My Review of "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


There is so much to love and admire about this book. "The Help" is the story of three women experiencing life in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962. The Civil Rights Movement is storming the country and the South is in the spotlight.



In “The Help” we get to know twenty-two year old Skeeter, a college graduate of Ole’ Miss. She doesn’t fit the mold of the Southern, white, gentile woman who marries young, has babies and employs black maids in her home. Skeeter is looking for more in her life and wants to change things in her closed, privileged Southern town.



We also meet Aibeleen, a black maid, who has spent her life raising white children. She is still grieving the loss of her only child, who died while his white bosses looked the other way. Aibeleen has a chance to tell her story about her life and knows that this could endanger her and her friends. This is the moment that Aibeleen has waited for all of her life. She is determined that nothing will stop her from telling the world the truth about what goes on behind closed doors in white Southern homes.



The last main character is the spunky Minny. She has a hard time keeping a job, mainly because of saying something she shouldn't have to her white employer. Minny is living a hard life, married to an abusive drunk,mother of five children and trying to deal with the way she is treated by the white women she works for. Minny is tested as she gains courage to join Aibeleen and share with the world about her life.



The writing in this novel is so compelling and Stockett knows how to bring her characters to life; not one of them falls flat.You start caring about them from the very beginning. At 451 pages this story never lost my attention. Every woman should read this story, and I know that many men would also enjoy this book. There will be someone there within the story that all people will be able to relate to. This book truly deserves a five star rating. It is a haunting, but much needed look at the lives of Black Americans and how they courageously stood up for change.



If you have not experienced "The Help" yet, then I highly recommend that you do.







View all my reviews