The Invention of Wings: A Novel (Original Publisher's Edition-No Annotations)From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees comes a novel about two unforgettable American women. 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. 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. |
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Common terms and phrases
abolitionist ain't Angelina Angelina Grimké arms asked Aunt-Sister basket Bettleman Binah breath button cane carriage Catherine Charleston Charlotte cloth dark Denmark Vesey door dress Elizur Wright eyes face Father feet felt fingers floor free black gazed Gerda Lerner girl Goodis granny-mauma Grimké Grimké sisters Guard Gullah Gullah Jack hair Handful Handful's Harriet Powers head heard Hetty inside Israel kitchen house knew leave letter little missus looked Lucretia Lucretia Mott Mary mauma Miss Sarah Mother neck never night Nina Nina's Phoebe pulled Quaker quilt frame round Sarah Grimké Sarah Mapps seemed sewed sister sitting slavery slaves smell smiled speak spirit tree stared stepped stood story Street talk tell thing Thomas thought told Tomfry took trunk turned voice waiting walked wanted watched week window woman women words would've yard