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What are readers saying about The Help?
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-10 05:52:22.
(Language: English)
 
This is one of those books that everyone seems to be reading, so after my mother and sister-in-law both said they liked it, I thought I would see what it was all about. The book describes the life of domestic servants in Mississippi in the early days of the civil rights era. Having never lived in the South, had a maid, or lived through the 1960s, I must admit that parts of it felt very foreign. I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t THAT long ago, and that people really DID think and do the terrible, degrading things described in the book. I like that this described a female and home-bound perspective, where the battle lines of civil rights are drawn less in the public eye but rather in the secretive, backstabbing world of wealthy white women’s social circles. Some of the “bad guys” are clear but what was more interesting and, I think, realistic is the vicious cycle of mistrust and prejudice that causes both white and black women to act in terrible ways. Of course, the white women are in positions of power and are able to get away with it, whereas the black women lose their jobs and families suffer. The point of the book is really to argue that the distinctions we see between people, whether racial or social or whatever, are really all in our heads, and that we are all women and there is little that truly separates us.
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Kelsey posted a review at 2010-11-26 10:04:40.
(Language: English)
A fantastic novel! Stockett slips into the deep South in the 60's with ease, the mood and flavor of its society never absent with her characters' strong voices and bold actions. It's the feel that truly gets you hooked- whether it's the delightful descriptions of cooking with Minnie, the fiesty maid, or the slightly air-headed newly-wed who dresses like Marilyn Monroe, every character is limned with precision and love. Bubbling in the backdrop is the start of the new Flower-Power era, which comes to affect every single character in this small town. The injustice done to the African-Americans is disgustingly fascinating as well (seperate toilets within the house??), and it's almost impossibe to imagine that things like this were happening only fifty years ago. Although the ending left me slightly unsatisfied, the book was well worth the read for anyone interested in a plain good book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-08-29 07:30:59.
(Language: English)
This is one of the best books I've read, and I've read a lot of good books. The story, told from three different perspectives, chronicles the lives of black maids in Mississippi in the early 1960s. The plot revolves around a young white woman who helps them write a book about their lives as maids just as the Civil Rights Movement gathers momentum. At first, I had to remind myself that this book was set in the 1960s, not the 1860s. The attitudes and behavior of the antagonists were atrocious. Now that I think about it, this book was set just 6-8 years before I was born. By the time I was conscious of my environment, the world was a much different place, but the fact that it was not that long ago really explains the stage of race relations in the US today. Stockett does an excellent job putting a common perspective on this point in history and that's what makes this book shine. I can really relate to the emotions of the protagonists, and it's not in the context of the retelling of history. Another interesting thing about this book is the use of three different perspectives. It's a first-person narrative, but the book is broken into sections and the narrator changes throughout. I once submitted a story in tenth grade literature class that used two first-person perspectives and I was chastised by the teacher for my attempt. Granted, my use of the different narrators was not as good as Stockett's, but I kept thinking about Mr. Hopkins comments as I read the book. I have a budding reading list that I'm preparing for my kids when they are much older and this book will be at the top of the list. It teaches an important lesson that I want my kids to learn and understand.
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A Reader posted a review at 2011-07-02 10:32:35.
(Language: English)
The reading's not deep but the voices are clear; Stockett has scored in creating characters about whom the reader can actually care - women with whom one might want to have a talk over coffee. You're roped in with stong characters and stick around for the tension - the first third or so is full of set-up. I feel a little disappointed in the payoff, though. In some ways it ends up with a bit of an anticlmactic turn - almost as if the author rushed the ending or never fully thought though the story. The last 50+ pages definitely lost some steam. She did do a great job of getting the reader to think through some of humanity's worse traits - one can't help but wonder what Aibee or Minny -and especially Miss Hilly! - would think of having a black president today! On the other hand, it is amazing to me how she totally missed the great thread of the nature of women and the cruelty in the dynamics of their relationships and the fact that not a one seemed to reflect on her forced societal roles - even when they were considering the same based on race. Ahh - but such is the beast of our world - in history and even yet today. All-in-all, an enjoyable fast read - and I look forward to seeing the movie. 4+ stars
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-09-04 07:19:01.
