Book Review-The Help

I'm a little late to the game with this one...
Everyone has  probably already read "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett, but if you haven't, you are missing a good book.  The story is told from the perspective of three women, 22 year old Eugenia (Skeeter), 60ish Aibileen, and 30ish Minny.  Skeeter is white, Aibileen and Minny are african-american.  Skeeter comes from a well-to-do family, Abileen and Minny are maids.  The story takes place in the early 60s in Jackson, Mississippi.  Needless to say, there are problems.
Skeeter was raised by her family's maid, who mysteriously (to Skeeter) disappeared during her senior year in college.  Her parents won't tell her why Constantine is gone, or where she is.  She has two friends,  Elizabeth and Hilly who are both married.  Skeeter's mother is at her wit's end to get Skeeter married as well.  Skeeter isn't as interested in being married as her friends.  She wants to be a writer.  She contacts a publishing house in New York and is mildly encouraged to write about something that is of personal interest.  As Skeeter watches the way her friends treat their maids, and thinks about Constantine, she realizes that the lives of the maids in Jackson interests her.  She realizes that they aren't treated very well,  but really has no clue about the injustices they are forced to endure, until she convinces some of them to tell her their stories.  At first they are very reluctant...they are not used  to speaking freely to a white woman.  They are also afraid that if it is found out that they are talking, the Klan members will retaliate.  Skeeter takes the stories and creates a book.  But how will it be received in the South,and what if people in Jackson recognize themselves?
I liked this book because it was interesting to see how the friendship between Skeeter and Minny and Abileen progressed, and how Skeeter grew into herself during the writing of the book and its aftermath.
 

The Help By Stockett, Kathryn 2009-02 - Amy Einhorn Books 9780399155345 Check Our Catalog BookPage Notable Title In Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, there are lines that are not crossed. With the civil rights movement exploding all around them, three women start a movement of their own, forever changing a town and the way women--black and white, mothers and daughters--view one another. HPL patron: Best book I've read in a long time.  Love it. HPL patron: Four stars.  Quite  a look at our history. HPL patron: Loved this book, a true aspect of the past.  …More

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