The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Apr 30, 2010 Meredith Holley marked it as abandoned · review of another edition

Recommends it for: read Coming of Age in Mississippi instead, please

Recommended to Meredith by: Linda Harrison, Gibney

Shelves: reviewed, disturbing, punching-tour

I have this terrible, dreary feeling in my diaphragm area this morning, and I’m not positive what it’s about, but I blame some of it on this book, which I am not going to finish. I have a friend who is mad at me right now for liking stupid stuff, but the thing is that I do like stupid stuff sometimes, and I think it would be really boring to only like smart things. What I don’t like is when smart (or even middle-brained) writers take an important topic and make it petty through guessing about wh ...more

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Sep 22, 2009 Caroline rated it did not like it · review of another edition

I was uncomfortable with the tone of the book; I felt that the author played to very stereotypical themes, and gave the characters (especially the African American ones) very inappropriate and obvious voices and structure in terms constructing their mental character. I understand that the author wrote much of this as a result of her experiences growing up in the south in the 1960's, and that it may seem authentic to her, and that she was even trying to be respectful of the people and the time; b ...more

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Jul 04, 2010 Joe rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: gift, mlis-book-club, guilty-pleasures, historical-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I read the first paragraph of The Help, absorbing the words, but suddenly being caught off guard by the dialect. I stopped reading.

I shifted the book in my hands, flipping to the author's biography and photograph on the back of the dust jacket.

Staring up at me was this:

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Oh, sweet Jesus, I thought. An affluent, white Manhattanite. Great. And one who apparently fancies herself a master at Southern Black Vernacular. Even better.

I rolled my eyes and returned to page one, fully prepared ...more

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Jun 17, 2009 Annalisa rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Annalisa by: Jeana Quigley

Shelves: book-club, historical-fiction, voice

Here is an illustrative tale of what it was like to be a black maid during the civil rights movement of the 1960s in racially conflicted Mississippi. There is such deep history in the black/white relationship and this story beautifully shows the complex spectrum, not only the hate, abuse, mistrust, but the love, attachment, dependence.

Stockett includes this quote by Howell Raines in her personal except at the end of the novel: There is no trickier subject for a writer from the South than that o Here is an illustrative tale of what it was like to be a black maid during the civil rights movement of the 1960s in racially conflicted Mississippi. There is such deep history in the black/white relationship and this story beautifully shows the complex spectrum, not only the hate, abuse, mistrust, but the love, attachment, dependence.

Stockett includes this quote by Howell Raines in her personal except at the end of the novel: There is no trickier subject for a writer from the South than that of affection between a black person and a white one in the unequal world of segregation. For the dishonesty upon which a society is founded makes every emotion suspect, makes it impossible to know whether what flowed between two people was honest feeling or pity or pragmatism. An eloquent way to describe Stockett's intentions for this novel. I know most reviews will probably focus on the racial relationships in the book, but to me the most haunting statement was that when you are paying someone to care for you and their livelihood depends on making you happy, you can't expect an honest relationship.

I did not expect this book to hit so close to home. After all, I did not grow up in the South and completely missed the racial mind shift in the country. But the book isn't just about racism and civil rights. It's about the employer relationship too. And I did grow up in South America with a maid trying to keep herself out of poverty by making our crazy family happy. As much as we loved her, I can see so many of the pitfalls from these complex relationships in my own history. I know our maid was stuck between pleasing my mother and raising us the way she believed appropriate. I know it was physically hard to work from sunup to late everyday and emotionally hard to never relax because she wasn't the decision maker of our home and at any moment she could be reprimanded for making the wrong decision. She had absolutely no power, and yet she was all powerful to shape and mold us.

