Oh, man. There are not enough tissue boxes for this book. If you know a little about the depths of racism in the United States, you might have heard about the incident that this book is inspired by. If you've been following the news in the US in the past few years, you might know that forced sterilization is still a thing here. This book is about as heartbreaking as you can get and is a charge against the sick and twisted medical actions committed against Blacks and other minorities. The US has a lot to atone for, if you aren't ready to know that, if you still think that the US is a moral compass, you should probably pass on this book and go back to reading hype pieces by Thomas Sowell and Candace Owen. ( )

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. ( )

I really wanted to love this book. Sadly, I was frustrated with the writing, the characters were one demential and not plausible. This could have been such a powerful read, but the writer lost me so many times early in the story. I had a hard time going on. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )