Download or read book The Invention of Wings written by Sue Monk Kidd and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-01-07 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The newest Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 selection: this special eBook edition of The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd features exclusive content, including Oprah’s personal notes highlighted within the text, and a reading group guide. 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. Please note there is another digital edition available without Oprah’s notes. Go to Oprah.com/bookclub for more OBC 2.0 content
Download or read book The Invention of Wings written by Sue Monk Kidd and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2014-01-07 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The #1 New York Times bestseller of hope, daring, and the quest for freedom taken on by two unforgettable American women, from the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees. “A remarkable novel that heightened my sense of what it meant to be a woman – slave or free . . a conversation changer.” – Oprah Winfrey, O, The Oprah Magazine “Powerful…furthers our essential understanding of what has happened among us as Americans – and why it still matters.” –The Washington Post 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—and it is now the newest Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 selection. 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.
Download or read book The Book of Longings written by Sue Monk Kidd and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-04-21 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An extraordinary novel . . . a triumph of insight and storytelling.” —Associated Press “A true masterpiece.” —Glennon Doyle, author of Untamed An extraordinary story set in the first century about a woman who finds her voice and her destiny, from the celebrated number one New York Times bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Invention of Wings In her mesmerizing fourth work of fiction, Sue Monk Kidd takes an audacious approach to history and brings her acclaimed narrative gifts to imagine the story of a young woman named Ana. Raised in a wealthy family with ties to the ruler of Galilee, she is rebellious and ambitious, with a brilliant mind and a daring spirit. She engages in furtive scholarly pursuits and writes narratives about neglected and silenced women. Ana is expected to marry an older widower, a prospect that horrifies her. An encounter with eighteen-year-old Jesus changes everything. Their marriage evolves with love and conflict, humor and pathos in Nazareth, where Ana makes a home with Jesus, his brothers, and their mother, Mary. Ana's pent-up longings intensify amid the turbulent resistance to Rome's occupation of Israel, partially led by her brother, Judas. She is sustained by her fearless aunt Yaltha, who harbors a compelling secret. When Ana commits a brazen act that puts her in peril, she flees to Alexandria, where startling revelations and greater dangers unfold, and she finds refuge in unexpected surroundings. Ana determines her fate during a stunning convergence of events considered among the most impactful in human history. Grounded in meticulous research and written with a reverential approach to Jesus's life that focuses on his humanity, The Book of Longings is an inspiring, unforgettable account of one woman's bold struggle to realize the passion and potential inside her, while living in a time, place and culture devised to silence her. It is a triumph of storytelling both timely and timeless, from a masterful writer at the height of her powers.
Download or read book The Mermaid Chair written by Sue Monk Kidd and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2006-03-07 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A transcendent tale of a woman's self-discovery—the New York Times–bestselling second work of fiction by the author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Book of Longings Inside the church of a Benedictine monastery on Egret Island, just off the coast of South Carolina, resides a beautiful and mysterious chair ornately carved with mermaids and dedicated to a saint who, legend claims, was a mermaid before her conversion. When Jessie Sullivan is summoned home to the island to cope with her eccentric mother’s seemingly inexplicable behavior, she is living a conventional life with her husband, Hugh, a life “molded to the smallest space possible.” Jessie loves Hugh, but once on the island, she finds herself drawn to Brother Thomas, a monk about to take his final vows. Amid a rich community of unforgettable island women and the exotic beauty of marshlands, tidal creeks, and majestic egrets, Jessie grapples with the tension of desire and the struggle to deny it, with a freedom that feels overwhelmingly right, and with the immutable force of home and marriage. Is the power of the mermaid chair only a myth? Or will it alter the course of Jessie’s life? What happens will unlock the roots of her mother’s tormented past, but most of all, it will allow Jessie to discover selfhood and a place of belonging as she explores the thin line between the spiritual and the erotic.
Download or read book The Secret Life of Bees written by Sue Monk Kidd and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2003-01-28 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The multi-million bestselling novel about a young girl's journey towards healing and the transforming power of love, from the award-winning author of The Invention of Wings and The Book of Longings Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily's fierce-hearted Black "stand-in mother," Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina—a town that holds the secret to her mother's past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of Black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna. This is a remarkable novel about divine female power, a story that women will share and pass on to their daughters for years to come.
Download or read book The Invention of Everything Else written by Samantha Hunt and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2009 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hunt's novel is a wondrous imagining of an unlikely friendship between theeccentric inventor Nikola Tesla and a young chambermaid in the Hotel New Yorker, where Tesla lived out his last days.