I needed her, felt bad for how much I imposed upon her, but I never voiced how much I appreciated or loved her. I took her for granted. Even though she was paid to love us, I know she did. We were her children, especially my youngest brothers. And yet when she moved back home, we lost contact. Was it out of laziness of our own narcissistic lives or was the complexity of our relationship so draining she cut the tie? It is my fear that she thinks we did not return her affection and only thought of her as the maid. I often think about her, we all reminisce about her wondering where she is, and more than anything, I just want to know that she is happy and tell her thank you. It is so strange that someone who is such a vital part of your childhood can just vanish out of your life. "They say its like true love, good help. You only get one in a lifetime." I know. Believe me, I know.

The story is strong and real and touched something deep inside me. I could so relate to the motherly love from Constantine to Skeeter, see that pain in the triangle between Aibileen and Mae Mobley and Elizabeth, feel the exasperation of Minny toward Celia, and understand the complexity of the good and bad, the love and hate, the fear and security. Stockett captured all these emotions.

I also loved the writing style. When style compliments plot, I get giddy. I don't always love grammatically incorrect prose or books about an author trying to be published, but here it works because it's honest. The novel is about a white woman secretly compiling true accounts of black maids--and the novel is in essence a white author trying to understand black maids. The styles parallel each other as do the messages. The point of Skeeter's novel is to make people see that people are just people no matter the color of their skin and Stockett's novel beautifully portrays that with both good and bad on both sides. The fictional novel cover is decorated with the white dove of love and understanding. To get us there, Stockett gives us three ordinary birds, a picture of ordinary life asking to be accepted for its honest simplicity.

This book is Stockett's masterpiece, that story in her that was just itching to get out. From the first page, the voice of the characters took vivid form and became real, breathing people. I loved Aibileen, but think I loved Minny's voice more because she is such a strong character. Besides the maids, I loved Hilly as a portrayal of the white Southern belle with the ingrained belief that black people are not as good as whites, verbalized as "separate but equal" so it doesn't sound racist. My favorite scene was when Hilly says they have to be careful of racists because they are out there. She's a bit over the top, but if you've been to the South, not that far of a stretch. I just would have liked to find some redeeming qualities in her from Skeeter's perspective.

While there are some instances where I felt Stockett was squeezing historical facts into the novel, forming the plot around these events instead of letting them play backdrop, and occasionally I could read the modern woman in this tale pushing her message too hard, Stockett's sincerity to understand and appreciate shines through. She lived this book to some extent and the story is a part of her. Because it's important to her it becomes important to me. ...more

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Aug 07, 2010 Maegen rated it did not like it

Shelves: audiobooks, disappointments, recommended-to-me

While it was a well-written effort, I didn't find it as breathtaking as the rest of the world. It more or less rubbed me the wrong way. It reads like the musings of a white woman attempting to have an uncomfortable conversation, without really wanting to be uncomfortable. It's incredibly hard to write with integrity about race and be completely honest and vulnerable. The author failed to make me believe she was doing anything beyond a show & tell. And if her intent isn't anything greater, th ...more

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Mar 15, 2010 Ellen rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: novels

The Kindle DX I ordered is galloping to the rescue today...

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AND, for all the book purists (which would include me), this is a need, rather than a want. Post-several eye surgeries, I'm just plain sick of struggling to read the words on a page.

However, despite the visual challenges, I read all 451 pages of The Help yesterday. Clearly, the book held my interest. However, I spent last night pondering why the book wasn't as good as my nonstop reading would indicate.

What was wrong?

Most of all, I thin ...more

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Nov 27, 2015 Lola rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, politics, adult

“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?”