(Language: English)
This was an amazing book. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked it up, but it grew on me as I read through it and by the end I was completely immersed in its environment. Told by three different women in their own voices (Not something I generally like – vernacular narration usually annoys me because you have to read out loud to understand its meaning) the book follows the three in Civil Rights era Jackson, Mississippi. It revolves around Skeeter, a (white) female graduate of Ole Miss University without a husband (a serious deficiency apparently), and two maids, Aibileen and Minny, with separate and distinct voices, one more educated sounding than the other. Skeeter doesn’t start off as any kind of iconoclast, but gradually and believably begins to fit into the role as she becomes an outcast in her white circle, as she begins to understand and write about the conditions and attitudes faced by maids every day. (“The Help”). I read this book not long after reading “Mudbound”, a picture of Mississippi in 1946. Change was impossible in 1946. By 1962, it was slowly beginning, and Skeeter and her co-writing maids fit in a small way into the overall movement. The author builds in current events like the murders of Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King and describes these mostly from the black point of view, while the assassination of JFK is almost unmentioned. The book is at once a serious page-turner, and a commentary on life on both sides of the color barrier of 1962. I think one thing I liked so much about the book is that it did not seem to be dealing in stereotypes, something I wondered about a little while reading “Mudbound”. I could nitpick about some of the things that were supposed to be on the radio in 1962 (“Love me do”, “Like a rolling stone”), but that’s just me being pedantic. I loved this book and I cannot imagine anyone not loving it too.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-10-01 04:00:16.
(Language: English)
This was an excellent read, I did not want it to end!!! I felt so close to the characters, specially Aibeleen, such a beautiful being full of love regardless of the hatred and bad energy released towards her from the very people she worked for. She was an example of faith, strength and hope for the future as she did all she could to educate the children she took care of, even in "secret." I admired Skeeter Phelan as well for being ahead of her time and hoping, feeling how the times would be changing, going against what everyone else thought was the right attitude. Kathryn Stockett did a phenomenal job in capturing the essence, feel and time period, the daily struggles and plain ignorance of southern beliefs and attitudes of early 1960's, and how 3 admirable women risk everything to make changes in a small town, through out the nation and hoping to make a difference. WOW! Just LOVED IT!!!!
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-03 09:28:03.
(Language: English)
If someone ever calls you a "two piece Hilly", they are NOT your friend an you'ld best just let them be and go on back home...LOL! I LOVED, LOVED this book. Listening to it on audio was a treat indeed, as there were three authors that gave the book even more texture than writing style alone could. It's not a fast paced book, but still keeps you wondering how the shoe is going to drop. I downloaded it free from the library. I think my favorite thing was listening to the three different viewpoints narrated so superbly. It was almost an auditory feastof southern accents. This story is set in the 60's right around the time I was born. I guess it's a testament to human rights activist that I find the attitudes of the old south just unconscionable. You will laugh more than feel sad though because this wonderful story shows how for good or bad we are all just people underneath it all, and worthy of respect as human beings. I love books that make me wonder what terrific stories lay behind the eyes of those I walk by everyday, and how they perceieve what's going on. "The Help" is a very memorable snippet of life during a time of social upheaval, that will make you laugh, make you think, and remind you to say thank you to those around you for the sometimes unackowledged yet indespensible help we recieve each day.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-02-23 12:55:07.
(Language: English)
It's hard to know how I feel about this book. My first reaction was to fall in love with it, but then I started second guessing myself -- Do I like it merely because of white guilt? Should I dislike this book because it was written by a white woman who portrays multiple black women? And then I read some reviews on Amazon. The 1-star reviews all said the same things: 1) The dialect is offensive / inaccurate, 2) Her time line is inaccurate, 3) The characters are stereotypes. I decided that I didn't really care about inaccurate dialect; the intent speaks more loudly than the effect. And the instances of historical inaccuracy -- I mean, I know it's hip and cool to mock House's craaazy methodology (hell I do it) but at the end of the day no one watches it to learn about medicine. As for the characters being stereotypes -- I didn't see this at all. Is it because I am less insightful, or others are more jaded? Oh well. Overall I thought this book was sweet and had honest intentions, which matters more to me here than the final product. And I wish people would tone down the inevitable trite comparisons to Harper Lee; Yes, we get it, you're well-read. Now shut up.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-07-10 02:14:46.