Download or read book Traveling with Pomegranates written by Sue Monk Kidd and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2010 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The authors describe their introspective journeys to Greece and France, during which they reconnected while Sue grappled with midlife challenges and writer's block and Ann struggled with heartbreak and post-college career questions.
Download or read book The Glass Woman written by Caroline Lea and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2019-02-07 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A mysterious and captivating tale of love, fear and superstition set in the Icelandic wilderness . . . 'An Icelandic Jane Eyre' SUNDAY TIMES 'Gripped me in a cold fist. Beautiful' SARA COLLINS 'Enthralling' STACEY HALLS 'Moving and atmospheric' LAURA PURCELL ________ 1686, Iceland. When Rósa is betrothed to Jón Eiríksson, she is sent to a remote village. There she finds a man who refuses to speak of his recently deceased first wife, and villagers who view her with suspicion. Isolated and disturbed by her husband's strange behaviour, her fears deepen. What is making the strange sounds in the attic? Who does the mysterious glass figure she is given represent? And why do the villagers fear the fast-approaching winter? . . . ________ 'A perfect, gripping winter read. I loved it' SOPHIE MACKINTOSH 'Crackles with tension. Moving and atmospheric, I couldn't put it down' LAURA PURCELL 'Memorable and compelling. A novel about what haunts us - and what should' SARAH MOSS, author of GHOST WALL 'Evocative, compelling, with a brilliant twist' DAILY EXPRESS 'Intensely written and atmospheric, with an unusual setting' DAILY MAIL 'A chilling tale' GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 'Like a ghost story told around a winter fire' TIM LEACH, author of SMILE OF THE WOLF SHORTLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS ASSOCIATION DEBUT AWARD
Download or read book The Masterpiece written by Fiona Davis and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-08-07 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this captivating novel, New York Times bestselling author Fiona Davis takes readers into the glamorous lost art school within Grand Central Terminal, where two very different women, fifty years apart, strive to make their mark on a world set against them. For most New Yorkers, Grand Central Terminal is a crown jewel, a masterpiece of design. But for Clara Darden and Virginia Clay, it represents something quite different. For Clara, the terminal is the stepping stone to her future. It is 1928, and Clara is teaching at the lauded Grand Central School of Art. Though not even the prestige of the school can override the public's disdain for a "woman artist," fiery Clara is single-minded in her quest to achieve every creative success—even while juggling the affections of two very different men. But she and her bohemian friends have no idea that they'll soon be blindsided by the looming Great Depression...and that even poverty and hunger will do little to prepare Clara for the greater tragedy yet to come. By 1974, the terminal has declined almost as sharply as Virginia Clay's life. Dilapidated and dangerous, Grand Central is at the center of a fierce lawsuit: Is the once-grand building a landmark to be preserved, or a cancer to be demolished? For Virginia, it is simply her last resort. Recently divorced, she has just accepted a job in the information booth in order to support herself and her college-age daughter, Ruby. But when Virginia stumbles upon an abandoned art school within the terminal and discovers a striking watercolor, her eyes are opened to the elegance beneath the decay. She embarks on a quest to find the artist of the unsigned masterpiece—an impassioned chase that draws Virginia not only into the battle to save Grand Central but deep into the mystery of Clara Darden, the famed 1920s illustrator who disappeared from history in 1931.
Download or read book On Slavery and Abolitionism written by Sarah Grimke and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-05-05 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of historic writings from the slave-owner-turned-abolitionist sisters portrayed in Sue Monk Kidd’s novel The Invention of Wings Sarah and Angelina Grimké’s portrayal in Sue Monk Kidd’s latest novel, The Invention of Wings, has brought much-deserved new attention to these inspiring Americans. The first female agents for the American Anti-Slavery Society, the sisters originally rose to prominence after Angelina wrote a rousing letter of support to renowned abolitionist William Garrison in the wake of Philadelphia’s pro-slavery riots in 1935. Born into Southern aristocracy, the Grimkés grew up in a slave-holding family. Hetty, a young house servant, whom Sarah secretly taught to read, deeply influenced Sarah Grimké’s life, sparking her commitment to anti-slavery activism. As adults, the sisters embraced Quakerism and dedicated their lives to the abolitionist and women’s rights movements. Their appeals and epistles were some of the most eloquent and emotional arguments against slavery made by any abolitionists. Their words, greeted with trepidation and threats in their own time, speak to us now as enduring examples of triumph and hope. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Download or read book The Dance of the Dissident Daughter written by Sue Monk Kidd and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2006-12-26 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I was amazed to find that I had no idea how to unfold my spiritual life in a feminine way. I was surprised, and, in fact, a little terrified, when I found myself in the middle of a feminist spiritual reawakening." ––Sue Monk Kidd For years, Sue Monk Kidd was a conventionally religious woman. Then, in the late 1980s, Kidd experienced an unexpected awakening, and began a journey toward a feminine spirituality. With the exceptional storytelling skills that have helped make her name, author of When the Heart Waits tells her very personal story of the fear, anger, healing, and freedom she experienced on the path toward the wholeness that many women have lost in the church. From a jarring encounter with sexism in a suburban drugstore, to monastery retreats and to rituals in the caves of Crete, she reveals a new level of feminine spiritual consciousness for all women– one that retains a meaningful connection with the "deep song of Christianity," embraces the sacredness of ordinary women's experience, and has the power to transform in the most positive ways every fundamental relationship in a woman's life– her marriage, her career, and her religion. This Plus edition paperback includes a recent interview with the author conducted by the book's editor Michael Maudlin.