Color me surprised. I’m not one to read many historical fictions, especially when they don’t include any fantasy elements. They read like nonfiction, and nonfiction is only good for me if I’m in need of sleep. B-but…

The Help is different. It doesn’t only describe the life of housemaids, in the second half of the 20th century, in M ...more

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Apr 08, 2010 karen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: it-is-for-class

enthusiasm!!!

this book and i almost never met. and that would have been tragic. the fault is mostly mine - i mean, the book made no secret of its existence - a billion weeks on the best seller list, every third customer asking for it at work, displays and reviews and people on here praising it to the heavens. it practically spread its legs for me, but i just kept walking. i figured it was something for the ladies, like sex and the city, which i don't have to have ever seen an episode of to know enthusiasm!!!

this book and i almost never met. and that would have been tragic. the fault is mostly mine - i mean, the book made no secret of its existence - a billion weeks on the best seller list, every third customer asking for it at work, displays and reviews and people on here praising it to the heavens. it practically spread its legs for me, but i just kept walking. i figured it was something for the ladies, like sex and the city, which i don't have to have ever seen an episode of to know that it's not something i would enjoy. i figured that this book was on the ladder one rung above chick lit. so i am to blame for my snobbish dismissiveness, but have you seen this cover?? what is with that sickroom color scheme? and i hate those stupid little birds. what is chip kidd so busy doing that he can't just pop over here and lend a hand?? it is not my fault for thinking it was a crappy book when that cover wanted me to think it is a crappy book.

but this book is good. really, really good. again, i thank you, readers' advisory class, for fixing me up with this book. it has been a long time since i have read such a frankly entertaining book. (if a book about the emotionally-charged early days of the civil rights movement can be called entertaining.) this is just an effortlessly told story, split between three different women, whose voices and perspectives never run together - the secondary characters are also completely believable and are all different brands of repellent, with some token sympathetic characters tossed in for the halibut. i don't even know what to say, i just feel all "aw, shucks, i loved this book" about it - there were several times i would catch myself grinning at a turn of phrase or a situation, and every time i would start to doubt myself, that maybe i would like sex and the city. or buffy the vampire slayer or all these things i have formerly judged without having read/seen/eaten. maybe i am like these white women in the book, taking their help for granted and assuming they have nothing to say to each other because of their unwillingness to talk to them and know them as human beings. maybe buffy and i have so much to learn from one another...

then i would snap out of it and remember that my gut opinions are 99.99% foolproof.

so for you other people, who need to be swayed by hype - i give you hype. this book's hype is merited - it would be a perfect book to read this summer when you are melting from the sun and need a good story.. this is a very tender and loving book, about hope and sisterhood and opportunity, but also about beatings and terror and shame.

still hate those birds, though.

come to my blog! ...more

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Apr 02, 2015 Kai rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, owned, important, feminist-as-fuck

“We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I'd thought.”

My favourite book next to Harry Potter. This novel did so many things to me.

There was lots of crying...
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...happiness...
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...sass...
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...more tears...
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...and most of all friendship.
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Read it.

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Jan 12, 2016 Majenta rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

"I know what a froat is and how to fix it."

Aibileen Clark knows how to cure childhood illnesses and how to help a young aspiring writer write a regular household-hints column for the local paper. But she's struggling mightily to deal with grief over the death of her 20-something son, and she SURE doesn't think conditions will ever improve for African-American domestic-engineering servants in early-1960s Jackson, Mississippi or anywhere else in the South.

Aibileen's good friend Minny has been a ...more

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Jan 07, 2012 James rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1-fiction, 4-historical-fiction

I read this book at least 4 years ago, before I began to more consistently use Goodreads... and now I'm going back to ensure I have some level of a review for everything I read. It's only fair... if the author took the time to write it, and I found a few hours to read it... I should share my views so others can decide if it's a good book for them.

That said... did anyone not love or like this book? I'll have to check out some other people's reviews... And I wonder how many people just watched the I read this book at least 4 years ago, before I began to more consistently use Goodreads... and now I'm going back to ensure I have some level of a review for everything I read. It's only fair... if the author took the time to write it, and I found a few hours to read it... I should share my views so others can decide if it's a good book for them.

