The Invention of Wings

by Sue Monk Kidd
January 19-February 15, 2015

I'm way, way behind on this post. No real excuse why; it was a good book. But I tend to judge the feelings I have afterward higher than while I'm actually reading. And the fact is that I honestly haven't thought about it, other than knowing I needed to post a review, in a whole month.

I am truly fascinated by the mentality of slave owners in the 1800s. Two hundred years later and the topic is still discussed. That's a good thing; lest history repeat itself. But to imagine that treating another human being so horribly was considered normal is beyond my comprehension. Difficult reading for sure.

“History is not just facts and events. History is also a pain in the heart and we repeat history until we are able to make another’s pain in the heart our own.”

Sarah Grimké is "gifted" a slave for her 11th birthday. Hetty "Handful" is a year younger than Sarah at the time. Sarah immediately objects to the gift, but her mother won't hear of it. From there, the two form a bond in as much a way possible for a free woman and a slave. I honestly didn't realize until I finished the book that the Grimké sisters actually existed, and while Handful was fictional, the story was woven out of actual events in their lives. I may have appreciated it more having known that in advance. But I did enjoy it, even if the parts about Sarah trying to become a Quaker got a bit drawn out. Told in alternating voices/chapters between Handful and Sarah, I enjoyed Handful's fictional side a little more.


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