Download or read book God s Joyful Surprise written by Sue Monk Kidd and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-09-20 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The bestselling author's inspiring account of her spiritual journey into discovering the love of God. "Beautifully written . . . the message and challenge of the book is profound. . . . This book will awaken your longing and set you off on your own spiritual journey."—Today's Christian Woman "A joy to read from beginning to end."—Virtue Magazine Sue Monk Kidd explores the thrilling possibilities of God's everlasting love. God's Joyful Surprise makes an important statement about devotion to God rather than activity. Strands of humor and warmth woven throughout make it a joy to read from beginning to end.
Download or read book The Grimk Sisters from South Carolina written by Gerda Lerner and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 1998 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In The Grimke Sisters from South Carolina, Gerda Lerner, herself a leading historian and pioneer in the study of Women's History, tells the story of these determined sisters and the contributions they made to the antislavery and woman's rights movements.
Download or read book A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding written by Jackie Copleton and published by Charnwood. This book was released on 2016-01-06 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When a badly scarred man knocks on the door of Amaterasu Takahashi's retirement home and says that he is her grandson, she doesn't believe him. She knows her grandson, and her daughter, died the day the Americans dropped the atomic bomb; she searched the ruined city for weeks. Amaterasu has buried the memories of that day and the years leading up to it. Supressing her feelings was something she became an expert at during the long sake-pouring nights she worked in a hostess bar. But why does she hold the man her daughter loved in such contempt? And if you've become adept at lying, can you still recognise when someone is telling the truth?
Download or read book The Lost Hours written by Karen White and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2009-04-07 with total page 372 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestselling author of the Tradd Street novels delivers a gripping tale of family, fate, and forgiveness. When Piper Mills was twelve, she helped her grandfather bury a box that belonged to her grandmother in the backyard. For twelve years, it remained untouched. Now a near fatal riding accident has shattered Piper’s dreams of Olympic glory. After her grandfather’s death, she inherits the house and all its secrets, including a key to a room that doesn’t exist—or does it? And after her grandmother is sent away to a nursing home, she remembers the box buried in the backyard. In it are torn pages from a scrapbook, a charm necklace—and a newspaper article from 1939 about the body of an infant found floating in the Savannah River. The necklace’s charms tell the story of three friends during the 1930s— each charm added during the three months each friend had the necklace and recorded her life in the scrapbook. Piper always dismissed her grandmother as not having had a story to tell. And now, too late, Piper finds she might have been wrong.
Download or read book Wings of Madness written by Paul Hoffman and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2003 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "By the turn of the century, Santos-Dumont had moved to Paris. Soon, the dashing and impeccably dressed aeronaut was barhopping around the city in a one-man dirigible he invented, circling above crowds and crashing into rooftops. Eventually, he would join the world-wide competition to build the first true airplane. Once he succeeded, the press hailed him as the man who had conquered the air. (Because the Wright brothers worked in near secrecy, word of their first flights had not widely reached Europe when Santos-Dumon took to the skies.) His picture appeared on cigar boxes and dinner plates and he dined regularly with the Cartiers, the Rothschilds, and the Roosevelts, hosting "aerial dinners" in which his guests ate at an elevated table so they could imagine how it felt to be above the world." "But all would change after Santos-Dumont witnessed the destructive capacity of flying machines in World War I."--BOOK JACKET.
Download or read book The Footprints of God written by Greg Iles and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2004 with total page 572 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this "New York Times" bestseller, Iles probes the terrifying possibility that the next phase of human evolution may not be human at all. Alarming, believable, and utterly consuming.--Dan Brown. Now available in a tall Premium Edition. Reissue.
