KatieMc

Do you know who this is?
I had no idea either.

An unexpectedly good fictional account of a relatively unknown antebellum abolitionist and feminist named Sarah Grimké. Sarah's story is told along with Hetty "Handful" using an alternating point of view. The book starts with Handful being gifted to an 11 year old Sarah who is a reluctant slave owner and follows them several decades through their personal and public struggles.

I always wonder why it is that some people break away from the groupthink mold of the time and bravely speak out against injustices. Sarah Grimké's activism emerges from a blend of serendipitous life events and deliberate choices. I just realized that this is my second Oprah book club read this year. Oprah generally does not influence my reading choices, but I am glad that she is promoting this book because Sarah Grimké's story is worth knowing. And while Handful's story is fiction, her story and the plight of those enslaved needs to be remembered.