First effort a "hit" 2010-03-03

Reviewer: Lynne Gaudio

"The Help" is a wonderful story of a difficult time in our history. You feel as though you know the people Stockett has written about. I couldn't put it down. I highly recommend this and anxiously look forward to her next book.

All the help we need 2010-03-03

Reviewer: Deborah Barchi

Recently a friend lent me a copy of The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I'd heard about this book and knew it was one of those unlikely first novels by an unknown author that is catapulted to success primarily through word of mouth. It sounded like something I would enjoy, and it was on my ever growing list of "must get to someday" books; not urgent, but worth checking out when I had the time.

What made it a little different for me was that my friend was lending me an audio book rather than a traditional printed book. Now I know that audio books are very popular and that legions of fans absolutely love listening to audio books at home or in their cars. I was not one of these fans. The idea of listening to a book while driving, having to break off at an interesting part when I arrived at my destination, or fumbling to put in a new CD while trying to pay attention to the road did not much appeal to me.

But I had this 15 disc CD volume of The Help with a fervent declaration from my friend that I MUST listen to it. So what else could I do but pop in a CD one day on my way to work and start listening?

Immediately, I was hooked. The Help takes place in the Jim Crow South, in Mississippi in the early 1960's. Segregation, no matter how brutal or demeaning, is a way of life, with few willing or able to challenge it. Many white families in Jackson Mississippi had maids to clean their houses and raise their children, and these maids were inevitably black women or "colored" as they were called.

The cruel irony of a black woman raising a white child who then goes on to embrace segregation and hire his or her own black servants is one of the driving themes of The Help. Simply put, this story is told through the eyes of three characters: Aibileen, a compassionate maid who has raised white children for 40 years; Minnie, a firebrand whose quick temper gets her fired from her servant jobs every year or so; and Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, a young college educated white woman who doesn't seem to fit in anywhere.

Skeeter wants more than anything to live and work in New York City, away from her suffocating mother and the racist injustices of her small hometown. Following the promptings of a famous book editor, she decides to write a non-fiction book that will feature true stories about black maids working in Jackson, Mississippi.

The problem is that no maid would be crazy enough to take part in the project, knowing that if their identity were discovered, losing their jobs would be the least of their worries. Beatings, lynchings, and Jim Crow restrictions had been in place since the end of the Civil War, and there was no black family in Jackson that had not suffered as a result.

How Skeeter eventually befriends Aibileen and convinces her to help with the project is the center of this novel, with its superb regional dialogue, quirky humor,fearful suspense, and essential message of hope and courage. There is no "happily ever after ending", but there is a realistic ending that honors those who have the courage to speak the truth and dare to live their authentic lives.

But the best thing about the audio version is the delight of hearing four talented actresses purr, drawl, whisper, and shout in the vibrant and authentic voices of the people of Jackson, Mississippi. Whether you listen to it or read it, The Help will keep you enthralled and eager for more.

A literary work of art for historical accuracy, vivid characters, and a lovely story 2010-03-03

Reviewer: Tina Hayes

"The Help" by Kathryn Stockett introduces the world to three characters we won't soon forget: Aiblileen, the maid/nanny who raises white children with more love than most of their parents ever give them; Minny, the housekeeper with famous cooking skills, and one hell of a temper; and Eugenia 'Skeeter' Phelan, the writer in her early 20s who finds herself surrounded by racial injustices during the civil rights movement, appaled by the way her white friends treat their help, even though she herself grew up with an African-American maid she loved dearly.

Kathryn Stockett acurately captures the dialect and speech patterns of the South taking the reader into high society livingrooms to withness the action first hand. Don't be misled into thinking this is a book that solely focuses on civil rights in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s. It does do an excellent job of shining a light on the social injustices of the time, but it is the three strong women, with their backbones and big hearts, that really steal the show.

Aibileen loves all 17 little white children she's raised as much as her own son, and she's determined to make sure Mae Mobley, her current charge, grows up assured of her own self-worth and kindness, and that she turns out to be a much better person than Mrs. Leefolt, the child's indifferent mother. Minny takes a job for the Celia Foote, the town's social outcast, after losing her job due to the 'terrible awful' thing she does to Miss Hilly, the town leader and head bitch troublemaker. (You will HAVE to read the novel to see what she does, but it will surprise the heck out of you!) When Hilly campaigns to have everyone in Jackson put in a maid's toilet--so Hilly won't have to soil her behind by sitting on the same pot the maid used when she visits her friends--a line is crossed. Skeeter decides to write a tell-all book, and after a bit of coaxing, Aibileen and Minny agree to help.

I finished this books days ago but cannot get the characters out of my mind. Mrs Stockett, if you read this, could you PLEASE consider writing a sequel? I would LOVE to see where Aibileen, Minny, Mae Mobley, Miss Skeeter, and mean ole Miss Hilly are a few years after this ending.

This is a true literary work of art that stands above the rest, one that will be referenced in years to come for its historical accuracy, the vivid characters, and the lovely story it tells.

Help 2010-03-03

Reviewer: Suzanne

What a remarkable book! This is historical fiction, as it portrays a time in America when maids were treated more like slaves - ownership and segregation were disguised as employing free black women. Have we really changed? I am not so sure, if we look at the different minorities who have now become the Help. A must read.

Insightful 2010-03-03

Reviewer: Avid Reader

Although written by a white woman, this book seems to capture the spirits (not souls) of African American women who survived in the home of white people. Thank you Ms. Stockett. Moreover, she captured the mean spiritedness of white women. That racist spirit is within many of them today. I am an African American woman and I have never been THE HELP in anyone's home. My mother and aunts were school teachers. Nevertheless, we knew many women who worked in white homes. I can tell you that many things were put in the food of abusive white people. So, Ms. Stockett sounds as if she has heard some of those stories from the help themselves. It was their way of resolving their anger. The dialect was way off, but that would be difficult for a white writer to capture although some have done so.