That said... did anyone not love or like this book? I'll have to check out some other people's reviews... And I wonder how many people just watched the movie... Oh well... I'll keep this review short and not in my usual format, as probably everyone I'm friends with on here has already read it! :)

The only reason I'm not giving it a 5 is because I felt like some of the stories needed a better or stronger ending. I truly think it is a fantastic book, and it makes you really think about what happened in the not-so-distant past... and probably still happening in some parts of the country today. Scary thoughts, but in the end, at least the right people got something back they deserved, even if it wasn't as much as it should have been.

The characters are very clear and strong. And when there are upwards of 10 to 12 supporting or lead female characters, an author has to spend a tremendous amount of time creating distinct pictures in a readers mind. Stockett did a great job with this task. Each and every one shows you a different personality: leaders and followers, movers and shakers, smart and silly, strong and weak, tolerant and intolerant, thirsty for all the world has to offer and content to stay the same for an entire lifetime.

When a writer can shuffle this many people throughout a story, they have invested themselves into the book, the characters, the setting, the theme, the future.

I haven't read anything else by this author, but just thinking about this book, and realizing I haven't looked at her other works makes me want to run to her profile now and pick one. Perhaps that's what I'll go do!

About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at http://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.

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Dec 01, 2010 Nancy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-books, historical-fiction, made-me-cry, race-relations, favorites, library-books, shelf-inflicted, award-winners

Posted at Shelf Inflicted

One of my co-workers, a guy who isn’t much of a reader, borrowed The Help from the library based on his English professor’s recommendation. The guy just couldn’t stop talking about the story, so I decided to borrow the audio book. It’s not very often I get to discuss books with people in real life and I wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip by. Audio books are good for me. I was so engrossed in the story and characters that I drove the speed limit on the highway and
Posted at Shelf Inflicted

One of my co-workers, a guy who isn’t much of a reader, borrowed The Help from the library based on his English professor’s recommendation. The guy just couldn’t stop talking about the story, so I decided to borrow the audio book. It’s not very often I get to discuss books with people in real life and I wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip by. Audio books are good for me. I was so engrossed in the story and characters that I drove the speed limit on the highway and took the scenic route while running errands. Sometimes I went out at lunch and needlessly drove in circles, or sat in the parking lot at work, waiting for a good place to stop.

It is 1962 in Jackson, Mississippi. Twenty-two year-old Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan has returned home after graduating college to find that Constantine, her family’s maid and the woman who raised her, has mysteriously disappeared. Aibileen is a black maid in her 50’s who works for the Leefolt family and cares deeply for their daughter, Mae Mobley. She is still grieving for her young son, who died in a workplace accident. Minny is Aibileen’s closest friend and a wonderful cook, but her mouth keeps getting her into trouble and no one wants to hire her, until Aibileen helps secure her a position with Celia Foote, a young woman who is new in town and unaware of Minny’s reputation.

The story jumps back and forth between the three characters, all of them providing their version of life in the South, the dinner parties, the fund-raising events, the social and racial boundaries, family relationships, friendships, working relationships, poverty, hardship, violence, and fear. Skeeter’s mother wants her to find a nice man and get married, but she’s more interested in changing the world. Her plans to anonymously compile a candid collection of stories about the maids’ jobs and the people they work for will risk her social standing in town, her friendships, and the lives of the maids who tell their stories.

I loved this story! The characters really came alive for me, and the author did a good job acknowledging actual historical events which lent richness and authenticity to the story. I laughed and cried, felt despair and hope. This is an important story that is a painful reminder of past cruelty and injustice. It shows how far we have progressed and how much more we still have to accomplish.
...more

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Jan 22, 2019 Jaline rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-completed, x-favourites

This is an amazing and moving novel. So much so that tasks, appointments, and everything else in my life were put on hold while I read, laughed, cried, celebrated, hurt, and felt healed. Some friends once told me about a spiritual teacher who would often say, “There is magic in the telling”. The truth in those words vibrates throughout this brilliantly conceived and executed novel.

