Divided into two first-person, alternating narration, this is strong stuff. One first person, Sarah Grimke, is the daughter of a rich, influential Charleston family in early 19th century Southern America. The second narrative is Handful, one of their slaves. Sarah and her sister become increasing troubled by slavery. Handful suffers cruelty and indignities. Both women’s stories are passionate. The tale is made stronger by being based on a true story. Sarah and her sister were pioneers of the abolition movement. Handful’s story is fictional but based on the history of so many American slaves. It is very moving. Highly recommended.
From the celebrated author of the international bestseller The Secret Life of Bees comes an extraordinary novel about two exceptional women. Sarah Grimke is the middle daughter. The one her mother calls difficult and her father calls remarkable. On Sarah's eleventh birthday, Hetty 'Handful' Grimke is taken from the slave quarters she shares with her mother, wrapped in lavender ribbons, and presented to Sarah as a gift. Sarah knows what she does next will unleash a world of trouble. She also knows that she cannot accept. And so, indeed, the trouble begins ...A powerful, sweeping novel, inspired by real events, and set in the American Deep South in the nineteenth century, THE INVENTION OF WINGS evokes a world of shocking contrasts, of beauty and ugliness, of righteous people living daily with cruelty they fail to recognise; and celebrates the power of friendship and sisterhood against all the odds.
Sue Monk Kidd is the author of the highly acclaimed bestsellers The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair. The Secret Life of Bees was her first novel. Selling over 6 million copies, it has become a modern classic and has been adapted into a feature film starring Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning and Jennifer Hudson.
