The Invention of Wings

It's a little intimidating to have such a negative opinion of such a well-loved book by such a well-love author. But nevertheless, I have some... thoughts on what Sue Monk Kidd cooked up in The Invention of Wings and I feel like this is a good story about staying in your lane.

The Invention of Wings is told in two POVs - Sarah Grimke and her slave Handful. The first problem here should be obvious, and that is simply that we are far past the need to have an old white woman write a story from the point of view of a Black slave. Sue Monk Kidd got away with some stuff when she wrote The Secret Life of Bees, but I think that story worked because she kept it in Lily's POV. Had she turned around and tried to write August, June, or May... I show more would have been out. Here? I'm out.

Considering she set out to tell the story of two abolitionist growing up in Charleston, SC, the edge of almost white savoriness to this book is... disappointing, but unsurprising. I do believe the author generally thinks she put a good story out there, one that is against racism... while she is passively marginalizing Black voices by using her power to tell Black stories. We are past this. What she could have done, and perhaps it would have been great, is co-write this story with a Black author and let them tell Handful's story.

But. That's not what happened. So immediately, this rubs me the wrong way.

Sarah Grimke is a real historical figure - a young woman who joined the Quakers with one of her younger sisters and spoke against slavery. And while the subject of slavery does come up frequently, it always seem to take Sarah by surprise. "Oh dear brothers, what are you talking about? Slavery? Oh that's a terrible institution." And then they laugh her off. It's peppered in like someone holding heir head high and saying they are doing an important thing, but actually they are more interested in something else and keep forgetting about the Important Thing until it's time for a bit of plot advancement. For Sarah, this is so much about romance. There's a throwaway section early in the book about a beau that didn't work out, pages and pages of unnecessary story if Sue Monk Kidd really wanted to write a culturally important story.

But I don't think that's what Sue Monk Kidd really set out to do. This feels like a book about relationships - romantic, parental, and between friends. It's not altogether all that heartwarming, either. There's a lot of awkward telling and dramatic speeches that fall away useless and brave actions that amount to nothing and just... it was a waste. It felt like a waste of time and paper. And I know that's mean! I'm sorry. It's how I feel.

Perhaps Sarah Grimke was a uniquely fascinating woman. But The Invention of Wings feels like a story written to capitalize on a romantic story using social justice and Black suffering as a backdrop and weak motivator, in a similar vein as her other highly successful book but with far less respect or impact. You can skip this one. Really. show less

Our local museum, the Mint Museum, has started a really cool book club program. They choose books that pair nicely with their current exhibits and offer tours that show off some of the things that are either in the books or reflect the period of the book well. One of my book clubs wanted to try out this program so we read and discussed The Invention of Wings, Sue Monk Kidd's novel about a white woman who became a well known abolitionist and feminist and the black slave woman she grew up with, before we walked around the museum to see examples of household goods from the pre-Civil War South and elaborate African masks and other artifacts some slaves might have known before their enslavement. It added a really cool dimension to an already show more fascinating book.

Based on the real life abolitionist and feminist Sarah Grimke, the novel runs from Sarah's childhood, when at 11 years old she was gifted with her own slave, Hetty (called Handful), to her adulthood when she spoke out publicly against this terrible institution and about the injustices done to all women. Chapters alternating between Sarah's story and Handful's story over their thirty five years together, tell the tale of their lives, the happy and the sad, the terrible and the great, and their relationship to each other. Sarah is the daughter of a conservative wealthy judge, southern aristocracy, but even from a very young age, she confronts entrenched traditions and the inhumanity of slavery. She is incredibly smart and yearns for an education but as a girl, she is not entitled to one, the very idea of her dreams to become a lawyer are laughed off. When she is given Handful as her own personal maid, she finds in the younger child an even more oppressed human being than she is. Her first big act of rebellion, and one that was definitely illegal, was teaching Handful how to read, a skill that would change the course of Handful's life. As both Sarah and Handful grow up, each of them struggles against their respective bonds searching for the freedom and equality they deserve and desire. If they cannot find it within the bounds of the laws of the day, they will find another way.