The author herself talks about the risk of a white woman telling the stories of black women living in an era of slow This is an amazing and moving novel. So much so that tasks, appointments, and everything else in my life were put on hold while I read, laughed, cried, celebrated, hurt, and felt healed. Some friends once told me about a spiritual teacher who would often say, “There is magic in the telling”. The truth in those words vibrates throughout this brilliantly conceived and executed novel.

The author herself talks about the risk of a white woman telling the stories of black women living in an era of slow transition between overt, undisguised racism and a more covert and secretive racism. Yet, many white people of that time did not recognize racism for what it was: the structure of society was simply their everyday life. As long as the black people needed the jobs offered by white society, they would be subject to obeying every command, swallowing frustration, anger, and their own pride – and usually for much less than minimum wage. The consequences of not swallowing were just too dangerous.

This novel, a book about writing a book about the domestic service of black women in early 1960’s Mississippi is a finely balanced, on-the-edge story – like a tightrope walker dozens of feet above Niagara Falls. One slip, one false step, and the entire premise would collapse into the water.

Instead, there is a rare and precious authenticity to these stories that are thematically pulled together by Skeeter - the white woman determined to write the book, and Aibileen – the black domestic worker employed by one of Skeeter’s friends. And then there is Minny. Rebellious, full of anger, intelligent, wise, and good - how she was able to cope with a home life filled with conflict and carry on working fulltime besides is beyond me.

My admiration for so many of these characters started small and continued to build throughout the novel. Their lives, their experiences, their authenticity and humanity touched my soul. I will always be grateful to this beautifully crafted novel for opening my eyes and my heart to a larger perspective. ...more

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Jul 10, 2010 Salome G rated it did not like it · review of another edition

The story itself: This could have really used a better editor. I didn't understand why the boyfriend character was even in there--he added nothing to the story. In addition, Skeeter keeps telling us that Hilly and Elizabeth are her friends but that's just it--she tells us. We never see why she would want to be friends with either of them, Hilly especially. Other characters were equally unbelievable. All the maids are good people and so gracious to Miss Skeeter, save one. Reading their interactio ...more

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Mar 02, 2011 Jason rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: for-kindle, 2011, reviewed

“It's true. There are some racists in this town,” Miss Leefolt say.
Miss Hilly nod her head, “Oh, they're out there.”

Law, this book be good! I’m on tell you how good this book be. Everthing ‘bout this book be good, you gone read this book and you gone see what I’s mean. Law!

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Jun 18, 2018 Dana Ilie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: bookclub

There is a lot to like about this book. It is easy to be drawn in by the storyline and the characters and it’s a pretty fast read. It’s a historical time-period I’ve been really interested, and I thought the portrayal of the events and the relationships were pretty accurately done.

The characters are really well done – they’re all pretty different and easy to tell apart, and they’re all so likable in their own real, sometimes prickly ways.

And I was impressed by the fairly even-handedness of the t ...more

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Mar 22, 2010 Tatiana rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: abandoned, why-the-hype, historical

I don't think this could be any more obvious, trite and cliche-ridden. The book's only aim is to make white people feel better about themselves (you know, that same old a-brave-white-lady-savior story you've read and a few dozen times before). Guess it worked. Again.

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Jul 03, 2017 Matt rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommended to Matt by: Sarah Suzy

