The Help
The #1 New York Times bestselling novel and basis for the Academy Award-winning film—a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t—nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.
Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who’s always taken orders quietly, but lately she’s unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She’s full of ambition, but without a husband, she’s considered a failure.
Together, these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a black maid in the South, that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town...
Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who’s always taken orders quietly, but lately she’s unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She’s full of ambition, but without a husband, she’s considered a failure.
Together, these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a black maid in the South, that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town...
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Community Reviews
This was a very heartwarming novel that opened my perspective up much wider than I could’ve imagined. I believe this is a novel everyone should read, as it demonstrates great strength, courage, self-control, and mostly, love. It’s a beautiful read.
I loved this book! It should be required reading for everyone as it really gives a first-person account of what it meant to be both black and white in the south back before the civil rights movement. The bonus: the writing is excellent and you can't put the book down!
I wasn't sure I would like this book when I suggested it to my February book club. Still, I thought the premise sounded interesting and I convinced myself that I ought read any novel that made such a huge splash as a debut novel. Turns out, I truly enjoyed every page of Stockett's The Help. She weaves the story seamlessly, beautifully. Life in Jackson, Mississippi becomes vivid and real as I read on. Her words even brought a sense of what kind of sweltering heat people in the South must endure on those hot days.
The 60s came to life as I read about these women, as I read about their lives, their journeys, their trials, tribulations and triumphs. What a fabulous novel, carefully and wonderfully crafted. Three women and one book about the good, the bad, and the ugly relations between white women of society and their black hired help.
Stockett breathes such life into these characters. Each woman has a distinct rhythm to their speech, their own concerns, their own attitudes. This novel evoked such strong emotions within me as I read on. As the book wore on, it was more and more difficult for me to spend much time away from it as I wondered how would it all turn out. There were several times that I laughed (Minny is especially funny with her attitude and observations) and other times where my heart grew tender (a scene between Celia Foote and Minny, the scenes where Skeeter and Celia are ostracized and left out), and still others where I was tense with fear wondering whether or not these women were going to be caught and what kind of consequences would they face if they were found out.
I am so grateful that I picked up this novel, and more importantly, that some people in my book club got to experience it with me. If you haven't picked it up yet, you should consider getting yourself a copy!
The 60s came to life as I read about these women, as I read about their lives, their journeys, their trials, tribulations and triumphs. What a fabulous novel, carefully and wonderfully crafted. Three women and one book about the good, the bad, and the ugly relations between white women of society and their black hired help.
Stockett breathes such life into these characters. Each woman has a distinct rhythm to their speech, their own concerns, their own attitudes. This novel evoked such strong emotions within me as I read on. As the book wore on, it was more and more difficult for me to spend much time away from it as I wondered how would it all turn out. There were several times that I laughed (Minny is especially funny with her attitude and observations) and other times where my heart grew tender (a scene between Celia Foote and Minny, the scenes where Skeeter and Celia are ostracized and left out), and still others where I was tense with fear wondering whether or not these women were going to be caught and what kind of consequences would they face if they were found out.
I am so grateful that I picked up this novel, and more importantly, that some people in my book club got to experience it with me. If you haven't picked it up yet, you should consider getting yourself a copy!
What a sweet story of people coming together to fight for something they believe in, despite the race and backgrounds that separate them. I really loved this book; I celebrated when they celebrated and feared when they feared.
This was such a great book. Set in the Deep South 1964. A white southern lady works together with several black maids to write a book about their experiences working for the white families and raising their children.
I could not put this book down. Only when my own family pleaded me to make them some food did I put it down.
While reading it I kept getting the feeling like it was happening around 1912 then the author would mention something like Kennedyâs assassination or Bobbyâs new song The Times they are a changin or a new commercial for Shake N Bake â it smacked me in the face that it was happing around the time I was born.
I could not put this book down. Only when my own family pleaded me to make them some food did I put it down.
While reading it I kept getting the feeling like it was happening around 1912 then the author would mention something like Kennedyâs assassination or Bobbyâs new song The Times they are a changin or a new commercial for Shake N Bake â it smacked me in the face that it was happing around the time I was born.
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