Sarah and Handful are both amazing and strong women who have much to overcome in their lives because of the time and place in which they lived. Both characters tell their own stories in first person and the chapters alternating between the two of them allows comparisons as well as highlights differences in their circumstances. Each woman lives a constrained life, faces hard or unimaginable sacrifices, and puts right and responsibility above her own welfare and comfort. The story of these two women is both domestic and an insight into the winds of change as abolitionism grew stronger and stronger in our nation's history. The earlier years of the novel felt faster as they built up to the end because the build to the final rebellion was slow and measured, increasing the narrative tension and bringing the reader to the edge of wondering how the book could possibly finish strong and appropriately in so few remaining pages. And yet Kidd has managed to accomplish just that. This is an engaging and insightful look at slavery, feminism, friendship, honor, and perseverance through the fictionalized eyes of a forgotten but important figure in the abolitionist movement and the slave woman who spent so many years with the Grimke family aching for the promised freedom of her own. show less

Compelling multi narrator story of two young girls who grow into womanhood: Sarah Grimke, daughter of Charleston wealthy white family & Handful (Hetty to her white owners), an enslaved black girl who was raised on the Grimke estate and "assigned" to Sarah when she turned 11. The author's seamless prose moves back and forth between these two girls/women's voices without one false note - to my delight realized halfway through this was THE Sarah Grimke, of women's rights/abolitionist fame. In spite of all the specific historical detail, author keeps the character development & the fastmoving plot at the core of the story - Kidd's Afterword revealed much about how through her research she was able to create such a "truthful" novel from the show more historical record left by Sarah Grimke. The perfect "prep" before I visit Charleston,S.C. in a couple weeks! show less

Based on the historical figures, Sarah and Angelina Grimke, this fictionalized version of pre-Civil War events got better and better. So often, just the opposite is true. The characters of Sarah and Hetty "Handful," a slave given to Sarah on her eleventh birthday, are well-developed and quite believable. The author's notes at the end clarified what was invented and what was historically accurate. I can't even begin to understand what it must have been like to be enslaved, but Kidd's depiction gave me a small inkling of why some slaves chose death if that was the only way to escape bondage.

While Sarah Grimke, and her sister, are worthy subjects of any biography, fictionalized or not, her story within The Invention of Wings is the weaker of the two stories within a story. Sarah is meek and restrained, suffering without truly understanding why she does so. She worries incessantly and makes mistakes the likes of which belie her strong intellect. It is not until she leaves the confines of Charleston society where she becomes more self-assured and prepossessing. This transformation improves her story greatly, and it is a joy to watch her evolve into the fierce abolitionist and suffragette she became. Unfortunately, this transformation does not occur until the latter third of the novel. Until that point, both Sarah and the show more reader are in a holding pattern, waiting for Sarah to gather the courage to break free and finally do something.

On the other hand, it is the fictional character whose story is the true star of the novel. Handful is the character to which readers will naturally gravitate and with whom they will sympathize the most. Handful is fiercely independent within the constraints of slavery, well-spoken, wise beyond her years, and utterly loyal. She refuses to let slavery become the thing that defines her and develops skills and a sense of courage that could quite easily have gotten her sold or killed. Yet, she never relents, never gives up, and never stops believing in a future of freedom. Even better, Ms. Kidd seamlessly weaves Handful’s fictional narrative into the true details of Sarah’s life, so much so that it becomes difficult to forget that Handful did not actually exist.

The dichotomy of the two stories can be quite jarring as the narrative switches between each girl. One gets involved in Handful’s story and then is rather abruptly thrust into Sarah’s less-threatened life story. While there is no doubt that women had little rights in the 1820s/30s, they still had more rights than slaves, and therein lies the main discrepancy within The Invention of Wings. Sarah’s life is tragic in its own way and amazing for how famous and outspoken she becomes, igniting the cause of women’s rights and adding sparks to the abolitionist movement. For all that she does though, she was never a slave, and her story just cannot compete with that of Handful’s.

One thing Ms. Kidd does extremely well is capture the essence of Charleston. While much has changed since Sarah Grimke lived there, there is much about Charleston that has not. Modern-day visitors will recognize the ongoing pride of its citizens and the rigid class structure that plagues Sarah and confines her actions for most of her life. Similarly, Ms. Kidd’s descriptions of various local points of interest or key buildings are clear and concise and easily followed using any modern-day map. The accessibility she brings to this stately city bridges the gap between past and present, and makes it easy for modern readers to get into the spirit of the novel.

