Listen free for 30 days
-
The Invention of Wings
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia, Adepero Oduye, Sue Monk Kidd
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wish list failed.
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
The Invention of Wings
Buy Now for $39.48
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
You may also enjoy...
-
The Secret Life of Bees
- Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 196
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 169
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 168
Sue Monk Kidd's ravishing debut novel has stolen the hearts of reviewers and readers alike with its strong, assured voice. 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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautiful
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-01-19
Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
-
The Book of Longings
- A Novel
- Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò, Sue Monk Kidd
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 467
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 400
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 399
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 18-year-old Jesus changes everything.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Breathtakingly rich, nuanced and interesting
- By Jackie Greenizan on 2020-05-10
Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
-
The Mermaid Chair
- Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 7
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Love the writing
- By patricia on 2022-08-04
Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
-
The Kitchen House
- A Novel
- Written by: Kathleen Grissom
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 83
Orphaned during her passage from Ireland, young, white Lavinia arrives on the steps of the kitchen house and is placed, as an indentured servant, under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate slave daughter. Lavinia learns to cook, clean, and serve food while guided by the quiet strength and love of her new family. In time Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, caring for the master's opium-addicted wife and befriending his dangerous yet protective son. She attempts to straddle the worlds of the kitchen and big house, but her skin color will forever set her apart.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Impressive
- By JAG on 2021-11-13
Written by: Kathleen Grissom
-
Glory over Everything
- Beyond the Kitchen House
- Written by: Kathleen Grissom
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana, Heather Alicia Simms, Madeleine Maby, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
This new standalone novel opens in 1830, and Jamie, who fled from the Virginian plantation he once called home, is passing in Philadelphia society as a wealthy white silversmith. After many years of striving, Jamie has achieved acclaim and security, only to discover that his aristocratic lover, Caroline, is pregnant. Before he can reveal his real identity to her, he learns that his beloved servant, Pan, has been captured and sold into slavery in the South.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An exciting and involving read!
- By digger on 2020-12-10
Written by: Kathleen Grissom
-
Olive Kitteridge
- Fiction
- Written by: Elizabeth Strout
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 123
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 108
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 108
At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Boring
- By KF on 2020-01-29
Written by: Elizabeth Strout
-
The Secret Life of Bees
- Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
- Narrated by: Jenna Lamia
- Length: 9 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 196
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 169
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 168
Sue Monk Kidd's ravishing debut novel has stolen the hearts of reviewers and readers alike with its strong, assured voice. 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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Beautiful
- By Amazon Customer on 2020-01-19
Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
-
The Book of Longings
- A Novel
- Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
- Narrated by: Mozhan Marnò, Sue Monk Kidd
- Length: 13 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 467
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 400
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 399
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 18-year-old Jesus changes everything.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Breathtakingly rich, nuanced and interesting
- By Jackie Greenizan on 2020-05-10
Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
-
The Mermaid Chair
- Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
- Narrated by: Eliza Foss
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 7
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Love the writing
- By patricia on 2022-08-04
Written by: Sue Monk Kidd
-
The Kitchen House
- A Novel
- Written by: Kathleen Grissom
- Narrated by: Orlagh Cassidy, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 12 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 83
Orphaned during her passage from Ireland, young, white Lavinia arrives on the steps of the kitchen house and is placed, as an indentured servant, under the care of Belle, the master's illegitimate slave daughter. Lavinia learns to cook, clean, and serve food while guided by the quiet strength and love of her new family. In time Lavinia is accepted into the world of the big house, caring for the master's opium-addicted wife and befriending his dangerous yet protective son. She attempts to straddle the worlds of the kitchen and big house, but her skin color will forever set her apart.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Impressive
- By JAG on 2021-11-13
Written by: Kathleen Grissom
-
Glory over Everything
- Beyond the Kitchen House
- Written by: Kathleen Grissom
- Narrated by: Santino Fontana, Heather Alicia Simms, Madeleine Maby, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
This new standalone novel opens in 1830, and Jamie, who fled from the Virginian plantation he once called home, is passing in Philadelphia society as a wealthy white silversmith. After many years of striving, Jamie has achieved acclaim and security, only to discover that his aristocratic lover, Caroline, is pregnant. Before he can reveal his real identity to her, he learns that his beloved servant, Pan, has been captured and sold into slavery in the South.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An exciting and involving read!
- By digger on 2020-12-10
Written by: Kathleen Grissom
-
Olive Kitteridge
- Fiction
- Written by: Elizabeth Strout
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 123
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 108
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 108
At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Boring
- By KF on 2020-01-29
Written by: Elizabeth Strout
Publisher's Summary
From the celebrated author of The Secret Life of Bees, a magnificent novel about two unforgettable American women.
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.
What the critics say
“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)
“Exhilarating...powerful...By humanizing these formidable women, The Invention of Wings furthers our essential understanding of what has happened among us as Americans - and why it still matters.” (The Washington Post)
“A textured masterpiece, quietly yet powerfully poking our consciences and our consciousness... leaves us feeling uplifted and hopeful.” (NPR)
More from the same
What listeners say about The Invention of Wings
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2023-06-10
It was a nice story
The only reason why I give the story itself Three stars is because I wish that Sarah could’ve achieved her dreams and I would’ve liked to read about handful being settled and free. Plus I wish that handful. Plus I wish Sarah would’ve stayed close handful even though nina was close to Sarah
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- candice
- 2022-06-06
Spectacular Book
I so enjoyed The Secret Life of Bees, so was looking forward to this book. It was as good as, if not even better, absolutely beautiful. The characters were based on real people and events that actually happened, along which the author’s brilliant imagination… woven together in a bittersweet story with characters I will miss in my daily read ! The narration by 2 different actors of the 2 main characters added to the depth of this audible version of this story. 5 stars all the way.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jenna Wright
- 2018-06-30
Best Audiobook I’ve Enjoyed Yet!
This story was completely captivating and the two narrators were exceptional. I was sad to have it end.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- M.S.
- 2020-08-20
Interesting book
The story follows two main characters from the childhood to adulthood in the time when not too many people had questioning the slavery in the South. The book was inspired by the life of the Grimke’s sisters from the early nineteenth century and their quest for freedom not just to free the slaves but also to lift the limits imposed on the girls and women even from the wealthy families. Many people are not aware of the struggle for freedom of the historical figure of Sarah and Angelina Grimke.
Inspired story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jo-Anne
- 2022-07-01
Excellent in every way.
Excellent, educational, inspirational,
compelling story of little known and fascinating historical women. The narrator’s voices perfectly set the tone and characters.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- jennifer j.
- 2020-07-23
Jennifer. Jamieson
Enjoyable story of two sisters who fought against slavery, fought for equal rights for women and the right to vote.It is fascinating to go back in history and be grateful today for rights we take for granted
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sharron padden
- 2021-08-31
The Invention of Wings
A very comprehensive book about the African American and women’s fight for equality in America. The characters are gripping and the narration are excellent.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- carlee
- 2018-09-19
A Great Story and Listen
#Audible1 This was the first book I bought through audible, as I had been meaning to read it for years. It's a great story and the narrator switches back and forth which keeps it interesting. All the speakers have great voices. Never a dull moment!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Cheryl C.
- 2022-07-08
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
This is a fantastic story and the narrators do a great job with the voices and storytelling. Highly recommend! I enjoyed every moment. I’ll definitely listen to more of her books on Audible.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Megan
- 2023-01-27
So Good!!!
I wish it didn’t end! Highly recommend to anyone! The narrators drew me right in.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!