Julie's Review: The Invention of Wings

Summary: 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 Grimkes 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. Kidds sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarahs 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 others 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 Handfuls 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. ~powells.com

Review: The Secret Life of Bees is on my top list of books of all time. Yes, it's that good. The movie is wonderful as well. For those of you wanting another Bees, The Invention of Wings is not. Now, don't go running away from it; it's brilliant. It is well-researched, well-written and a fantastic story. The women in this book are strong, even when they don't think they are being so. As in most historical fiction novel, these women are ahead of their time.

The thing is, Sarah Grimke is a true historical figure. It's not the events around this book that are fascinating it is her. It is her and Handful's story. It is a period in history that none of us like to read about because slavery makes all of us uncomfortable. What I was expecting was a story of forbidden friendship between a young girl and her handmaid, but it is and it isn't. They don't have the bond I would have thought would have developed but there is a deep caring and understanding between the two.

Sarah is on her own path that will eventually take her north to Philadelphia where she will want to claim her independence from her family and all that comes with the name. She is desperately trying to find her voice and her path in life. She sacrifices love as well as her family to pursue the thing she believes deep in her heart; slavery is morally wrong. She and her sister, Angelina, make it their lives work to end it.

Handful is smart and eager to forge her own path as well. The problem is, the path she has chosen just might get her killed. Her bond with her mother is touching and strong. They are built from the same cloth; strong and foolish. You want Handful to succeed but you also know her strong-willed temperament will do her more harm than good.

What I loved about The Invention of Wings, among many things, was the story quilt that Charlotte put together for Handful. It was a beautiful way to tell her story since she was illiterate. You could vividly picture it as you read about it. It was what kept Charlotte close to Handful for many years.

If you are looking for a fantastic way to start off 2014, then look no further than Ms. Kidd's newest novel. The Invention of Wings will leave you wondering if you could truly follow your own convictions.

The Invention of Wings will be released on 1/7/2014.



Final Take: 5/5Thank you to Viking books for my e-galley through Net Galley


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Lisa's Review: The Secret Life of Bees

Summary:

Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her harsh, unyielding father, Lily Owens has shaped her entire life around one devastating, blurred memory--the afternoon her mother was killed, when Lily was four. Since then, her only real companion has been the fierce-hearted, and sometimes just fierce, black woman Rosaleen, who acts as her "stand-in mother."

When Rosaleen insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily knows it's time to spring them both free. They take off in the only direction Lily can think of, toward a town called Tiburon, South Carolina--a name she found on the back of a picture amid the few possessions left by her mother.

There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters named May, June, and August. Lily thinks of them as the calendar sisters and enters their mesmerizing secret world of bees and honey, and of the Black Madonna who presides over this household of strong, wise women. Maternal loss and betrayal, guilt and forgiveness entwine in a story that leads Lily to the single thing her heart longs for most.

The Secret Life of Bees has a rare wisdom about life--about mothers and daughters and the women in our lives who become our true mothers. A remarkable story about the divine power of women and the transforming power of love, this is a stunning debut whose rich, assured, irresistible voice gathers us up and doesn't let go, not for a moment. It is the kind of novel that women share with each other and that mothers will hand down to their daughters for years to come. www.suemonkkidd.com

Review:
I'd never heard of The Secret Life of Bees. Maybe I had, and it never registered. When I'd learned of of the movie and realized it was based on a novel, I knew I had to get to reading.

Unfortunately I found myself detained by Edgar Sawtelle. Anyway, I was careful not to read Julie's review of the movie, because I wanted to savor. And savor I did!

I really would just be repeating Julie, telling you just how wonderful this book is. To say it was well written, heartwarming and relevant would just be redundant. Getting caught up with getting to know the Boatwright Sisters, the colorful Daughters (and Son) of Mary, and learning about their livelihood was nothing short of a pleasure. I was unfortunate enough to find myself, on a crowded train, nearing the end of the book, with nary a tissue in sight, no desire to stop reading and absolutely not caring.

I thought the ending was a bit saccharine and tied up really neatly, probably more than I normally would, and the cynic in me knew that this element would get played up in the movie. I saw this as the biggest detriment to my enjoyment of the book-knowing about the movie. I was not truly able to create my own versions of the characters myself, due to visions of Queen Latifah and Jennifer Hudson dancing in my head.

Inability to compartmentalize aside, I had a truly emotional reading experience and you will too.

And finally, I'm off to the theatre.

Final Take: 4.5/5

Book to Movie: The Secret Lives of Bees

Summary: In Sue Monk Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees, 14-year-old Lily Owen, neglected by her father and isolated on their South Carolina peach farm, spends hours imagining a blissful infancy when she was loved and nurtured by her mother, Deborah, whom she barely remembers. These consoling fantasies are her heart's answer to the family story that as a child, in unclear circumstances, Lily accidentally shot and killed her mother. All Lily has left of Deborah is a strange image of a Black Madonna, with the words "Tiburon, South Carolina" scrawled on the back. The search for a mother, and the need to mother oneself, are crucial elements in this well-written coming-of-age story set in the early 1960s against a background of racial violence and unrest. When Lily's beloved nanny, Rosaleen, manages to insult a group of angry white men on her way to register to vote and has to skip town, Lily takes the opportunity to go with her, fleeing to the only place she can think of--Tiburon, South Carolina--determined to find out more about her dead mother. Although the plot threads are too neatly trimmed, The Secret Life of Bees is a carefully crafted novel with an inspired depiction of character. The legend of the Black Madonna and the brave, kind, peculiar women who perpetuate Lily's story dominate the second half of the book, placing Kidd's debut novel squarely in the honored tradition of the Southern Gothic. ~amazon.com

Review: I can't believe that it's been 7 years since I've read this wonderful book. I'm so thrilled that they made it into a movie. My mom had actually recommended the book to me, so we went to see it together along with my sister. The movie was every bit as good as I remember the book being. The cast is just fantastic. While I may not have wanted Dakota Fanning in My Sister's Keeper, she was superb as Lily Owen. Queen Latifah was her usual charming self as Beekeeper August Boatright; Alicia Keys shines as June Boatwright; Sofie Okenedo is wonderful as kind, sensitive May Boatwright. I can't believe that was Paul Bettany as T. Ray Owens. I knew he looked familiar but I just couldn't place him since it was a different role for him. I can't forget the wonderful Jennifer Hudson who's character Rosaleen is the catalyst for the story.

The story is funny and very moving depending on the scene. It is definitely a coming of age story in a very turbulent and pertinent time in US history. The music throughout the movie is beautiful and fits perfectly. I wonder if Ms. Keys learned how to play the cello. I would think with her background she would be able to pick it up fairly quickly. The story of the Black Madonna moved me to tears and I loved how it was an integral part of who Lilly became.

It's a story about family and finding out who you are and where you belong. Something I think all of us can relate too.

Now I can't speak to how it translates from the novel to the movie because of how long it's been since I read it, but the movie is worth whatever the price in your area.

Book to Movie Final Take: 5/5