on library or bookstore shelves.