by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Reviewed by Janet:
Civil Townsend begins her nursing career at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, instead of joining her father’s medical practice. Her first week finds Civil visiting a rural family living in squalor, in order to give birth control shots to two young sisters. Determined to help the family, and questioning the clinic’s treatments, Civil turns to the lawyer parents of a friend. Exploring issues of race, reproductive rights, and family, this novel (inspired by true events) sheds light on a dark part of our history.