The Invention Of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

The Invention Of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd – 373 pages

Book Blurb:

Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women. Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten-year-old Handful, who is to be her handmaid. We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty-five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love. As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements. Inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all of her characters, both real and invented, including Handful’s cunning mother, Charlotte, who courts danger in her search for something better.

My Review: 4.5 stars

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I believe that some books need to be read at the right time for each reader. This is so true with The Invention of Wings. Two different times it came in for me at the library and for whatever reason, I just didn’t pick it up. I knew it got rave reviews and I loved her earlier books, but I just wasn’t ready to read a book about the atrocities of slavery coupled with everlasting friendship. After it was selected as a book club selection, however, I knew it was the right moment to dig in.

Yes, this book is hard to read at times. Slaves were treated unjustly, cruelly and no better than a carpet you walk on; yet this author did a magnificent job at giving us the parallel version of hope from the Grimke sisters, some of our main characters. The symbolism of the blackbird was very interesting as in most books it’s understood that black birds reflect death and doom. I learned that the slaves believed it was a sign of escape and freedom, as was the black triangle, which was all new new imagery for me.

Now, I love historical fiction, but even better is when I finish the book and find out that the majority of the main characters were real people and that many of the anecdotes, trials, pamphlets and meetings were based on real facts.

Learning from the author’s wonderfully extensive notes in the back of the book that Sarah Grimke did, in fact, secretly teach her slave Hetty to read, was extremely paramount for me. If it weren’t for the art of reading and writing, this book wouldn’t be and her story would never have been told.