On December 17th we met at my house as Sarah was not able to host.

There were eight women present including Madeleine, Julie, Donna, Nancy,

Kathy, Janet, Betsy and Nettie. We were given another surprise as we were

joined by Doug who had read and enjoyed the book as we all did.

The author had done major research on her 2 main characters Sarah and Angelina Grimke,

who were spokespersons for the abolitionist  as well as feminist movements.

In fact many of the slaves and other characters were historical figures which she

discovered from the Charleston  historical records. She embellished the stories of course.

The Grimke house and much of the old Charleston town still exists as it did then.

Kathy had visited the area many times and attests to the fact that the city is very

much still southern in feel.

  

The quilts that were sewn by the slave women which are on exhibit in Washington

were the inspiration of the title of the book. We felt that was a great way for the 

enslaved women who were unable to read or write to record their history and was their

subversive way of keeping their memories alive.

We briefly touched on how slavery still affects the happenings of today's racial

tension which we are still experiencing especially recently in Ferguson, MO and

New York. Yes slavery will always be a pain in the heart. Kidd was inspired

by the words of professor Julius Lestor who said,

"History is not just facts and events. History is also a pain in the heart

and we repeat history until we are able to make another's pain in the heart our own".

Sue Monk Kidd does just that as she writes about slavery we once again feel

the pain all over again and again.

Janet chose a book by Wiley Cash entitled "A Land More Kind than Home",

which promises a lot judging by the rave reviews. We chose the date of

January 14th to be the next meeting. Reminders will be sent.