The Invention of Wings

This part begins six years later, when Sarah is 18 years old and her sister, Nina, is six. Nina, or Angelina, is Sarah’s godchild, as Sarah’s mother kept her promise. Sarah is on the marriage market and spends her time in a social whirl. Sarah is expected to attract a husband and marry.

Nina is beautiful and intelligent, and Sarah encourages her to be fearless as well. Sarah teaches Nina to hate slavery and to understand why it must be ended. She has poured her life into raising Nina; they love each other dearly. Nina even calls Sarah “Mother.”

Burke Williams begins to call on Sarah. She is very attracted to Burke, though she doubts that she is attractive enough for him. She reports that she is very plain, with red hair and freckles. Eventually, Burke asks Sarah to marry him, and though he is not well-to-do enough for her family, they allow the engagement. Soon, however, Sarah’s brother, Thomas, discovers that Burke has similar “engagements” with several young women. Burke has developed these multiple engagements as a prank, in order to attempt to have sexual relationships with the young women, who believe that they are about to be married. Sarah is heartbroken.

Handful has been fully trained as a seamstress by her mother. Mauma begins working on a special quilt, a story quilt. Each square of the quilt tells a part of their family story. Mauma is saving money to buy their freedom, as she, now with Missus’ permission, hires herself out as a seamstress. She and Handful work on sewing projects day and night. Charlotte has a boyfriend, a free black man. Handful looks up their prices in Mr. Grimké’s accounting book, so that Mauma will know how much money she has to earn to buy their freedom. She is shocked to see that she is listed as being worth $500, while her mother is worth $550. Mauma insists that no book can tell them their worth.

Mauma introduces Handful to her male friend, Denmark Vesey. Denmark has three other wives, in addition to Mauma. Mauma clearly admires and loves Denmark. Handful, though she sees Denmark’s strength, does not like him and finds it difficult to witness her mother’s affection for this man. Denmark’s ideas about freedom for all black people frighten Handful. For example, he criticizes Handful for stepping aside for a white woman on the narrow sidewalk. She knows that her mother is drawn to Denmark because of his dangerous ideas. Mauma reveals that she is pregnant.

When her engagement is broken, Handful gives Sarah the silver fleur de lis button back. Sarah witnesses Mauma refusing to step aside on the sidewalk for a white woman. Mauma knocks the woman down in the mud and is taken by the City Guard. However, she escapes from the guards and disappears. Handful is heartbroken.

Sarah vows, in the aftermath of her broken engagement, that she will never marry and that she will give her life to God. She joins the Presbyterian Church. Her family barely tolerates her religious conversion. She also espouses the belief that not only should the slaves be freed, but that all people should live together as equals. The idea of racial and social equality is a revolutionary idea, even for the abolitionists of the time. Sarah turns 20.

Handful finds her mother’s story quilt squares after her disappearance, and looks at them for the first time. She stays up all night stitching the brightly-colored, pictorial squares of her mother’s history together.