Author: Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Series/Standalone: Standalone
Genre: Historical Fiction, Adult
Pages: 359
Publisher: Berkley
Year Published: 2022
Format: Audiobook
"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 nursy 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."
My Rating: 5/5
The audiobook of this story was truly fantastic. Reading about such horrors and blatant racism, obviously, isn't comfortable, but it's important to remember our past as a society to make sure we don't repeat it. I had read a bit about the Tuskegee case, but for whatever reason hadn't heard much about this case. It's uncomfortable to read about, but the way the author tells the story helps paint the picture of how someone could be involved in something like this, how blowing the whistle (while obviously the right thing to do) can cause such a landslide of events on not just her, but the family involved and society as a whole. Tremendously written, and incredibly important would recommend for fans of historical fiction.
Thanks for reading,
Sidny