![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Substantial research into the original case, Relf v. Inspired by true events in 1970s Alabama, the book shines a light on a painful part of U.S. ![]() Outraged, Civil fights on their behalf, working with a talented young lawyer who ultimately takes their case all the way to federal court. But at 11 and 13, Erica and India are terribly young, a fact that troubles Civil even before she sees the depth of their poverty and long before the white clinic director facilitates surgical sterilization for both girls. She believes in the clinic’s mission and is determined to facilitate choice for women in her community. On her first visit to the girls’ home, Civil is tasked with giving them birth control injections, a common practice, especially for younger patients who might have trouble with a daily pill. Civil Townsend, a Black physician at the end of her career who can’t be at peace until she shares the story of Erica and India, sisters who were unlikely patients of the family planning clinic where Civil worked as a nurse. This diamond-bright historical novel opens in 2016, but the heart of the story takes place through the narrator recounting her experience as a nurse in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1973. Memphis native Dolen Perkins-Valdez has spent some time with these questions, and the result is her third novel, Take My Hand. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |