Take My Hand

Civil Townsend , a Black doctor in Memphis, 2016, is compelled to revisit her past as a young nurse in 1970s Montgomery, Alabama. She feels the weight of two sisters, India and Erica , whose lives were forever changed by her actions and the system she worked within. Civil's story is a confession and a reckoning, a way to lay ghosts to rest and pass on a painful legacy to her daughter, Anne. The narrative is framed as a personal history, a stitching together of memory, regret, and the need for truth. Fresh from nursing school, Civil joins the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, eager to uplift h

Theme 1: Ghosts in White Coats

This thread running through Take My Hand gives the story its emotional weight. Dolen Perkins-Valdez weaves it into the narrative with skill, ensuring that the reader feels the stakes as deeply as the characters do.

Theme 2: New Nurse, Old Wounds

This thread running through Take My Hand gives the story its emotional weight. Dolen Perkins-Valdez weaves it into the narrative with skill, ensuring that the reader feels the stakes as deeply as the characters do.

Theme 3: Sisters on the Farm

This thread running through Take My Hand gives the story its emotional weight. Dolen Perkins-Valdez weaves it into the narrative with skill, ensuring that the reader feels the stakes as deeply as the characters do.

What Readers Say About Take My Hand

Take My Hand has resonated with readers for its emotional honesty and vivid storytelling. Many describe finishing it in a single sitting — drawn forward by Dolen Perkins-Valdez's prose and an almost desperate need to know how it ends.

A Passage Worth Sitting With

"Ghosts in White Coats" — Dolen Perkins-Valdez, Take My Hand

About the Author

Dolen Perkins-Valdez is the author of Take My Hand. Known for emotionally resonant storytelling, their work has found devoted readers across the globe.