The book for October is
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. Here is a little snippet of what it is about:
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.
As the stories build to a
riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage
and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes,
betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to
find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one
of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.
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.
Borrow a copy from the library, or a friend, and happy reading.