While Jenna Lamia is a talented narrator and always a pleasure to experience, there is too much similarity between her performance in this novel and her performance in The Help. It became difficult to segregate the two performances, especially as both characters tend to be outspoken, hold unusual opinions for their background, and actively promote equal rights. Both performances are solid and delightful, but if one is not paying close enough attention, it is easy to forget which book one is hearing. Ms. Aduye’s performance, however, makes up for any confusion caused by Ms. Lamia’s performance. Her scenes have a vibrancy and poignancy to them that bring Handful and her mama to life. She slips through the slave patois, Gullah, the slaveholders’ vernacular, and the various other dialects throughout the story with ease and grace. While it is difficult to forget that Ms. Lamia is just narrating a story, it is incredibly easy to forget that Ms. Aduye is not Handful but rather is just acting out a part. The rage, impotence, excitement, confusion, hope, and other emotions Handful experiences in her lifetime are tangible byproducts of listening to Ms. Aduye’s performance. For that alone, The Invention of Wings is an auditory experience worth having.

The Invention of Wings is a slightly uneven telling of Sarah Grimke’s struggles to rid herself of her slaveholding past and step out of those imaginary shackles into the leader she eventually becomes. Fascinating enough for everything she had to give up to get there, her story still does not compare to that of Handful, the other half of this two-narrator story. Handful’s upbringing as a daughter, sister, seamstress, and slave is mesmerizing in its thoroughness. Without truly knowing what it must have felt like to experience, Ms. Monk Kidd makes it simple for readers to imagine the ongoing fear, pain, and discontent that must arise from being considered someone’s property. Sarah’s story is interesting from a biographical perspective, but it is Handful’s story that tears out a reader’s heart and revives the shame all people should feel at having kept someone as vibrant as Handful as nothing more than chattel. show less

Set in the 1800s, Sarah is the daughter of a Charleston judge who receives a slave girl for her 11th birthday. The gift horrifies her, but is the beginning of a relationship that will change her forever. The plot follows the relationship between Sarah and her handmaid Hetty (Handful) over the course of their lives. Their intertwined lives change the way that both of them see the other race. They are both fighting against their very different forms of imprisonment they face and find solace in their bond.

The audiobook version, which I listened to, includes a note from the author at the end. She explains where the inspiration for the book came from and tells the readers exactly which parts are fact and which are fiction. I absolutely show more loved that section. I had no idea until the book was over that Sarah Grimke and her sister Angelina were real people and groundbreaking forces for both the abolitionist and feminist movements. Knowing that gave the entire book a different weight for me.

I was also reminded of the timeless struggle we all face to align the person we want to be with the person our family expects us to be. It's amazing that it can be so much more difficult to stand up to our families than it is to take a stance in front of strangers. There something about the way we are treated when we’re young that makes us revert to a specific mentality whenever we’re around our siblings and parents. We become the bossy one, the baby of the family, etc. whatever role we were pigeonholed into when we’re young and we can't seem to shake them when we're back home.

The book deals with some heartbreaking looks at slavery and the casual way it was accepted in the South. One of the best examples in the book of the difference between the way the slave see themselves and the way their white owner see them is their names. Each slave has a name that's given to him by his owner when he's born, but they also are given a name by their mother and that's their true name. Hetty was truly “Handful” throughout her life to everyone other than the “masters.” Throughout a slaves life they live with that dichotomy, who they really are and then who they are as a slave.

BOTTOM LINE: Well written and interesting, I just wish I’d known it was based on a real pair of sisters from the beginning. To me, that’s the most incredible part of the story. I loved learning about the Grimke sisters. I can’t imagine being born into a slave-owning family and then becoming a leader in the fight against slavery. It’s just incredible. show less

The Invention of Wings - S. Monk Kidd
audio version performed by Jenna Lamia and Adepero Oduye
4 stars

Before I read this book, I already knew a little bit about the Grimke sisters and the conjunction of the abolitionist and early suffragist movements, but historical facts don’t have the emotional impact of good historical fiction. This book is excellent historical fiction. Sarah Grimke becomes more than a righteous do-gooder. She is a woman who fights to escape the cage of gender and class while battling her personal demons. The fictional slave, Handful, is a perfect counterweight to Sarah’s perspective. I was so glad that Kidd gave this intelligent slave an active role in the struggle for her own freedom. From the beginning, show more Handful is only a slave in a physical sense. She is always free in spirit.

One of the best things I get from reading historical fiction is the desire to learn more. The author’s notes for this novel were as interesting as the book. I’m very interested now. I want to know more about quilts made by slave seamstresses. I’d like to know more about slave rebellions and the influence of different 19th century religious factions. There are a lot of good topics for discussion in this book. I keep thinking about it. That’s what good historical fiction does. show less