October Meeting, "The Invention of Wings" by Sue Monk Kidd

On a lovely fall afternoon in Houston, we met for dinner at Doyle's, a quaint old diner that's a popular spot with the locals. It wasn't exactly Southern food, but the menu was big enough that there was something for everyone. The meeting took place at Beryl's glamorous new home, an old ranch style that she's updated with excellent taste. After a grand tour, we got down to discussing the book, which everyone agreed was a good read, if a bit grim because of the subject matter.

It is, after all, another book about slavery, of which we've read quite a few over the years. But this one turned out to be a little different in its presentation of that era of American history. The author created a fictionalized account about real-life sisters, Sarah and Angelina Grimké, born into a wealthy family in Charleston, South Carolina, in the early 1800s. The story begins when 11-year-old Sarah is given a slave as a birthday present. Introverted and shy, suffering from a stutter than often leaves her speechless, Sarah finds the courage to tell her mother she doesn't want her own slave and tries to have  Hetty (nicknamed Handful) emancipated. Obviously, that doesn't go over very well in a family steeped in the Southern tradition of owning slaves.

The Grimké Sisters:
Angelina (l) and Sarah (r)

The narrative weaves back and forth between Sarah and Hetty in alternating chapters to give us a deeper glimpse into the lives and thoughts of these two girls. Both struggle for freedom from their figurative and literal chains. At a time in history when women had almost as few rights as the slaves their families owned, Sarah wants to be a lawyer but that dream is quickly squashed. After spending time up north with her father as his health declines, she discovers the Quaker abolitionists and adopts their lifestyle and beliefs. Sarah and her younger sister, Angelina, eventually become famous as the first female abolition agents and the earliest major feminist thinkers, advocating for equality for slaves and women's rights.

Sample of an African story quilt

Hetty's obvious goal in life is freedom from her masters, who are harsh and unforgiving in their treatment and punishment of their slaves. She and Sarah form a tentative bond because of the severe restrictions placed on them by society, although Hetty's are without question more difficult to bear. Kidd does a good job of revealing Hetty's acute awareness of and insight into the differences in their circumstances. She appreciates the fact that Sarah tried to have her released from slavery and acknowledges the value of Sarah's fight as an abolitionist, but she is astute enough to know that they live in two very different worlds. Ultimately, it is through Hetty's voice that the slaves' fight for survival is brought to life by their by their folk tales, story quilts, good luck talismans, and coping mechanisms against the horrors of inhumane treatment.

Section from The Dinner Party

The way that Sarah and Hetty adjust to their lives is what make this a memorable story. The fact that it's based on the real Grimké sisters makes the book compelling. In the author's notes, Kidd says that she was inspired to write their story after she saw Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party at the Brooklyn Museum. It sits on a tile floor inscribed with the names of 999 women who have made important contributions to history, including Sarah and Angelina Grimké.  Moved by the fact that the sisters were relatively unknown despite their significant place in history, she used details from diaries, letters, speeches, newspaper accounts, and Sarah's own writing to create "a thickly imagined story inspired by her life." Diverging from the historical facts about the sisters and other real-life figures included in the book, Hetty's life is mostly fiction. Sarah was given a young slave as her waiting maid and she did teach her to read, but the real Hetty died young. Ultimately, even though this is one of many books about slavery, it leaves a different mark because of the heroic role that Sarah and Angelina played in changing the course of history.

If only all of humankind lived by this creed.