The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I loved this book. I know it was on just about everyone’s best of ’09 lists, but it took me until now to finally read it. Everyone was right; it’s a wonderful book, definitely worth reading.

Skeeter has returned home to Jackson, Mississippi after graduating from Old Miss. It’s 1962 and she’s a twenty-two year old woman who is ready to make her mark on the world, has aspirations of becoming a writer and is advised to start by writing about what disturbs her. With the help of Aibileen, a black maid who is raising her 17th white child but whose own son has died, Skeeter begins to collect the stories of these black women who the upper class families rely on but don’t necessarily trust, need but don’t respect. Skeeter, Aibileen, and all those who work with them are crossing the lines that divide the town, could literally have their lives ruined or taken because of the project.

I don’t know what to say about this book that hasn’t already been said. It’s a touching book, heart-breaking and hopeful. I think at heart it’s about the relationships between the women, friends, employees, mothers, white, black. That’s also what Skeeter concludes about her own book.

Wasn’t that the point of the book? For women to realize, We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I’d thought. (pg. 418)

Honestly, if you haven’t read this one yet, pick it up. You won’t regret it.

Published in 2009
444 pages

Challenges: 100+, A to Z, Women Unbound

My copy was purchased and the above is my honest opinion. I am an Amazon associate.

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