Summary

In Part I, Chapter 1, “Memphis, 2016,” 67-year-old Civil Townsend tells her adopted daughter Anne about India and Erica Williams. She thinks about the girls every day and wants Anne to know their story, too. Civil recently learned that India is sick and plans to visit her. She has been thinking about the sisters and “the case that engulfed the country” (5).

In Chapter 2, “Montgomery, 1973,” nine months after graduating college, Civil takes a job “at the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic” (6). She meets the other new hires, Val and Alicia, and her supervisor, Linda Seager. Mrs. Seager is the only white woman working there. In the break room, Civil gets to know Alicia, who reminds her of girls she grew up with.

Civil is assigned her first “off-site case”: the Williams sisters (8). Because India and Erica are 11 and 13, Civil cannot understand why they need birth...