The Invention of Wings

My Mom raved about this book after listening to an audiobook version, so, of course, I had to see what all the hubbub was about. Okay, and the book showed up on a number of best-of-2014 book lists.

I often don't enjoy fictional stories based on historical characters (“Loving Frank,” for example, was a real drag), so I approached the book with some trepidation. Perhaps, Sue Monk Kidd's extensive research (don't miss the author's note at the end) helped to bring out the character's voices more than in other historical fiction I've read. To be honest, I did not know much about the Grimke sisters and would like to learn more given their ground-breaking abolition and women's rights activities.

In this novel, unlike another book I just read, switching narrators was an effective tool for seeing the story from a house slave in a well-to-do antebellum Charleston and a young woman who owns this same slave. I found the characters of Charlotte and Handful to be particularly well-drawn; these sections were in technicolor without being overdone. Also, Sarah Grimke's struggles between social propriety, expectations and hope for a loving husband and children, and social justice were also well-done.

While “The Invention of Wings” wasn't one of my favorite books of the year, it was enjoyable and I'm glad I listened to Mom.