The Help
by
Kathryn Stockett
Adult Historical Fiction
Two African American maids and one bored young white debutante are the stars of this book set in rural Mississippi in 1963. Skeeter wants more than to marry and have children - she wants to be a journalist and novelist. Inspired by the changing world around her, she starts interviewing a friend’s maid to find out more about race relations. Why do coloreds have to use separate bathrooms? Is being a slave or domestic help all they can aspire to? These are dangerous times. There is a very real possibility that the African Americans she speaks to will be fired or lynched for being uppity. Can Skeeter make the world a better place or will it all go up in flames from her being nosy?
I read the first chapter and there were a whole lot of characters I could not keep straight. I stuck with it, though, and by the middle I thought it was a pretty good book. The suspense builds to the end.
There is a long line for this book at the library and I have spoken to at least 4 women who recommend this book.
I hate it when publishers release one-word title books. They are hard to find in the catalog and on the internet. Ghost? Cars?
In this case, though, the author explains the title in the book and it can have two meanings, so I can forgive her. It is actually a pretty clever title.
I wonder about the cover - three birds on a perch, but two birds are apart from the other bird. I would like to discuss this with others who have read it. I think it means that one of the birds is segregated from the others, but I don't know what kind of birds they are. Are they sparrows - as in "His Eye Is on the Sparrow"?
