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4.16 AVERAGE
4.16 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Excellent historical fiction. I learned about two more strong women in our history that I had never heard of and they are from the area my dad's family is from. I am sure they had heard of them.
I'd probably give this 4.5 stars. Really felt like I was a part of the story when reading it. Definitely hard to put down. Was glad to see that it was based on real historical figures, even though some liberties were taken for narrative purposes. Loved the characters, imagery, the way the story moved as it bounced back and forth between the two protagonists.
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
This is a beautifully written historical fiction story based on the lives of real life abolitionists Sarah and Nina Grimke. The chapters alternate between Sarah's POV and that of a slave character named Handful who is owned by Sarah's and Nina's father. Handful is also based on a real person, although all that's known is that she was given to Sarah to be a waiting maid and they became close. Both were punished after Sarah taught Handful how to read.
Handful's mother Charlotte is a fucking BADASS woman who teaches her daughter that white people might own their bodies, but will never own their hearts or minds.
Handful, Charlotte, and Sarah are rich, fully realized characters (Nina to a lesser extent because she never narrates any chapters and shows up midway through the book). This is required reading for my Women in Literature class this semester and I was initially a tad apprehensive about reading a slave narrative written by a white author, but Kidd did her research and I felt she wrote the black characters with as much respect as she did the white ones.
Handful's mother Charlotte is a fucking BADASS woman who teaches her daughter that white people might own their bodies, but will never own their hearts or minds.
Handful, Charlotte, and Sarah are rich, fully realized characters (Nina to a lesser extent because she never narrates any chapters and shows up midway through the book). This is required reading for my Women in Literature class this semester and I was initially a tad apprehensive about reading a slave narrative written by a white author, but Kidd did her research and I felt she wrote the black characters with as much respect as she did the white ones.
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Loved the historical background, but for some reason, the story didn't get going for me until Mr. Grimke died, which is more than half way through the book. The plot to that point seemed to drift along, one tedious day after another, which may have been the reality of life in antebellum Charleston SC. Also, the characters seemed one dimensional. I read quite a bit of historic fiction and nonfiction, and I think Kidd's The Secret Life of Bees is much better work.
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
challenging
informative
inspiring