Shelves: audiobook, buddy-read

Kathryn Stockett has created this wonderful story that depicts life in America’s South during the early 1960s. A mix of humour and social justice, the reader is faced with a powerful piece on which to ponder while remaining highly entertained. In Jackson, Mississippi, the years leading up to the Civil Rights Movement presented a time where colour was a strong dividing line between classes. Black women spent much of their time serving as hired help and raising young white children, while their mo Kathryn Stockett has created this wonderful story that depicts life in America’s South during the early 1960s. A mix of humour and social justice, the reader is faced with a powerful piece on which to ponder while remaining highly entertained. In Jackson, Mississippi, the years leading up to the Civil Rights Movement presented a time where colour was a strong dividing line between classes. Black women spent much of their time serving as hired help and raising young white children, while their mommas were playing ‘Society Lady’ as best they could. Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan may have been part of the clique, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she held herself on the periphery, at times looking in. Skeeter was unwed and with few prospects, though her time away at college left her ready to tackle the workforce until an eligible man swept her off her feet. Skeeter returned to Jackson, only to find her family’s help left under mysterious circumstances and no one was willing to discuss it. Skeeter sought a job as a writer, prepared to begin at the bottom rung, but not giving up on sleuthing around to determine what might have been going on in Jackson. Skeeter scored a job writing an informative column in the local newspaper, giving cleaning tips to housewives in need of a little guidance. Who better to offer these tips that the hired help of Jackson?! Skeeter fostered a slow friendship with one, while building up a trust, and has an idea for a book that could offer a unique perspective in Mississippi’s divided society. Skeeter sought to write a tell-all from the perspective of the hired help, in hopes of shining a light on the ongoing domestic slavery taking place within a ‘freed’ America. With secret meetings taking place after working hours and Skeeter typing away, a mental shift took place and the idea of class became taboo, at least to some. Full of confessions and struggles in Mississippi society, Skeeter’s book may just tear the fabric of what has been a clearly demarcated community since after the Civil War. However, sometimes a book has unforeseen consequences, turning the tables on everyone and forcing tough decisions to be made. Stockett pulls no punches in the presentation, fanning the flames of racial and class divisions, as she depicts a way of thinking that was not only accepted, but completely sanctioned. A must-read for anyone ready to face some of the treatment undertaken in the name of ‘societal norms’, Stockett tells it like it was… and perhaps even still is!

Race relations in the United States has long been an issue written about, both in literature and pieces of non-fiction. How a country as prosperous as America could still sanction the mistreatment of a large portion of its citizens a century after fighting a war on the issue remains completely baffling. While Stockett focusses her attention on Mississippi, the conscious reader will understand that this sort of treatment was far from isolated to the state. One might venture to say that racism continued on a worldwide scale, creating a stir, while many played the role of ostriches and denied anything was going on. The characters within the book presented a wonderful mix of society dames and household help, each with their own issues that were extremely important. The characters bring stereotypes to life in an effort to fuel a raging fire while offering dichotomous perspectives. The interactions between the various characters worked perfectly, depicting each group as isolated and yet fully integrated. The household help bring the struggle of the double work day (triple, at times) while the society dames grasp to keep Mississippi from turning too quickly towards integration and equality, which they feel will be the end of all normalcy. Using various narrative perspectives, the characters become multi-dimensional. Additionally, peppering the dialogue with colloquial phraseology pulls the story to a new level of reality, one that is lost in strict textbook presentation. Stockett pushes the narrative into those uncomfortable places the reader hopes to keep locked in the pages of history, pushing the story to the forefront and requiring a synthesising of ideas and emotions. This discomfort is the only way the reader will see where things were, likely in a hope not to repeat some of history’s worst moments in America’s development. However, even fifty years after the book’s setting, there remains a pall of colour and class division promulgating on city streets. While racism is not as sanctioned in as many laws, it remains a strong odour and one that cannot simply be washed away by speaking a few words. This book, as entertaining as it is in sections, is far from fictional in its depiction of the world. The sooner the reader comes to see that, the faster change can occur. All lives matter, if we put in the effort and have the presence of mind to listen rather than rule from our own ivory towers.

Kudos, Madam Stockett for this wonderful piece. I am happy to have completed a buddy read on this subject and return to read what was a wonderful cinematic presentation.

Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/ ...more

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Aug 14, 2018 JV rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2018, audiobooks, historical-fiction, 5-star-reads, home-for-my-heart, best-audiobook-narrators, feminism, kick-ass-heroines, made-my-face-rain, verisimilitude

“Do you ever wish you could... change things?”

