Last night The Typical Book Group discussed The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. There were 8 of us there, and all of us really liked the book. We talked a lot about how it compared with other slavery stories, like "Twelve Years a Slave" and Charleston by Alexandra Ripley. A couple people mentioned how the character of Charlotte reminded them of Oprah Winfrey's character in "The Color Purple". All of us were surprised that Sarah and Nina Grimke were real people. This is a book where it might make sense to read the Afterward first, so that you can know who the characters are when they appear.
It was hard for us to criticize the choices that the characters made, knowing that the story was based on fact. For instance, we didn't understand why Sarah gave Handful back to Sarah's mother, but apparently, she did. We also wondered if there was any significance to the number 1884, such as it being a year of historical significance for blacks, but we decided it must just have been the lottery number that Denmark Vesey actually chose.
Next month we'll discuss Cukoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling).
Still Reading: American Woman by Susan Choi
Still Listening to: The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
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