(Language: English)
The year is 1962, and the place is Jackson, Mississippi. Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan has just graduated from Ole Miss, and is looking for a career in journalism. So naturally she applies for a position as an editor with Harper & Row. The senior editor who reviewed her resume advised her, first, to go to her local newspaper and get an entry-level job and, second, to write about what disturbs her, particularly if it bothers no one else. As luck would have it the Jackson Journal did need someone to take over answering letters to Miss Myrna, the weekly cleaning advice column, and she got the job! There was only one small problem, though. She had no idea how to get shirt collars clean or how to remove hard water deposits from the tub. So with the publication deadline bearing down upon her, she turned to her best friend’s maid for help. What developed was an unexpected friendship and a secret, bittersweet alliance between Skeeter and Aibileen. Read this book to get a glimpse of the deep south that has not yet been fully documented. Favorite quote: “I let Mother’s words sit like a tiny, sweet candy on my tongue.”
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-16 05:39:46.
(Language: English)
Reading entertains me, informs me, and occasionally with an exceptional novel, transports me into the time, place and lives of the characters. By page two of The Help, I felt the sail begin to lift and I knew that I was taking off. This novel will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will also make you cringe if you have lived in the South in the last thirty to forty years. There are no false moments here. Rather, there is only a strong current of truth, humanity, simple raw emotional depth, and true characters engaged in the harsh bitterness of life in Jackson, Mississippi in 1964. I did nothing today but lie on the chaise lounge in the sun room and live with Skeeter, Abilene and Minny as each struggled with her own hardships and fought to preserve what matters and to change what ought to be changed. Frankly, I shirked every chore and ignored pressing tasks and family interactions just to live in their world. And with any exceptional novel, I am sorry it ended. But this book will always remain with me. You will love this book.
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Christine posted a review at 2011-06-15 07:19:52.
(Language: English)
This book may be long, but it is an engaging, and therefore quick, read. Kathryn Stockett tells the fictional (but semi-autobiographical-ish) story of the intertwining lives of white families and the black women that work for them in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960's. I was wowed most especially by the three first-person perspectives that this novel takes: first, Aibileen, an elderly domestic worker who gets attached to every one of the many white children she's raised; Minny, a cranky maid who has more under her strong and sassy facade than anyone would imagine; and Skeeter, a college-educated white woman who can't sit idly by while her friends mistreat their "help." I really enjoyed this novel, and I would recommend it to anyone with a mind open to hearing someone else's point of view. (Note - There are some adult situations/themes that might only be appropriate for older teens and adults).
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-22 08:03:18.
(Language: English)
Not much to add that hasn't been said by the other thousand people who've commented. I got this book when it was first published...came across it in Amazon, before it became the huge success it is now. The characters are interesting, and I was able to get lost in it, which is really the bottom line for me. Thing is, I had no problem putting it down and not going back to it for days and even weeks at a time. It took me over a year to finish this book, which is unheard of for me. I didn't think about it when I wasn't reading it. I watched it climb the charts as a best-seller, and still didn't rush back to read more of it. I think my biggest issue with the book is that Skeeter is portrayed almost as a hero, for being so 'brave' as to dare to write about a topic that was so very very taboo. To me, the heroes in this book are the women that were forced to push their own families and lives to the side and endure the unspeakable emotional cruelty heaped upon them daily by the Southern white women (and men) they worked for. People, who regardless of the times and society, knew better than to treat anyone with so much evil. Hey, at least it made me feel something, and that alone is worth the 3.5 stars.
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Linda posted a review at 2009-05-04 01:38:46.
