Book review - The Invention of Wings

**This review may contain spoliers**

This book had been on my radar for a long time, following the novel making the Oprah 2.0 Book Club list. I don't tend to read along with book clubs like this, but I certainly pay attention to the titles that make the lists and add them to my excessive TBR pile on Goodreads, which is a site that if you aren't aware of - please, please go right now and make an account. (You can thank me later.) I was aware of Sue Monk Kidd, having read her Secret Life of Bees a few years ago. I really enjoyed SLOB, so knowing the author, the premise of the novel and the fact that Oprah said it was good, I was expecting really good things.

Besties

And, my oh my, was I delighted I picked this up.

The Invention of Wings follows the paths of two main characters - Sarah Grimké, a girl born into a wealthy family in Charleston, South Carolina; and her slave, Handful. Sarah (along with her sister Nina) were powerful figures in the early abolitionist movements, and did a lot for the rights of women in America. I learned after reading that Handful was also a real character, gifted to Sarah at a young age. She died soon after, though. Sue Monk Kidd gave an interview where she described Handful as "but a footnote in history" and this novel was a telling of what might have been. We meet the girls at quite a young age as the novel opens, when Handful is gifted to Sarah. Sarah knows from a very early age that she does not want to be part of a society than can tolerate, much less exploit, slavery and persecution. The novel then follows both Sarah and Handful through their lives, as they are parted and ultimately find one another again.

The character of Sarah's mother ('Missus' as she's known to the slaves) is a powerful figure in the novel. She is the overseer of the prisons in which both Handful and Sarah find themselves. She is the master of Handful, and Handful's mother, Charlotte, whom she treats deplorably. Sarah, as would be typical of girls from well-heeled families of the time, was expected to be seen and not heard. Opinions, hopes, dreams and aspirations were all discouraged in favour of obedience, religion, looks and behaviour. Sarah knows that there is more to her character and should be more to her life than that which is offered to her in Charleston society. Sarah's desire was to follow her father's footsteps in the field of law, however she is reminded that women don't have those kinds of choices.

"Your father believes you are an anomalous girl with your craving for books and your aspirations, but he's wrong. Every girl comes into the world with varying degrees of ambition, even if it's only the hope of not belonging body and soul to her husband. I was a girl once, believe it or not. The truth is that every girl must have ambition knocked out of her for her own good."

This was one of the most desperate sentences I have ever read. There is a constant comparison throughout the novel of the struggle for women and the struggle for freedom for slaves. Handful describes Sarah's prison as of her mind, and her own prison as of her body. Both are in prison, though. Handful's treatment, and that of the other slaves in the household, was upsetting and unrelenting. The story of slavery as a wider narrative will never be anything other than shameful and upsetting, and this novel was no different. Charlotte and Handful are, like all slave women, unable to read and are uneducated (though Sarah tries to give Handful a taste of freedom by teaching her to read, for which she is severely punished). Charlotte's rebellious character allows her to tell stories she would otherwise not be able to, as she tells her stories through her quilts. Her rebellion served to shame Mary (Sarah's sister) when she comes back to the house later in the novel, shame her with the facts of her story and shame her that this is how it is communicated. 

The novel is a glorious passage of time, and does an exceptionally good job of switching between narratives flawlessly and convincingly. We see a slow progress and development of the abolitionist movement, as passing from Charlotte to Handful, generation to generation, when little freedoms and victories are won to ultimately lead us where we are today.

Absolutely recommended. 

Overall score - 5/5