The Invention of Wings
Type
Book
Authors
ISBN 10
0670024783
ISBN 13
9780670024780
Category
813 Fiction
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Publication Year
2014
Publisher
Pages
384
Subject
Grimké, Sarah Moore, -- 1792-1873 -- Fiction. Antislavery movements -- Fiction. Feminists -- South Carolina -- Fiction.
Tags
Abstract
"The story follows Hetty "Handful" Grimke, a Charleston slave, and Sarah, the daughter of the wealthy Grimke family. The novel begins on Sarah's eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership over Handful, who is to be her handmaid. "The Invention of Wings" follows the next thirty-five years of their lives. Inspired in part by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke (a feminist, suffragist and, importantly, an abolitionist), Kidd allows herself to go beyond the record to flesh out the inner lives of all the characters, both real and imagined"--
Description
Synopsis
The #1 New York Times bestseller of hope, daring, and the quest for freedom taken on by two unforgettable American women, from the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees.
"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
"Powerful...furthers our essential understanding of what has happened among us as Americans - and why it still matters." -The Washington Post
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.
About the Author
Sue Monk Kidd is the author of three novels, The Secret Life of Bees, The Mermaid Chair, and, most recently, The Invention of Wings, which will be published by Viking in January 2014. The Secret Life of Bees spent more than two and a half years on the New York Times bestseller list, was adapted into an award-winning movie, and has been translated into thirty-six languages. The Mermaid Chair, a #1 New York Times bestseller, was adapted into a television movie. She is also the author of the memoirs The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, When the Heart Waits, and, with her daughter Ann Kidd Taylor, the New York Times bestseller Traveling with Pomegranates. Her early writings on spirituality are collected in the book Firstlight. The recipient of numerous literary awards, Sue lives in southwest Florida with her husband, Sandy, and their black Lab, Lily.
The #1 New York Times bestseller of hope, daring, and the quest for freedom taken on by two unforgettable American women, from the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees.
"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
"Powerful...furthers our essential understanding of what has happened among us as Americans - and why it still matters." -The Washington Post
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.
About the Author
Sue Monk Kidd is the author of three novels, The Secret Life of Bees, The Mermaid Chair, and, most recently, The Invention of Wings, which will be published by Viking in January 2014. The Secret Life of Bees spent more than two and a half years on the New York Times bestseller list, was adapted into an award-winning movie, and has been translated into thirty-six languages. The Mermaid Chair, a #1 New York Times bestseller, was adapted into a television movie. She is also the author of the memoirs The Dance of the Dissident Daughter, When the Heart Waits, and, with her daughter Ann Kidd Taylor, the New York Times bestseller Traveling with Pomegranates. Her early writings on spirituality are collected in the book Firstlight. The recipient of numerous literary awards, Sue lives in southwest Florida with her husband, Sandy, and their black Lab, Lily.
Biblio Notes
Genre/Form: Biographical fiction
Historical fiction
Fiction
Named Person: Sarah Moore Grimké; Sarah Moore Grimké; Sarah Moore Grimké
Material Type: Biography, Fiction
Document Type: Book
All Authors / Contributors: Sue Monk Kidd
ISBN: 9780670024780 0670024783 9780525426806 0525426809
OCLC Number: 849719161
Awards: Oprah Book Club Section
Description: 373 pages ; 25 cm
Series Title: Oprah's book club
Responsibility: Sue Monk Kidd.
Historical fiction
Fiction
Named Person: Sarah Moore Grimké; Sarah Moore Grimké; Sarah Moore Grimké
Material Type: Biography, Fiction
Document Type: Book
All Authors / Contributors: Sue Monk Kidd
ISBN: 9780670024780 0670024783 9780525426806 0525426809
OCLC Number: 849719161
Awards: Oprah Book Club Section
Description: 373 pages ; 25 cm
Series Title: Oprah's book club
Responsibility: Sue Monk Kidd.
Number of Copies
1
