Midwest Mary

Most books we read are entertaining enough while we are involved in them, but once we turn the last page, we are done. Months later, we remember little.

Then, there are those books that leave their mark. We are fully engaged while reading and think about them long after. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd is that kind of book.

The Invention of Wings is a well-written book based on the diaries of Sarah Grimke, an American abolitionist and also recognized as the mother of the women’s suffrage movement.

Sarah was born in 1792 in South Carolina. On her 11^th birthday, she was given a slave girl as a gift. Even at that young age, Sarah abhorred slavery and tried to free her “gift,” Handful, but was not allowed to do so. The book parallels Sara and Handful and the lives they led simply because of the color of their skin.

The injustices that Handful and the other slaves on Sara’s family plantation endured are difficult to read. We’d rather not delve into the cruelty that was subjected to our black brothers and sisters. However, it is an important and painful part of our American history that continues to reverberate.

Sarah was never comfortable with the treatment of slaves or their ownership. She moved north and became a Quaker because Quakers were against slavery. She intended to join this community and, along with them, fight to end slave ownership.

Sarah soon learned that although Quakers believed slavery was wrong, they were passive. They wouldn’t do anything to change the laws. Nor did her church, or the country at large, appreciate women making noise about injustices.

After years of efforts to change the status quo, Sarah was asked to leave the church and forbidden from returning to South Carolina. They did not want any part of her continued efforts to rally for black freedom and women’s rights.

The Invention of Wings is an emotional journey of courage, sacrifice, perseverance, and hope for the possibilities of what can be. We so often feel that our voice is unheard, and we are incapable of making a difference. Sara’s story shows us otherwise. Every voice and every act has the potential to change society’s course. And nothing changes if we do not try.

This book is well worth the read time. I think you will find that, like me, it is a difficult book to put down and will leave an impression long after you devour the last paragraph.

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Thank you, Ellen Grace for your recent review on Tranquility. Transformation. Transcendence I appreciate you!

©2024, Mary K. Doyle