The Help

Kathryn Stockett has written a powerful first novel about the racial division between whites and blacks. My curiosity propelled me to read this 451 pg. book with fervor as I learned about a world so different from 2009. The setting is Jackson, Mississippi, around 1962. Ms. Skeeter is the cotton plantation owner's daughter with a college degree but no prospects for marriage. She moves back home to find her beloved maid, Constantine, gone with no one telling anything about her disappearance. Aibileen is a black maid, raising her 17th white child. She lost her own son to a foolish act of a white person and knows her heart is broken. Minny, Aibileen's best friend has the biggest mouth this side of the Mississippi and has lost plenty of jobs because of it.

These 3 women embark on an adventure destined to open the door to the many stories black maids have to tell about their white families. I was intrigued with the many details of a lifestyle such as this. It is different than a slave/master relationship because the help received a wage but segration was still there with separate bathrooms in white people houses.


The Help is addictively, compulsively readable. I couldn’t put it down. Stockett’s debut is well-written, and it is clear that she really understands Southern life and has made great efforts to understand what life was like for black women who served white families. She presents sad stories that leave a great glimmer of hope, and though she examines our differences and our mistakes, she highlights our humanity to wonderful effect. And while this is a serious book, it also has wonderfully lighthearted moments, humorous moments, and strikingly funny insights into women and their behavior.

I took this review from here.