The No. 1 New York Times bestseller. A powerful and extraordinary novel about two exceptional women during a time of brutal slavery in the Deep South, by the celebrated author of the multi-million-copy-bestselling novel The Secret Life of Bees.

'Fascinating... A splendid tribute to a pair of true heroines' The Times

'Wonderful - well-written, moving and engaging by turns, and always compelling' Daily Mail

'A remarkable novel that heightened my sense of what it meant to be a woman - slave or free' Oprah Winfrey

'A resonant, illuminating novel' Observer

Sarah Grimke is the middle daughter. The one her mother calls difficult and her father calls remarkable. On Sarah's eleventh birthday, Hetty 'Handful' Grimke is taken from the slave quarters she shares with her mother, wrapped in lavender ribbons, and presented to Sarah as a gift. Sarah knows what she does next will unleash a world of trouble. She also knows that she cannot accept. And so, indeed, the trouble begins ...

A powerful, sweeping novel, inspired by real events, and set in the American Deep South in the nineteenth century, The Invention of Wings evokes a world of shocking contrasts, of beauty and ugliness, of righteous people living daily with cruelty they fail to recognise; and celebrates the power of friendship and sisterhood against all the odds.

What readers are saying about The Invention of Wings:

'You cannot fault Sue Monk Kidd's writing; she very adeptly speaks with both Sarah and Handful's voice. The pictures she paints are vivid, compelling and haunting; this is not a novel I will easily forget' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

'I was not expecting this book to grab my heartstrings and pull the way that it did' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars

'The weaving of fact and fiction into a powerful novel covering abolition of slavery, women's ambitions in 19th century America, love, family, betrayal and hope for a better future make