The Help - Kathryn Stockett

The Help

Kathryn Stockett

2009

My mom made me read this book. Well, she didn't force me to, but she spent an entire car ride talking about it and pretty much spoiling all the good parts for me. But she made it sound so good, so I ended up reading it myself. And it was good. 

The Help is set in Mississippi in 1962, where maids are hired and white women think they're all that. It is the story of three different women, told from each of their perspectives. There's Aibileen, a maid, who is raising her seventeenth white child; Minny, who is Aibileen's best friend, a maid, and also one of the sassiest women in Mississippi; and Skeeter, who has just graduated from college and her mother wants her to marry. The three women, as well as a few others, team up on a project which changes their town and the people in it. There's a lot more to the story than that little bit I've just written, but I don't want to do what my mother did and give the plot away. 

The characters are very well written. You fall in love with them right at the beginning and then you just want the best for them throughout the novel. The plot was carefully crafted and was unlike and book I had read before. Having not grown up in the 1960's, I had only heard about things like this, but reading about them was entirely different. Some of the things that happen make me question what people were thinking in that time*. 

I will tell you that my favourite part involved chocolate pie.  Chocolate pie is my favourite type of pie, and the book kind of made me have a different perspective on that. You'll see why if you've read the book. My other favourite part involved a lot of toilets. But that's all I'll say on the matter. 

The Help has also been made into a movie, and it's also very good, but it leaves a few things out. I highly suggest reading the book first and then watching the movie.
The Book Club at my school also read this book first term. It was such a good reading experience because  you got to have everyone's different perspectives on the events, and we ended up having some very good discussions. Our leader even looked up Sugar Ditch and told us about what she found. We also watched the movie together at the end of book club, but I wasn't able to make it that day. If you are in a book club, this is a very good book to read!

I give this book 4.4 stars out of 5. I loved the characters and the plot. Everything was believable (even though you may want it to seem like it's totally fictional). Just don't let your mom tell you everything that's happening ;) 

*They let them cook their food, but not use their toilets because of germs.