Take My Hand

This novel is inspired by the 1973 case of Relf vs Weinberger, in which two young, black, poor, mentally disabled girls were forcibly and unknowingly sterilised; their mother, who was illiterate, signed X on a slip in the belief that her children were being given birth control shots.

In this fictional novel inspired by these very real events, in 1973 23-year-old black nurse Civil Townsend uncovers forced sterilisation in the very clinic she works at after caring for two young poverty-stricken girls, Erica and India and growing close to their family.

Perkins-Valdez has an incredibly good grasp of time and place, and explores this not so distant history with tact and grace. An educational and enlightening novel.