The Invention of Wings doesn't have a ton of graphic depictions of horrors inflicted on salves but there are some and when they are written about they aren't sugar coated. The focus of this story is more on the relationship between two women, Sarah, the white daughter of a slave owning family who is gifted n her 11th birthday with the other woman we follow throughout the story, Handful/Hetty, a child herself when she is given to Sarah.
Sarah is an abolitionist at heart but as a woman, and one with a speech impediment, she has a very hard time speaking about her views. She makes Handful's mother a promise that she will somehow free her and she tries hard to keep this promise.
The relationship between Handful and Sarah, forced upon them as children, grows into something, what that is isn't easy to define, for them so for us, the readers. I would say it is love, but it takes time to realize it, for them and for us.
The writing is beautiful even when it hurts. Sarah and Handful are two of the strongest and bravest women I have read about and I was glad to meet them. Sometimes bravery and love is quiet and subtle, but that doesn't make it any less real or important.
(Finished July 18, 2018)
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