Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household.

Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world-and it is now the newest Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 selection.

Neo-Victorian Voices: The Invention of Wings, Sue.

Writers’ Questions: Adult, YA, Middle Grade and Mo.

March/April 2021 Articles about Bronte’s Mistress.Which novel would you like to see me review next as part of my Neo-Victorian Voices series? Let me know-here, on Instagram, on Facebook, or by tweeting Have you read my novel, Bronte’s Mistress, yet? It’s available in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook now, and the paperback will be published next month! For monthly updates on my writing and blog, sign up for my email newsletter below. Overall, as with other novels about American slavery I’ve read, like Valerie Martin’s wonderful Property (2003) and Dolen Perkins-Valdez's heartbreaking Wench (2010), The Invention of Wings at times makes for painful reading, but I think fiction like this still plays a powerful role in bringing a human voice to the facts we read about in history books. As a writer of historical fiction, I particularly enjoyed her author’s note detailing the decisions she made and the true stories that inspired her creation of Handful. Kidd’s prose is beautiful and her research shines in all the best ways as she tackles a terrible period of American history. While I know there were those born into white, slave owning families, who abhorred the “institution”, it was harder to believe that Sarah wouldn’t have internalised any of the racism around her. I also wondered about her struggles with her cultural inheritance. I would have liked to see more of her coming into her own. For me, her eventual triumph, as she and her sister tour the North lecturing in support of abolition, was a little rushed. But she spends much of the novel knocked back and unsure how to act. Sarah, as a child, is a driven character too, longing to become a lawyer and certain in her opinions. She’s more decisive than Sarah and I found myself looking forward to returning to her point of view. Handful, despite her captivity and the horrific experiences she goes through, is active in her own story. Charlotte, a skilled seamstress, creates story quilts telling the history of her life and those of her African ancestors and repeats fables to Handful passed down by her own mother-among them the idea that they once had wings. Handful is a compelling character and her relationship with her mother, Charlotte, was my favourite part of the novel.

The invention of wings review