Book Review of Sue Monk Kidd's The Invention of Wings

Sue Monk Kidd’s powerful historical novel, The Invention of Wings, is likely the best book I've read this year! It weaves a beautiful, triumphant tale of two women, one based on historical abolitionist and feminist Sarah Grimke, and the other on Sarah's maid, Hetty ("Handful"), given to her as a "present" on her eleventh birthday by her Charleston slave-owning mother. Told in first person in lyrical prose and alternating between the two women's points of view, Kidd's novel paints a stunning portrait of strong, intelligent women in the early nineteenth century, and their courage to defy the common philosophies and practices of their day to effect change.

Sarah, along with her sister, Nina, is far ahead of her time. Even as a girl, she longs to be a lawyer; loves to read her father's books, though is denied both of these wishes; rejects slavery; and turns down a marriage proposal so she can pursue a career as a Quaker minister - a rare opportunity for a woman in the nineteenth century. Sarah and Nina pen anti-slavery pamphlets, much to the distress of members of the anti-slavery Quaker church, who eject them. Ultimately, Sarah overcomes a speech impediment to join a lecture tour with Nina, proselytizing against slavery. Soon she realizes that in the face of criticism at her "audacity," as a woman, to speak, she must combat sexism, too.

Sarah's handmaiden, Handful, has a much different and brutal trajectory in life as a slave. Sarah attempts to free her numerous times but is prevented by her slave-owning Southern family. Handful's close relationship with her mother gives her hope for freedom, and she learns to read from Sarah, a skill that aids her in numerous, untold ways. She joins a group of slaves and free Blacks plotting to revolt against the Whites in Charleston, but the plot is foiled at the last minute.

At the novel's conclusion, Sarah and Handful unite in Charleston, the city from which Sarah has been exiled because of her "radical" beliefs, in an ingenious plot to free Handful and Handful's surviving sister.

A moving, sweeping masterpiece that explores themes of independent thought, courage, and freedom and is based on important, but little-known women. I give it five plus stars!