The Invention of Wings

A Novel

By: Sue Monk Kidd

Narrated by: Jenna Lamia, Adepero Oduye, Sue Monk Kidd

Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees, a magnificent novel about two unforgettable American women.

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.

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. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.

Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid. We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love.

As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.

Inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all of her characters, both real and invented, including Handful’s cunning mother, Charlotte, who courts danger in her search for something better.

This exquisitely written novel is a triumph of storytelling that looks with unswerving eyes at a devastating wound in American history, through women whose struggles for liberation, empowerment, and expression will leave no reader unmoved.

©2014 Sue Monk Kidd (P)2014 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“A remarkable novel that heightened my sense of what it meant to be a woman - slave or free... a conversation changer.” (Oprah Winfrey, O, The Oprah Magazine)

“Exhilarating...powerful...By humanizing these formidable women, The Invention of Wings furthers our essential understanding of what has happened among us as Americans - and why it still matters.” (The Washington Post)

“A textured masterpiece, quietly yet powerfully poking our consciences and our consciousness... leaves us feeling uplifted and hopeful.” (NPR)

Nice combo of history and fiction

Loved how this is based upon real strong women and told from both a slave and white girl's points of view. The actresses who read this really brought the story alive. Now I want to go visit Charleston.

Great Book!

Where does The Invention of Wings rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This audio book rates way up there.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Invention of Wings?

Learning about the Grimke sisters was fascinating and wonderfully told. Tying both the abolotion movement with the woman's movement back in the 1820's was terrific.

What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The narrator had a great, clear voice.

If you could rename The Invention of Wings, what would you call it?

The Grimke sisters.

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend this book.

Beautifully stitched together like the story quilt

This Sue Monk Kidd novel did not have the impact of her novel The Secret Lives of Bees for me, but it's a good read (or listen - I listened to the audio narrated by Jenna Lamia and Adepero Oduye, who deliver a beautiful performance). This novel explores slavery and women's rights from two different perspectives - the daughter of a slave owning family who, herself, abhors slavery and has ambitions considered impossible for women, and a female slave gifted to her on her 11th birthday. The separate narratives are stitched together as wonderfully as the story quilt that is an element of the novel.

Fabulous

What a beautifully written and performed story of the women in history who tried to move forward both the end of slavery and women’s rights.

Excellent!

Well written, great voices and a perfect book for those who love historical fiction. I would recommend this to anyone.

Vividly drawn characters

I highly recommend this novel about abolitionist and feminist Sarah Grimke and her slave, Hetty/Handful, who alternate as narrators. On her 11th birthday, Sarah Grimke, a daughter in an upper class Charleston family, receives an 11-year-old slave as her present. She is horrified, and tries the free the little girl, but is frustrated by her parents. The book tells the story of Sarah's struggles to free herself from the conventions of Charleston society and Handful's struggles to free herself from slavery. The characters, who include many historical figures (Denmark Vesey, William Lloyd Garrison, Lucretia Mott, etc), are vividly drawn. The horrors of slavery are fully detailed -- the workhouse, the lash, and the prohibition against literacy -- and the difficulties faced by Handful, her mother Charlotte, and her sister Sky, as well as how they evade them, are realistically told. The repression faced by Sarah and her sister Angelina are also described realistically. At the end of the novel, Sue Monk Kidd provides an interesting commentary that distinguishes the parts of the story based on historical fact and those woven from her own imagination.

AWESOME

This is one of the best books I've encountered. The third novel I've read by this author and she comes through again. Compelling characters, a story I didn't want to end. I would recommend this book for everyone, but especially young women who would benefit from the story of the Grime sisters. POWERFUL

A wonderful novel

Very good historical story. Sue did a wonderful job of making the sisters story come to life. Well done recording also.

A Great Book!

This is a beautifully written book and the narration is perfect. It is about historically true events and people, and provides insight in to the US abolition movement. Highly recommended.

Great way to learn about history

a very good Story!
Characters leapt from the pages into my heart, as if they had wings!