So I’ve been sick for most of the week and I was reminded that I have not been writing.

I have been reading though. Here’s an update on that

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom – this book is about a little Irish girl who came to the United States as an indentured servant and placed in the care of a house slave. I was intrigued by the story and Alice Walker recommended it, but in the end, I did not like this book. I think it had potential and failed along the way.

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd- I loved the Secret Life of Bees so in a sense this author has already proven herself to me. I was skeptical at first because I am seeing more and more books by white women in black voice and few feel genuine. In the end, I trusted Sue Monk Kidd. She delivered. I like that it is historical fiction about Sarah Grimke, an abolitionist and early feminist. In the novel Sarah is given a present of Hetty, a slave girl. Sarah tries to give her back, to free her and eventually teaches her to read. The novel gives insight into what propels Sarah to become an abolitionist and also to realize the confinement of woman (much like slaves). Makes me want to read more about the real Sarah.

Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston – I read this book many years ago and I remember watching the movie. Neither moved me so much. However, reading it recently, I fell in love with it. I love how she captures culture and language and judgment and being confined by duty and then being set free by love. I would have wished a different life for Janie, but I think that goes against the idea of the novel (at least in my head). She’s beautiful, free, has money and she can do whatever the hell she wants to. She’s paid her dues.