Blurb from the book

Enter a vanished world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962.

Where black maids raise white children, but aren’t trusted not to steal silver. There’s Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own son’s tragic death. Minny, whose cooking as sassy as her tongue. And white Miss Skeeter, home from college, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared.

Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny-the deadly trio. No one would believe they’d be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend on and rely upon one another. Each is in search of the truth. And together they have an extraordinary story to tell.

My Review

The story moves forward through the narratives of the three central characters. The book has thirty-four chapters with the beginning and ending chapters by my favorite character, Aibileen. There’s also a heartfelt chapter in the end by the author about her maid she had while growing up.

I highly recommend this book. I think it’s one of the books that I would say lived up to its hype and deserves much, much more. It’s an absolutely domestic story, and yet Kathryn Stockett managed to keep my curiosity piqued throughout until the last page. There was always some kind of suspense building up. It kept provoking me to think- oh no, what is going to happen now. I kept crossing my fingers hoping, the trio endured till the very end.

And I cannot even begin to describe the lessons of humanity, kindness, and respect that the author hands out very subtly. And these are vital lessons. Like in the last chapter covering Miss Skeeter when she mulls – 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. You will hate Hilly, you won’t care about Elizabeth, you’ll love Skeeter, you’ll want to hug Minny, but you’d want someone like Aibileen to hold your finger for you. The characters are so real and so endearing, you’ll imagine them before your very eyes.

I would also like to mention the variety in the male characters that the author offers. Mr. Johny Foote, Celia’s husband, is a husband of every woman’s dream, while Mr. Leefolt is a quintessential man-of-the-house character. And Leroy is the typical drunken husband, wife-beating kind who needs one glare from his wife, and he’ll whimper in the corner like a scared cat.

Final Verdict

The writing is easy-to-follow, the plot is simple. It is the characters that will stay with you and warm your heart for a very long time.

It’s for the number of times I laughed-out-loud more than I shed tears that I rate this book a perfect five stars. Because I believe that making someone laugh is much tougher than making a person cry, and this book just managed both.

Who Should Read This

I recommend this book to readers who love reading about real-life conflicts, real people, historical fiction, or just simple stories with great characters.

Top 5 Quotes from The Help by Kathryn Stockett

“You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”

“Ever morning, until you dead in the ground, you gone have to make this decision. You gone have to ask yourself, "Am I gone believe what them fools say about me today?”

“I always thought insanity would be a dark, bitter feeling, but it is drenching and delicious if you really roll around in it.”

“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.”

“Write about what disturbs you, particularly if it bothers no one else.”

Books Like The Help by Kathryn Stockett