(Language: English)
From the first paragraph of this book I was captivated by the story of “The Help”. Set during the very early years of the civil rights movement of the 1960’s this is the story of Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan a privileged young white woman and her slow awakening to the injustices heaped upon the black people of her community. When she decides to write about the maids of her town she finds two allies in Aibileen and Minnie, maids who are good enough to raise and care for the white children of their employers, but are made to use their own outdoor bathrooms. The book is told in alternating chapters of the differing viewpoints of these three women. When reading books set in this time frame the vernacular of the blacks of that time period can often come off as almost comical if not done well, but Ms. Stockett manages to keep the tone and cadence just right. The development of Skeeter from a naïve and sometimes insensitive girl into a morally responsible and aware woman of the sixties was also nicely depicted. The description of the first time Skeeter hears a song by Bob Dylan is priceless; I identified with her reaction having felt much the same when I first heard Dylan. The stories of Aibileen and Minnie, two women who deal with prejudice and discrimination every day, but still hold their heads high really tugged at my heart, even though they both dealt with things in very different ways. I really came to care for these women and their struggles. I was so sorry when I came to the last page of this book; I wanted it to go on so I could spend more time with all of “The Help”. This is Ms. Stockett’s debut novel and I am already anxiously awaiting her next book, I hope it won’t be too long.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-02-27 03:42:32.
(Language: English)
An awesome portrayal of the incredibly complex dynamic between the "colored help" or domestics, and their White employers. Set in the town of Jackson, Mississippi in the 60s, the novel revolves around the lives of three women--Minny, Abilene, and Miss Skeeter. Minny and Abilene are both "Negro" women who serve as domestics for their White counterparts. Miss Skeeter is friendly with the women for whom Abilene and Minnie work. Abilene has been serving the Leefolt family for several years, practically raising their daughter, young Mae Mobley, as her own. Her contempt for her employers and their activities is equaled only by her love for their children..with her biggest fear that young Mae will one day be like them. But when the Leefolts install a bathroom just for Abilene--at the urging of one of the town's most influential women, Hilly Holbrook--to avoid contracting "Negro diseases," it may be the one indignity that encourages Abilene to no longer endure her slights silently. Minnie has always had a big mouth...and her mouth and/or actions have always gotten her into trouble. And it is for this reason that Minnie is once again seeking employment...at quite possibly the only place in town that will hire her; simply because they don't know any better. Although nice enough, Minnie considers her new employer dim-witted, a social pariah, and lacking the gentility necessary to ever "fit in" with the White women of Jackson. She also appears to have a drinking problem...or so it would appear to Minnie. Often, however, things are not exactly how they seem to be.... Miss Skeeter, although White, is not quite one of "them". She treats the help as people, uses her good manners with them as she would with anyone else, and often shows distaste for the racist actions and behavior of her friends. But it is not until Miss Skeeter asks Abilene how she "feels" about the new bathroom built for her by the Leefolts, that a Pandora's box is opened...one that will represent an unloading of decades of social slights and injustices for some, and the realization of a dream for others. And for Jackson, Mississippi, a new day may soon be dawning. A tale told with such eloquence that one is drawn in from the very beginning. I was loathe to put the book down; intrigued until the very end, where I continued to be captivated by the author and her need to write the book. A beautiful thing.
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Louise posted a review at 2011-01-24 01:33:23.
(Language: English)
My favourite book of 2010!!! This was a graceful, wise, and wonderful novel. You'll be totally swept away by the characters and there are many. But you'll come to know and love each and every one of them as your own family. I give them a standing ovation for what they were trying to do. But I do know that I'll never forget Skeeter, Aibileen, Minny, and poor Yule May! This book was so good, I had to stop reading it so fast, pace myself because I didn't want it to end. If I wrote my own "synopsis" I know I'd ruin the book and there would be "spoilers" all through it, so to be safe, I think I'll just give you the blurb from the inside of the dust jacket instead of continuing to write my own thoughts. "Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step... Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after gruauating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constatine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone. Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken. Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own. Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed. In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women-mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends-view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope. THE HELP is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't". EXCELLENT, EXCELLENT NOVEL!!!
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-11 08:42:36.
(Language: English)
An outstanding first novel for author Kathryn Stockett, storytelling at its best. For readers who love southern novels, this will definitely satisfy. This is a story told by three completely different and tenuously connected characters, Aibleen is a wise, older maid who loves her duty to the children she is raising for other people, Minnie is as sassy and head strong as every minority in USA wishes they could've been up until the civil rights movement and Skeeter is young, brave, naive and eager to discover what she is really made of and is ready to escape the dreams her mother is beholden to for her. The task and adventure these women take on, and the state of mind they go against is unbelievable. I continually returned to the first page to double/triple/quadruple check exactly what era I was reading about, I could've been Mae Mobley (by a few years) and my own mother could have been one of the white ladies!! It was so eye opening and a startling revelation to help put into perspective that although slavery ended in the 1800's,oppression of the black race continued for many decades. This book could've been 700 pages long, there were so many characters and so much development and conclusion that was left unsaid, I truly ended this book wanting more. I am sincerely looking forward to reading more from this ambitious young author and I would highly recommend this book to any reader who enjoys historical fiction and good storytelling.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-12-08 03:18:31.
