Sue Monk Kidd's novel,
The Invention of Wings, was a New York Times bestseller in hardcover last year. The paperback releases on May 5/15 - and I have a copy to giveaway to one lucky reader, courtesy of
Penguin Books.
From the publisher:
"From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees, a New York Times bestselling novel about two unforgettable American women.
Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world.
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.
This exquisitely written novel is a triumph of storytelling that looks with unswerving eyes at a devastating wound in American history, through women whose struggles for liberation, empowerment, and expression will leave no reader unmoved."
There's a
book club kit available, complete with an interview with Sue Monk Kidd, recipes for torte, cocktails and tea as well as some words of Wisdom from The Invention of Wings. Here's a sampling:
“My body might be a slave, but not my mind. For you, it’s the other way round.”
“I was meant to do something in the world, something larger than myself. …How can I explain
such a thing? I simply know it the way I know there’s an oak tree inside an acorn. I’ve been
filled with a hunger to grow this seed my whole life.”
Read an excerpt of The Invention of Wings. Or
listen to an excerpt. And watch for my forthcoming review! Scroll to the bottom to enter to win a copy for yourself!
"The Invention of Wings, Kidd’s third novel was published January 7, 2014 by Viking to wide critical acclaim. It debuted on the New York Times bestseller list at #1 and remained on the hardcover fiction list for over six months. It has been translated into 20 languages, thus far. The novel was chosen for Oprah’s Book Club 2.0. Plans are underway to turn the book into a film.
Kidd serves on the Writers Council for Poets and Writers, Inc. She lives in Southwest Florida with her husband, Sandy."
You can connect with
Sue Monk Kidd on Twitter as well as
on Facebook.
Enter to win a paperback copy of The Invention of Wings. Open to US mailing addresses only, no PO boxes please. Ends May 9/15. Enter using the Rafflecopter form below.
