“The Invention of Wings” by Sue Monk Kidd – The Never-ending Struggle for Freedom

Though slavery is certainly a part of American history many people would like to forget about, there is no denying that it was there, and pretending the contrary would only lead to the repetition of the same mistakes, no matter how far down the line.

The best we can do is explore that period in time and try to understand it as best we can… perhaps that is the reason for the influx of novels which discuss the lives of slaves in large households. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd is a book along those lines, though there are a few factors which lead me to rank it above most of its peers, but more on that below.

Just for the purposes of a brief summary, the story follows an urban slave in the early 19th century Charleston, named Hetty “Handful” Grimke. She has been part of the Grimke household as long as she can remember, and recently she was assigned as a handmaid to Sarah, to Grimke’s daughter who is turning eleven.

The next thirty years the two of them spend together, as they shape each other’s destinies and experience life in its fullest, from the most exquisite blisses to the most frightful nightmares.

Unlike most of the books of its kind, The Invention of Wings doesn’t simply follow the daily life of an urban slave in the household. Rather, a strong accent is placed on Handful’s relationship to Sarah, and how despite their differences in age, experience and stature, neither are excluded from the tremendous difficulties of life.

The evolution of their relationship truly is a heartwarming sight to behold, as they go from master-servant to life partners, even if the laws won’t truly allow it. Along the way we do get to learn a fair deal about how daily life was like for both the slaves and aristocrats of that period, and the details are certainly interesting to take in, though I would say that some of them are a bit superfluous.

Another aspect I truly adored in The Invention of Wings is that the author went above and beyond exploring slavery in a single and specific occurrence, rather touching on the subject of freedom as a whole.

A bit later on in the book, we are treated to various characters whose one and only goal is to fight for personal freedom and independence, making obvious the fact that many different kinds of people are choked by the stronger for various reasons.

I guess that’s a bit convoluted, but what I am trying to say is that it reminds us of a time not so long ago when even the most basic of our freedoms weren’t guaranteed, a time when fighting to live was the norm.

All in all, The Invention of Wings is certainly one of the better novels in its category, and if you are interested in the exploration of slavery and freedom towards its end, then I wholeheartedly recommend you check it out.

---

Sue Monk Kidd Personal site Sue Monk Kidd is a Southern United States writer whose first novel is probably her best-known one, titled The Secret Life of Bees, which itself was turned into a stage play. Her latest novel, The Invention of Wings, was one of the books selected for Oprah’s Book Club 2.0.