(Language: English)
While the Mad Men were smoking and boozing and womanizing in New York, another culture of harassment was simmering in the South of the early 1960s. The Help beautifully gives voice to black domestics who were treated as sub-human by the white society women who employed them. They were paid a pittance, with no overtimE, for doing all the cooking, all the cleaning (including constant silver polishing) and all the child rearing--usually six days and week and holidays, to boot. They could change children's diapers but they weren't allowed to use the family bathroom. The "help" in this book had no voice--and had no idea they could have one--until one gutsy gal broke ranks with her country club, Junior League, Ole Miss friends and began to chronicle the relationships between white women and their black maids. Kathryn Stockett's brilliant prose transports the reader straight into the kitchens and lives of the women on both sides of these relationships. Her characters evoke an array of emotions, including empathy, pity, admiration and disgust. The race discussion continues in our country today. In the context of world history, it's important to recognize that it wasn't all that long ago that the conversation first began in earnest. It's even more important to be reminded why the conversation must continue until there is true equality and understanding among the races. This book made me cry in despair at times, but ultimately made me laugh and cheer at the small victories within. Each of the three main characters is a strong woman--none of them perfect, but all three with admirable qualities and a resilience that somehow I know endured in the years following the book's conclusion.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-11 07:06:58.
(Language: English)
This is an entertaining and poignant story of courage in the face of racial oppression in Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. I was completely torn between not being able to put the book down and not wanting it to end. There's a real heroine in this book in the form of Skeeter Phelan. She graduates from college and is hoping for a a career in journalism. Most of her friends are married and have their own "help" working for them. As Skeeter witnesses how they are treating their "help", she sets in motion a chain of events that could spell disaster not only for her but for many of the maids working for these families. She begins to write a book about their experiences and enlists the aid of some of the same maids who work for her friends/family. This is where the story really takes off and what led me to stay up very late unable to put it down! I have bags to prove it. I fell in love with the voices of the 3 main characters - Skeeter, Aibileen and my favorite Minny. I felt as though I actually knew these people. They were developed so well they jumped right off the page at you. I ached for the women who had to learn how to adapt to the pre-civil rights restrictions of their race. The stories of black servants and their white employers wrenched at my heart and created a bitter knot in my stomach. I cried and was genuinely affected by what I read. The attitudes of (most of) the white characters in this story are a real embarrassment to me. I know it's just a novel, but I also know these attitudes unfortunately are not just fiction. This book is not just about race though. This book is about the struggle to find one's identity and the means of preserving that identity while trying to fit into society. Skeeter was a heroine as she took this journey and I rooted for her the whole way. I laughed, I cried, I held my breath and was captivated from beginning to end. If I had to say one thing that let me down I’d say I was a little taken back by how abrupt the ending was. Parts of the story felt incomplete to me. I would have liked to know how Celia felt about what happened at the doctor (don’t want to spoil it by saying more). Aibileen – did she ever write again. It was as if the author had a tight deadline or maybe a sequel is in the works …I would hope so. I still highly recommend this book; it’s definitely one of my all time favorites.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-11-28 03:31:55.
(Language: English)
My entire life experience with The South boils down to a brief road trip I took almost 20 years ago through Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee, et al. As a native Californian, what struck me most were the anti-abortion billboards we passed along the highway and the racial glass ceiling I noticed in almost every establishment I visited, although frankly I don't think the ceiling was as invisible as glass. I've read Faulkner amongst other Southern fiction and Alice Walker's autobiography, and seen plenty of documentaries and movies about the South and Mississippi in particular, but I don't think they were as personally insightful as this novel whose storyline covers the perspectives of black maids to young white women (mostly rich, but one poor turned rich) in 1960s Mississippi. Those of you from small towns (like me) will relate to the novel's portrayal of how difficult it can be to navigate the social microcosm of a small town, and you will also appreciate how profound this microcosm can be in illuminating the greater story of power and control in our country. This book is a reminder of what happens when people try to hold on so desperately to the small ground underneath them, out of fear that giving up power, money or status will cause them to lose rather than gain something. Fortunately, there is a heroine (supported by two others) who goes against the status quo, loses everything the town taught her to hold dear, but gains so much more. I hope I'm not giving too much away. Of course, the Southern dialect, wit and charm make this book candy for the ears, particularly on audiobook.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-06-27 09:18:39.
