The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

Noted abolitionist Sarah Grimke was born a child of privilege on a Charleston plantation.  Hetty (Handful) was given to Sarah as her slave when she was twelve.  Already opposed to the practice of slavery, Sarah tries to be a friend rather than a master.  In alternating chapters they both describe their struggles to be free.  Brilliant Sarah lives in her head seeking a philosophy and a life that includes equality for women as well as an end to slavery.  Handful and her mother Charlotte draw on a more earthy wisdom.  My favorite line: "... you got to figure out which end of the needle you're gon be, the one that's fastened to the thread or the end the pierces that cloth."  Kidd acknowledges that this story is more fiction than fact but is well grounded in the events of the time.  Sarah Grimke was a real person.  Handful was born out of Kidd's research and imagination.  Both are the kind of heroic survivors that only emerge from the darkest periods of history. This is every bit as good as Secret Life of Bees - maybe better.