The Invention of Wings

THE INVENTION OF WINGS REVIEWSue Monk Kidd is a remarkable writer with insight, a talent for storytelling, and the ability to create characters that resonate with the reader. “The Invention of Wings” is a vivid novel that engages the reader in a historical period that has been dealt with many times but seldom with such jarring intensity and compassion.Sarah Grimke, the daughter of a wealthy landowner and holder of many slaves in Charleston, is given a 10-year old black girl for her eleventh birthday to act as her handmaid. Kidd’s novel, based on actual people and events, traces their lives in parallel stories over the next thirty-five years as Sarah struggles with her aversion to slavery and Handful, as the slave is known, battles the cruelty of the institution with its demands, punishments, and family disruptions. Their relationship is perplexing with its periods of defiance, love, misunderstanding, and futile efforts at merging two cultures.Kidd presents each experience using chapters that alternate between Sarah and Handful as the years progress. Sarah, along with her sister, Angelina, grows to be a force in abolition and women’s rights while Handful emulates her mother’s pugnacious behavior as she uses guile in her abolition efforts, stealing if necessary, to confuse and muddle tradition. Through the years, although separated by distance, their mutual dedication to disrupting the practice of slavery continues, Sarah to great notoriety and Handful to personal pain, disfigurement, and adversity.It is a moving story of two women and their common fight against oppression, although different approaches are used in their individual battles. The author does a splendid job of outlining each adventure and the different challenges that each woman faces.The characterizations are beautifully drawn. The dialogue sparkles. The period descriptions are historically correct and appropriate for the times. Kidd is careful to explain in her Author’s Note that the Grimke sisters were authentic and the first female abolition advocates as well as among the earliest feminist activists. Their struggles and motivations, as well as Sarah’s inner voice and actual life, are the author’s interpretations based on her research. Handful is a fictional character Kidd devised to add a slave’s voice and life to the story so both worlds could be presented. Handful is a wonderfully created character with spunk, determination, and a sassy spirit that longs for freedom.This is not a Civil War book. In fact the events begin some sixty years earlier. It is a time when the institution of slavery was deeply imbedded in the South and radical attempts at abolition were deeply resented but not taken very seriously. It is very illuminating to this reader who is more familiar with the time surrounding the war. Read it.Schuyler T WallaceAuthor of TIN LIZARD TALES

The invention of wings - Absolutely Superp and DelightfulI think it is a beautiful, well-written and touching book. It brings us close to the atrocities of slavery in a time when both women and slaves had no rights and no voice at all. Although the atrocities are there since they are part of the characters’ lives, they are not the center of the plot. In a family where slave cruelty was commonplace, an abolitionist child, Sarah, flourishes and will go through an ordeal not only to respect her beliefs but also to fight for them. The same happens to her younger sister Nina who, as Sarah's goddaughter, not only takes after her in her position before the world and its injustices, but is bolder and moves from words to actions more promptly. Sarah's life is entwined with the life of the slave she receives as a gift on her 11th birthday, Hetty Handful, to whose freedom she feels committed. The author has a wonderful way with the words and delights us with precious paragraphs that unveil the insights of these three girls on their way towards womanhood. It's amazing how she outlines the accomplishments of the two sisters who had to break with their origin within an aristocratic family, and everything brought along with it, in their pursue to be true to themselves, becoming the two first female abolition agents in America. “Sarah the first woman in America to write a comprehensive feminist manifesto and Nina the first woman in the United States to speak before a legislative body” as the author stated. Two historical women wonderfully depicted by Mrs. Monk Kidd. The story of three women who found their ways to voice themselves, and I felt privileged to have been led by Mrs. Kidd into following their steps.The way the relationship between Sarah and the slave Hetty Handful develops did not meet my initial expectations but now I am sure it could not have been different in the 1800’s. In fact, this sensation did not affect neither my appreciation of the book nor the impact it had on me. On the contrary, it rather challenged me into trying to understand both the time when they lived in and the magnitude of their attitudes. The bond and intimacy possible back then between a slave and a white person were determined by rules and laws instead of their feelings. Although the two girls struggled to go beyond these boundaries I had the sensation that it could have gone deeper and that a lot more was kept inside in many situations. I loved the way the author made me see how deeply the relationship impacted on one another in spite of the distance imposed by the rules, as well as understand the extent and importance of actions that seemed so little at first in many passages of the plot.Following the path of these two brave women in their fight against slavery and for women's rights, and the slave's endurance to preserve her inner freedom, was a rich and enlightening experience provided by an inspiring, worth-reading book that combines rich fiction and a story based on true characters that are historical figures.