(Language: English)
This is a project that could have gone wrong in so many ways, but ends up being a satisfying, enlightening and buoyant read. Stockett writes in the voice of three characters: Aibelene and Minny are black domestics, with Aibelene being older, wiser and heartbroken from her son's death and Minny being angrier, trapped both in a claustrophobic society (early 1960s Jackson, Miss.) and an abusive marriage; and Skeeter is the idealistic (and naive) young white woman back from college who doesn't understand why the domestic she grew up with has left the family and won't answer her letters. The three are drawn together when Skeeter's friend (and the only truly one-dimensional character in the book, and a villian) Hilly begins a campaign to encourage white families to build separate outdoor bathrooms for their help, prompting Skeeter to decide she wants to write about the experience of black domestics and the other two, for their own reasons, decide to help her. In Stockett's Jackson, every character is smothered by the conventions of the day, not just the domestics, but the housewives they work for, the Junior League meetings, the politicians' sons, everyone. No one can escape the heaviness of the order that Southern Society has imposed, but once Skeeter, Aibelene and Minny start chipping away to tell and find their own truths, no one else in town can deny or keep quiet about their own truths. Sure, you can say this is like a less-depressing Oprah book, but it really does transcend that particular genre.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-03-22 08:43:44.
(Language: English)
As other reviewers have expressed, there are simply no words to describe what a wonderful novel this is. I started reading this book with high expectations, but the novel was more than I ever expected. The Help is the story of a couple of African American maids and the white women they work for. The novel is narrated by three different characters. Aibileen, who works as a maid and nanny to a little girl named Mae Mobley. Minny, an outspoken and not easily intimidated young maid with an abusive husband, and Skeeter, a white young lady who nostalgically remembers her own colored nanny who one day mysteriously disappeared. I was amazed at how three-dimensional the characters were. These are not your typical cardboard characters contrived to suit the book's plot. You almost feel like you are reading someone's diary. They are that life-like. In fact, the author could easily write another novel on any of the characters in The Help. All the characters in the book have their fascinating story to tell. Their words will grab you and keep you glued to the book until you reach the end. Aibileen did something for a friend and lives with the fear that the truth will cost her her job. Minny wonders why the heck her employer won't leave the house and what she is doing when she sneaks around upstairs. Skeeter wonders what her mother is hiding about her childhood nanny's disappearance. This isn't a book you can easily put down. Don't be afraid to buy this book because you anticipate several hundred pages describing abuse and injustice. There are some disturbing reminders of our nations history, but I thought this book was anything but depressing. "The Help" are witty, humorous, and intelligent women, who love to gossip and snicker at their ignorant and clueless employers. This book will make you laugh and fall in love with its beautiful characters. I agree with the reviewer who said this book needs to be turned into a movie. I purchased The Help on Kindle because I have too many books, and I don't want to end up with a book I will only read once. However, I am ordering myself a hardcover copy of this wonderful book because I anticipate that I will be reading it many more times in the future.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-27 04:20:00.
(Language: English)
Kathryn Stockett has a clear and engaging style, and I could not put this book down until I finished it. She achieved her goal of portraying the complicated relationship between African-American domestic workers and white Southern women without resorting to pat stereotypes, and she did it in a way that really caused the reader to root for her characters. Although the characters were engaging, Stockett could have developed them a bit more - it was difficult to believe Skeeter could be so free of prejudices when she did not have a single mentor or peer who shared her views (with the arguable exception of her father, but that storyline was not developed); Aibileen was unrealistically brave, virtuous, and long-suffering; Hilly was an unmitigated villain; and Celia was a classic empty-headed character with a pure heart. I liked Celia a great deal, but I found her unexplained egalitarianism unlikely - it seems more likely that her "poor white trash" upbringing in rural Mississippi before 1960 would have lent itself more to overt racism than to apparent color-blindness. Notwithstanding these minor critiques, this novel was beautifully-written and inspiring.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-24 08:41:37.
