The Invention of Wings: A Novel

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The Invention of Wings was a powerful story of a turbulent time in history and that was conveyed in the brilliant narration by Jenna Lamia and Adepero Oduye. The story alternates points of view from Sarah Grimke and a slave on her parents' plantation named Handful. Lamia and Oduye brought the story, the people, and the places to vivid life. I was so immersed in their narration that I felt like I was sitting on the porch of the South Carolina plantation house sipping sweet tea and hoping for a breeze while watching all of this play out.

The Invention of Wings is very well written in that it is powerful, sad and yet in places the humour comes through which makes the book uplifting and not depressing. For more than 20 years, Kidd published mainly nonfiction books and articles; she didn't finish her first novel, the wildly successful The Secret Life of Bees, until she was 53, 12 years ago. I couldn't wait to tell her how glad I am that she found her calling and what an impact her new book had on me.Sarah is from an aristocratic southern family where her father is a judge on South Carolina's highest court. She expects that some day she will be able to walk in his footsteps. For her 11th birthday she is given a slave named Hetty. The idea of owning someone is preposterous to Sarah, even then at a young age after seeing slaves savagely whipped and beaten. Oprah Talks with Sue Monk Kidd About The Invention of Wings". oprah.com . Retrieved December 10, 2013.

Contrast Handful’s relationship with her mother with the relationship between Sarah and the elder Mary Grimké. How are the two younger women formed—and malformed—by their mothers? OW: What you belong to—I love that! Both the Grimké sisters and Handful are looking to be free, but in different ways. Is that where the title of the book comes from? Goods and chattel… We were like the gold leaf mirror and the horse saddle. Not full-fledge people. I didn’t believe this, never had believed it a day of my life, but if you listen to white folks long enough, some sad, beat-down part of you starts to wonder. All that pride about what we were worth left me then. For the first time, I felt the hurt and shame of just being who I was.The main characters' POV were engrossing but the secondary characters were also complex and compelling. In particular, Sarah's mother fascinated me. It seemed she also struggled with her rigid belief in their way of life and her love for her family as well as what seemed like a bit of jealousy over Sarah's intelligence and courage. From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees and the forthcoming novel The Book of Longings,a novel about two unforgettable American women. Today, in lieu of reviewing a new release, I am choosing to revisit an old favorite which I read years before starting this blog. (thanks for the inspiration Sandy’s Book a Day blog!)