The Invention of Wings

Now 25 years old, Handful mourns her mother on the sixth anniversary of her disappearance. Sarah has returned ownership of Handful to her mother, Missus, refusing to own another human being. Still mourning her mother, Handful refuses to believe that she’s dead or that she ran off and left Handful. Handful knows that Charlotte would never have left her there alone.

In the marketplace, Handful hears of a new African Methodist Episcopal church, with a member named Denmark Vesey, who is always talking about how Charleston is Egypt, and Moses is going to come and free the slaves. Hoping to question Denmark about what happened to her mother, she manipulates Sarah into getting a pass for her to go to this church three days a week. She begins attending the church, where the preaching consistently speaks of the many people God delivered from bondage. Denmark Vesey is a prominent speaker and leader at the church.

Nina, age 14, refuses to be confirmed in the Episcopal Church, and nothing can convince her to change her mind. Though Sarah has embraced religion, Nina shuns it. Their mother is angry and offended; she believes that Sarah’s terrible influence has led Nina to reject her parent’s wishes. Their father lies in bed, very ill.

Handful is arrested by the City Guard at church when all in attendance are taken to jail for disorderly conduct. If their masters do not pay a fine, the slaves are sent to the Work House. Missus refuses to pay Handful’s fine, and she is sent to the Work House. The worst punishment in the Work House is the treadmill, a contraption where the climbing feet of slaves grinds corn. Many people are maimed, whipped, or even killed in the Work House. Denmark Vesey stands side by side with Handful in the Work House. Though he could pay the fine, he remains with his fellow congregants out of principle.

Worn out on the treadmill, Handful slips, and her foot is ground by the treadmill’s wheel. She is permanently maimed and walks with a cane for the rest of her life. She returns to the Grimké’s a changed woman: angry, defiant, and determined to escape her life in slavery.

Missus sends Sarah to Philadelphia with her father, where he seeks a second opinion for his health condition. Nina and Sarah are separated for the first time in Nina’s life. Handful gets Sarah to write a pass for her before she leaves. She goes to Denmark Vesey’s house to find out what he knows about her mother’s disappearance. She tells Denmark that Charlotte was pregnant when she disappeared, which he did not know. Handful discovers that her mother reached a local slave hideout but was kidnapped by a slave poacher.

John Grimké dies shortly after reaching the New Jersey shore for the sea cure the Philadelphia doctor recommended. Sarah loves the independence and freedom of the North, her father having trusted her with all of his care, including his finances and his schedule. They reconcile just before his death. Sarah’s father acknowledges his greed, which kept him participating in slavery despite his own hatred for it, and his cruel behavior toward Sarah. Sarah goes back to Philadelphia, and she decides to stay, rather than returning to Charleston. Sarah revels in the freedom she has in Philadelphia. On the boat traveling back to Charleston, three months later, she meets a Quaker named Israel Morris.

Israel teaches Sarah about Quakerism, which holds slavery to be an abomination. He gives her a book. She studies the book and struggles with her feelings for Israel. Israel is married and has several children. The more she learns, the more she is intrigued by Quakerism. Sarah is interested in Quakerism’s egalitarian principles in particular. Wanting a vocation, she is fascinated to find out that Quakers have female ministers.

According to John Grimké’s will, five of the 11 slaves are to be sold or distributed among the children of the family. Handful stays.

Sarah corresponds with Israel Morris about Quakerism; she learns that his wife has died. Sarah decides to go live in the North on her own, which she can afford to do because her father left her $10,000.