The Invention of Wings - A Wonderful Book!

Look at those blue skies . . . and piles of snow!  Temperatures are in the 50's.  If it wasn't for all the snow, I'd think it was spring.  Not here yet, though.  Still snuggled up reading under a quilt.

I just finished the remarkable new book by Sue Monk Kidd, The Invention of Wings.

If you are a fan of The Secret Life of Bees, you will love her new novel set in Charleston, South Carolina in the early 1800's before the Civil War.  Quilters will be pleased to know that there is a quilt theme, but I won't give away much more about this novel.  I seldom read a book jackets or reviews before reading a book because I want to be surprised.  This one did just that.  So read it and be surprised for yourself.

Okay, I will mention one thing.  The book is written using two points of view; one is the view point of a slave girl, and the other a wealthy slave-owners daughter.  It's awesome!

I could further identify with the setting since I had just visited Charleston, SC last September and walked by some of the stately homes close to the waterfront.  I could picture them and smell the sea air as I read The Invention of Wings.

This book offers a greater appreciation of history in the South during slavery before the Civil War.  Make sure you read the author's note after you finish the the book.  Sue Monk Kidd tells which factions of the book are based on research and which parts are her invention.  In her author's note, Kidd writes how she was inspired  by this quote from Professor Julius Lester:

"History is not just facts and events.  History is also a pain in the heart and we repeat history until we are able to make another's pain in the heart our own."