Monday, January 13, 2014

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd


Sarah Grimke and Handful were complete opposites in the society of the 1800's.

Sarah was the daughter of a plantation owner, and Handful was her maid.  Both were strong women regardless of their station in life.

Sarah didn't want to have a maid, and Handful didn't want to be a maid.  She wanted to sew just like her mother did.  She wanted to be a seamstress, but in reality, she wanted to be free.  Charlotte, Handful's mother, made all the clothes for the household including the slaves.  She was a bit of of a handful herself.

Through the beautiful storytelling of Ms. Kidd, you will follow the Grimke family through the decades of life on the plantation.  You will meet Missus who was the wife of the plantation owner and who was in charge of of the slaves. She was very cruel.

The main characters, Sarah, Handful, Charlotte, and Missus will keep you up late reading about the day's activities either covert or in plain sight and either cruel or humane. These characters and their bond as well as their differences will be pulling at your heartstrings.

Historical Fiction at its best will be yours when you pick up THE INVENTION OF WINGS.  There is a lot of profound thinking and pondering in every paragraph. 
I wasn't aware of Sarah's role in the abolitionist movement, and was pleasantly surprised to find information about her and her sister, Angeline, as I did some research of my own.

The storyline of THE INVENTION OF WINGS flows easily and masterfully as Ms. Kidd brings to life Southern living, the horrors of slavery, and tells of the people who worked toward abolishing slavery.

Don't miss this well-written, researched book of Ms. Kidd.  Ms. Kidd’s notes at the end of the book were very helpful as she explained how she took the basis of history and fictionalized key parts of it for her book. THE INVENTION OF WINGS was incredible. 5/5

This book was given to me free of charge by the publisher in return for an honest review.

20 comments:

  1. I hope you get to read yet another wonderful book my Sue Monk Kidd.

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  2. Thanks for the review. I've enjoyed reading both The Mermaid Chair and The Secret Life of Bees. I'm sure I'll enjoy The Invention of Wings too.

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  3. She is an artful storyteller. This is another one to add to my list.
    Ann

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  4. She is an artful storyteller. This is another one to add to my list.
    Ann

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  5. I love The Secret Life of Bees. I never read The Mermaid Chair.

    THANKS for stopping, Captivated Reader.

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  6. She is a wonderful storyteller.

    THANKS for stopping, Mary.

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  7. I can't wait to read this one! Thanks for sharing...

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  8. glad you enjoyed it, it's certainly get a lot of hype.

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  9. I'm really excited about this book so I'm glad to see it's so good.

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  10. You will love it, Laurel.

    THANKS for stopping.

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  11. It is good....the author is awesome.

    I am sure that helped with a lot of the hype.

    THANKS for stopping, Irene.

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  12. I hope you get to read it soon, Kathy.

    THANKS for stopping.

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  13. I loved the dance of the dissident daughter! I hope I like this one too!!
    Katelynn
    www.literarychameleon.blogspot.com

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  14. THANKS for stopping, Katelyn

    You will like it. :)

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  15. I have read The Mermaid Chair and loved it very much! :) Sue Monk Kidd is such a brilliant author, I may have to check this one out too!
    Great review! :)

    -Kimi of Geeky Chiquitas
    www.geekychiquitas.blogspot.com
    Hope you can check out our blog! :)

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  16. THANKS for stopping, Kimi. I hope you get to read it.

    I only read The Secret Life of Bees. I never did get to read The Mermaid Chair.

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  17. "She was a bit of a handful herself." = so right you are! I read this title not knowing it was loosely based on two real-life abolitionist sisters - I LOVED it; it's becoming quite rare for me to find a book where I truly care about the characters, and this was definitely one of them! :)

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  18. I didn't know about the "real life" characters either until I "googled" Sarah's name. :)

    It was a great book.

    I am glad you enjoyed it too.

    THANKS for stopping, Julie.

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