The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

This book takes a strong heart to get through. Set in the early-to-mid-1800’s, The Invention of Wings tells the tale of Sarah Grimke (a real abolitionist) and her slave, Handful (a real slave with a fictitious storyline). Grab a copy with the author’s notes, because it’s worth reading!

Anyway, as I had mentioned, it is a tough read, but it is such an important lesson in history – when slavery was an acceptable practice, as was women not being allowed to speak freely. To loosely quote Handful, “My mind is free but my body isn’t, your body is free but your mind isn’t.” It is hard to believe where the world’s mindset was at 200 years ago, but you have to cheer for Sarah and her sister as they fought for the rights of the slaves.

I think it’s remarkable that Kidd, a white woman from the south, hit the nail on the head with this book, which wonderfully weaves fact and fiction together; I could feel Handful’s pain and Sarah’s desires equally and never felt that Kidd was biased towards one character over another.

As a Canadian, we don’t extensively learn about the history of slavery in the United States, so I was amazed when I discovered that Sarah Grimke and her crusades were real. The world was, and sadly still is, full of awful people who don’t see their fellow human as equals. The world still needs more people like Ms. Grimke.

My rating: ★★★★★/5 stars