Book Review: The Help

Book: The Help

Author: Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

My comments:

I went into this book with high expectations. I'd heard many, many people say this was a very good book. And it has been a major seller at Borders. I went in wanting to like this book, wanting to be moved by this book, wanting to gain something from this book. And, I was and I did.

Here's a brief description of the book:

The Help is a 2009 novel by American author Kathryn Stockett. It is about African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s.

The novel is told from the perspective of three characters:

• Aibileen Clark, a middle-aged African-American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son;
• Minny Jackson, an African-American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's struggles with money and her desperate need for jobs; and
• Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, a young white woman who has recently moved back home after graduating college to find out her childhood maid has mysteriously disappeared.

These three stories intertwine to explain how life in Jackson, Mississippi revolves around "the help"; yet they are always kept at a certain distance because of racial lines.

The Help was a book I want to share and discuss with others. It opened my eyes to the world of the South in the 1960s. I appreciated the author's honest look at the world that she grew up in. I learned from her and was moved by her. I'm glad I read this book. I love the characters, I loved the storyline, I loved how they grew together. And I honestly, like how the author made both redeemable and irredeemable characters in the well-to-do white women (the likes of which she grew up with).

To be honest, my only critique is I struggle with the end. I admire the author's choice, but almost wish it had ended a bit differently. I think she gave it an honest ending, one that would have been true to the life and lives of the women involved, had they been actual women living in that time. Some people just aren't redeemable and some are. And that's something an optimist like me sometimes has a hard time with. But, the redeemable character mostly prevailed and there is hope and honesty in that.

A final note, without ruining anything, the book while offering inspiration to readers, also offers a lot of humorous twists along the way-- many of which are quite unexpected!

So, who should read this book? It's definitely geared toward a female audience. It's a good pick for a book club read. (It makes me wish I had a book club so I could talk about it with others. It's a book that needs to be discussed.)

Oh, and as an aside, a movie is set to come out this August. I hope it can capture this book. I think it's a book that could translate well to the screen if done right. I'm excited to see the film adaption!