THE INVENTION OF WINGS
by Sue Monk Kidd
Kidd’s retelling of the Grimke sisters and their fight for
equality for women and the abolition of slavery is told with sympathy and
fact. Although much of the story is
fiction, Kidd manages to remain true to the real life story of Sarah and
Angelina Grimke in the days and decades before the Civil War. A number of “big names” appear in the sisters’
ongoing struggle to be heard in a male dominated South and respected in a male
dominated North.
The tale loses momentum in the middle, possibly because the
sisters’ actual lives also stalled in their middle years. The
addition of the totally fictional characters of Charlotte and Hetty carry the
story well, giving the slave side of Southern life. The horrors of slavery are graphically
depicted.
I can recommend this book without reservation for anyone
interested in Southern life, abolition, women’s rights, and the life style and treatment
of women in antebellum Charleston, South Carolina. Also interesting is the role
of the church (in many permutations) in the condoning of slavery and the
treatment of women.
5 of 5 stars
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