✍🏻 Dolen Perkins-Valdez

☑️ Historical Fiction

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙚 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖𝙨 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙗𝙖𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨.”

WOW. What an impactful book!

Overview:

•Dual Timeline (1973 & 2016)

•Inspired by a True Story

•Black Nurse FMC

•Reproductive Rights

•Dark Themes

𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗖𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹 𝗧𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗴𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗴𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘆, 𝗔𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗺𝗮, 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗵𝗶𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆.

I will always love fictional novels based off actual events because they equally teach me and engage me.

The main character Civil Townsend genuinely feels like a real person because of how intricately she was crafted. Her unrelenting loyalty, her consuming passion, and her courageous heart led her to fight for a family who were caught in a terrible situation. 

“𝙒𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙮. 𝘼𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣. 𝙔𝙚𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙮 𝙪𝙨. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙙𝙤𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙨. 𝙉𝙤, 𝙢𝙖’𝙖𝙢. 𝙒𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙪𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙘𝙚.”

The narrating voice was uniquely powerful, and it almost read like a memoir in the way she was telling the story, especially in how we went from 2016 back to when the pivotal events occurred in 1973.

“𝙄’𝙢 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙛 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙚𝙨, 𝙞𝙩 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧𝙨, 𝙩𝙤𝙤. 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙖𝙜 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙣𝙚, 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮. 𝙇𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙢𝙚. 𝙁𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙩 𝙛𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬-𝙞𝙩-𝙖𝙡𝙡.”

This story involves the hidden underbelly of the United States’ past, and it was horrifying to learn about how institutional racism and classism irrevocably changed so many families. I truly believe that we must learn about it so that we can keep horrific history from repeating.

“𝙄𝙣 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝙟𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙖𝙡𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙀𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣’𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙩, 𝙤𝙧 𝙣𝙤𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙥𝙤𝙤𝙧 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙡𝙠𝙨 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝘼𝙡𝙖𝙗𝙖𝙢𝙖.”

“𝙊𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙,” 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙.

This would be a great book club pick, with endless topics to discuss and learn about together. From the true history to the complex characters, my heart feels heavy in how much was unpacked while simultaneously inspired by the courageous devotion of certain people. 

“𝙄𝙩 𝙗𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙘𝙤𝙚𝙭𝙞𝙨𝙩. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙢𝙖. 𝙈𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙢𝙖. 𝙎𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚. 𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙝 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧.”

I have more than 100 highlights from this book. So many impactful lines and teachable moments. I’ll conclude with this excerpt from the Author’s Note:

“𝗠𝘆 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗼𝗸𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗽𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗺𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗼𝗿, 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱. 𝗜𝗻 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲, 𝗜 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹 (𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀!) 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗺, 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗹𝘂𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀.”

Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone. 

✨ Read via Libby ✨