Beautifully written grasping the values of middle america in the '60's. Fully drawn characters on both sides with a feeling a real life. ( )

"The Help" refers to the hired help in the south in the 60s as well as the title of a book being written by one of the characters about the experiences of black female's who worked for white families during this volatile period of time in history. Katheryn Stockett's writing takes you to a place in time in history and immersing you in the problems facing the characters. Thoroughly enjoyed. The audio version was well read by Octavia Spencer, Bahni Turpin and Jenna Lamia. Recommended. ( )

stockett has made the political personal in "the help." she gives shading to a topic that mostly all americans are familiar with through history books and specials on pbs or the history channel. those are the quick forms we reach to when we think of the 1960's and race relations. your mind can jump to pictures of lynchings, lunch counters, hoses and police dogs. stockett's novel, though, shrinks that large political scene into something intimate. race is played out through the interactions between relatively well-off, educated white women and their relatively poor, uneducated black female workers. if this tale was told through the use of men, it would have been one of violence and aggression but this story shows the more subtle emotional and verbal "violence" of women on women.

stockett's characters are a motely crew of outsiders from skeeter who's true aim is to write and not just be a wife and mother, to celia who's marilyn monroe look shakes the conversative southern coven and minnie who just cannot keep her mouth shut. they're softened by the kindess of abilene who works hard to raise her "children" to be color-blind.

i thought it was a well-written and humorous story that showed while there was hate, there was also love between these women and that we create lines to divide when we're really all just the same! ( )

This rather beautiful books tells the story of three women, two of whom - Aibileen and Minny - are black maids working for white families in Jackson, Mississippi, in the 1960s, when racial segregation meant that black and white people could not mix socially, could not use the same restaurants, and could not go to the same hospitals or churches. The third woman is a white girl named Skeeter, who comes home from college with dreams of becoming a writer. She eventually decides to write a book about what it is like to be a black maid working for a white family, and she, Aibileen and Minny become embroiled in an exciting and potentially dangerous project.

I'm not sure I can accurately put into words how much I enjoyed this book. The three narrators' voices (Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter) come through beautifully and each character is distinct and wholly believeable. We see each character's life through their own eyes, and watch as they cope with their own problems (Aibileen is still grieving over the death of her son, and trying hard to make the young child she looks after grow up to be a nice person; Minny lives with an abusive husband and several demanding children; Skeeter has an over-bearing mother who won't explain the sudden disappearance of Skeeter's beloved childhood maid).

As well as the three central characters, there are a multitude of other people of great importance to the storyline. Hilly Holbrook is a long time friend of Skeeter's, but the bond between them is pulled very taut as the hypocritical and bigoted Hilly dislikes Skeeter's desire for awareness and change. Their other best friend, Elizabeth Leefolt, is Aibileen's boss and it is her daughter who Aibileen cares for (seemingly far more than Elizabeth does). However, my favourite of the 'supporting' players is Celia Foote - Minny's boss, who herself feels an outsider, as Hilly and her friends consider that she is not good enough to associate with them.

Historical events such as the death of JFK and Martin Luther King's famous "I have a dream" speech are covered here, adding to the already very real sense of the time in which this novel is set.

One of the things I most admired about the novel is that the author does not just show the characters as either good or bad. She shows them as totally believable people. Some of the nicer people sometimes do less-than-good things, and some of the not-so-nice characters in the book can show that they have a heart.

I loved this book, and would say it is definitely my favourite book out of all that I have read this year. It's thought-provoking, funny in places (look out for the scene with the toilets), and it made me cry in other places. I was riveted throughout; my attention was grabbed on page one, and was held right through to the last page.

Utterly fantastic read, and very strongly recommended. 10/10 ( )

It is 1962 and the world is at a volitile stage. Immediately prior to the beginning of the civil rights movement, a young college graduate - Miss Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan - becomes interested in the plight of colored women working as maids to the elitist white women in Jackson Mississippi. "A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't." - (Stockett, 2009)

Ms Stockett does a good job of realistically portraying the characters, making the reader a part of the story from page one. Her antagonists (especially the hypocritical and pushy Hilly Holbrook) were so realistic I wanted to tell them where to go, just as I would do in real life with people bearing the same personalities... and I wanted to alternately hug and beat some sense into the annoyingly passive Elizabeth Leefolt. who does only what she's told instead of showing any of her own initiative. Miss Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny are, of course, to be admired for their determination and courage and daring.

Important historical events such as the murder of Medgar Evers and the assinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy were accurately placed at the times where they belong. This helped give a realistic historical sense of the times depicted as well as enhancing the story. The liberties taken with history were minor - using a couple of songs prior to the time those tunes had actually been released - which actually helped the story progress rather than working against it as a major historical flaw would have done.

The Help is one of the best new novels I've read this year - quite possibly the best of the best. It should not be missed.

This review was previously published on Dragonviews ( )