(Language: English)
Summary: Jackson Mississippi - 1962 - Two African-American maids and one white socialite named Skeeter come together for a clandestine project that puts them all at risk because they are suffocating within the lines that define their times. And Skeeter is tired of playing by the rules. This Book: Made me flinch from ever again even jokingly use the phrase "that's mighty white of ya"... a phrase I have never understood, but have caught myself using simply out of imitation of my peers... after learning of the behavior of my race against the African American working people of the 1960s, I now consider it the gravest of insults. From page one I loved this book. I first loved it because I fell in love with Abie - with the undeserved love she poured out on her "white babies". Her understated humor and pure heart were harbingers of The Truth. Then there was Minnie, and I knew I would not be able to put the book down. I could not stop chuckling at her great spirit, the strength of her soul and attitude toward life, its joys and hardships, and the idiocy of whites. I even loved to hate the horrid white socialites of Jackson Mississippi. Then there was Skeeter - standing there reminding me of myself - awkward, thinking, left out... the sturdy pickup truck of the Cadillac world. This book opened my eyes to the horrid cattiness and power of white upward society in the 1960s, which in some ways, may have been worse than the outward violence of the white lower class society. Maybe that's a stupid comment. This whole thing is difficult for me to understand, or even visualize, because thankfully, I was raised in the north, in the 1970s, in a non-prejudiced family. It is hard for me to realize that these dreadful inhumanities occurred so recently in human history; were going on even as I was peddling my Big Wheel over the lawn. The task which Skeeter, Abie, Minnie and the others undertook, reminded me in many ways of the underground resistance against the Nazi regime... it wasn't JUST that you were fighting the system, it was that you were risking your very life (or livelihood), and that you had no idea who was on which side of the fight... who might reveal you.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-04-29 10:49:04.
(Language: English)
This book was an emotional read for me. Not only is it one of my favorite time periods to read about, the characters found their way into my heart! I was worried that having multiple narrators would make the story disjointed but in fact it actually connected the characters and filled in some of the gaps in the story and reader’s perspective. Aibileen was my favorite character by far. She had such a big heart, even faced with such raw hatred from her white bosses. She loved her white babies and put such hope into them for the future, and really, how could she not? She would be lost in a world without hope for the future, even if the steps were tiny and desperate. The horrible things she had to hear while serving the white families was heartbreaking. It was revolting, that people could think those things and make up such vile stories to drive the fear and discrimination. Yet, those comments were common in that time which is the most disturbing thought to me. This is a fiction novel, but is so close to the truth it makes my heart hurt. While working on the project that crosses race lines, all three women are faced with threats, danger and fear but persevere because they have to. They just can’t imagine things continuing the way they are. They all find such a level of disgust in the women around them; they just can’t ignore it anymore. Secrets are revealed that repeatedly demonstrate that people are people and that race is nothing more than skin pigmentation. Some are good, some are bad. Some are black, some are white. I think this is a message that needs to be heard loud and clear in this day and age too, which is sad. We are all people!
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-04-29 10:00:07.
(Language: English)
To be honest, at first I was a little uncomfortable reading the language. Since each few chapters are supposed to be from a different perspective (2 of them being black maids from the post-civil war era in Jacksonville, Mississippi) they carry the voice of that person and it is English and grammar of those days. But after I got over myself, and just immersed myself into the story and the book, Ailibeen, Minny & Skeeter's worlds opened up to me beautifully. I fell in loved with these women, laughed with them, worried for them, tried my hardest to give them advice (which is just crazy). Overall, this book was a wonderful ride. well-written, engaging stories, lovely characters. I sat in my office, laughing so hard when the Terrible Awful was revealed. It was just a perfect moment. I was so proud. And I will never forget it. The character development sometimes seems slow, but it's worth every word because once the book they are writing comes into fruition, the rest of The Help moves so fast before you know it, you're done and missing them, hoping that they lived happily ever after. In addition, I thought it was beautiful that Katherine Stockett added a piece of her own story in the end, something completely real. Her addition to the story elevated this book into a whole new realm of love for me.
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