One of the most powerful books that I've read lately. It drew me into a world of horrors where owning slaves and cruelty were synonymous. It brings to light the under current of southern mentality that has not totally disappeared, ....just gone under the skin and appears subtly when no one is looking!Horrifying but riveting to the very end.

Sue Monk Kidd schreibt in der ihr eigenen, einfühlsamen Art von der historisch wahren Persönlichkeit Sarah Grimké und dem Finden Ihrer Berufung. Als Tochter eines Anwalts wird sie hineingeboren in eine große, reiche Familie im südlichen Charleston. Hochintelligent findet sie sich nicht in der vorgesehenen Rolle einer künftigen braven Ehefrau, die stickt und unterhält. Ihr innerer Kampf, der Versuch sich damit abzufinden und die gleichzeitige Unmöglichkeit lassen einen beim Lesen fast verzweifeln. Sie kann sich schon als kleines Mädchen nicht damit abfinden, dass es zweierlei Klassen von Menschen geben soll - die Weißen und die Schwarzen. Erst viele Jahre später findet Sarah Grimké ihre Stimme. Gemeinsam und in enger Bande mit ihrer Schwester Angeline Grimké zählt sie zu den Pionieren der Sklavereigegner - und da die Grimké-Schwestern Frauen waren, waren sie zwangsläufig auch Pionierinnen der Frauenbewegung.Dennoch ist das Buch nicht vor allem eine Streitschrift für die Gleichstellung von Menschen (egal ob Mann oder Frau, schwarz oder weiß), sondern erzählt die Entwicklung von beeindruckenden Persönlichkeiten und wie sie nicht trotz, sondern wegen schwieriger Umstände schließlich zu denen wurden, die sie waren.

Absolutely loved this book. A story (based largely on fact) of the Grimke sisters who were pioneers in the abolition of slavery. A well known quote often attributed to Ruth Bader Ginsburg ; “I ask no favour for my sex. All I ask is that they take their feet off our necks” was actually said by Sarah Grimke. This is a story of slavery, of sisterhood, friendship and the immense cruelty that was the life of so many slaves. Compelling, interesting and riveting. We all have reason to be thankful to these two women and all the others who stood by what was right despite the hardship that this caused them.

No conocía a las hermanas Grimké y me ha encantado leer sobre ellas, mujeres con unos principios tan fuertes y rompedores para su época. El libro está maravillosamente escrito, con una prosa fácil de seguir y a la vez llena de vocabulario literario que te transporta al siglo XIX. Las descripciones de detalles cotidianos de la vida de entonces son deliciosas. La autora logra transmitirte el caudal de sentimientos diversos de las protagonistas con maestría. Lo he disfrutado muchísimo y lo recomiendo, sobre todo porque son personas reales, gracias a las cuales las mujeres del mundo occidental disfrutamos de los derechos y libertades actuales.

Questo libro sembra seriamente basato su personaggi reali e, almeno in parte (l'embrione di progetto di sollevazione), su fatti realmente accaduti. Esso descrive con finezza psicologica le secolari barriere del pregiudizio di cui era prigioniera un'intera società, pur tra le più attive nello sviluppo del costituzionalismo, le inevitabili sfaccettature all'interno di essa, l'eroismo di coloro che per primi, anticipando i tempi, vi si opposero, le sofferenze di generazioni di vittime, in uno stillicidio di episodi oscuri, non registrati dalla storia. Ben scritto, utile per chi vuole esercitarsi in inglese/americano senza sottoporsi a noiosi percorsi didattici. Lo schema resta quello, per me vincente a dispetto delle resipiscenze manzoniane, del romanzo storico. Nel finale, c'è pure la suspense, unica concessione, forse, ai facili effetti, ma non guasta e fa davvero palpitare. A mio sommesso avviso, un capolavoro.