There are only a few novels that end up in my Home for my heart shelf, i.e. a shortlist of my all-time-favourite books. Those gorgeous prose remind me of limitless imagination, life's trials and tribulations, overcoming overwhelming odds with tenacity, fortitude, kindness, the strength of character, and love; and sometimes, it serves as a personal reminder about that gaping hole that nothing can ever fill. The Help is one of those novels.

“They say

“Do you ever wish you could... change things?”

There are only a few novels that end up in my Home for my heart shelf, i.e. a shortlist of my all-time-favourite books. Those gorgeous prose remind me of limitless imagination, life's trials and tribulations, overcoming overwhelming odds with tenacity, fortitude, kindness, the strength of character, and love; and sometimes, it serves as a personal reminder about that gaping hole that nothing can ever fill. The Help is one of those novels.

“They say its like true love, good help. You only get one in a lifetime.”

Jackson, Mississippi, the 1960s - three different women (Aibileen Clark, Eugenia "Miss Skeeter" Phelan, and Minny Jackson) forms an implausible friendship that soon turns into a remarkable, unforgettable sisterhood that challenges the status quo. From this unlikely alliance, comes the unique set of voices that fought against racial segregation, inequality, discrimination in America while upholding civil rights. Armed with intrepidity, these women transcend boundaries and potentially risk their lives with the hopes of having a better life in spite of racial prejudice and bigotry.

This book greatly expounds on what it means to be poor, coloured, and female during those unforgiving times. There's no doubt that the narrative is feministic in nature. The prose is well-written and believable albeit I couldn't verify the accuracy of the entire narrative. The characters might have been considered a cliché for portraying coloured people, but the story, in my honest opinion, rings true. Its relevance is still felt in the present times. Taking that into consideration, this just confirms that everything is not well when it comes to race and other types of persecution still exist (e.g. gender, gender identity, class, religion, etc.). The dichotomy of love and hatred, black and white, and other polarizing ideologies remains. What a complex and complicated world we have!

Stockett also creates strong, lovable, yet imperfect characters that you'll be rooting for until the very end. My heart goes to both Aibileen and the sass-mouthing Minny. Hilly Holbrook deserves an Oscar for the most despicable villain portrayed by a character in a book!

Overall, this is a well-deserved 5-star read, especially for an impressive debut novel and a heartbreaking ending. As a reminder, I'll leave you with Aibileen's words of wisdom:

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

Audiobook sample and comments:
Read by Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, Octavia Spencer, and Cassandra Campbell. Absobloodylutely fantastic narration! Don't miss this one. Well done, ladies! ...more

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Apr 17, 2010 Thomas rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: five-stars, adult-fiction, historical-fiction, 2nd-favorites

Originally, I thought this book should have been retitled The Hype. At least that's what I told my friend. I remember thinking something along the lines of, blah, another story about racism in the old southern days? Must be the chick-lit version of To Kill a Mockingbird. Wow. I was so wrong.

The Help details the lives of three women living in Jackson, Mississippi, right when the Civil Rights Movement began. There is Skeeter, a twenty-two-year-old aspiring writer who terribly misses her maid, Cons ...more

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Sep 19, 2015 Reading Corner rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The Help is a touching novel that explores the lives of black maids living in the racially unjust, Mississippi in the 1960s, by using the perspective of two black maids and a female, white writer.Minny and Aibileen are the two maids who are close friends and like many other maids, have spent the majority of their life cleaning up after white families and raising their kids.Skeeter is the third character the novel centres around, she fondly remembers her own maid, Constantine but lacks informatio The Help is a touching novel that explores the lives of black maids living in the racially unjust, Mississippi in the 1960s, by using the perspective of two black maids and a female, white writer.Minny and Aibileen are the two maids who are close friends and like many other maids, have spent the majority of their life cleaning up after white families and raising their kids.Skeeter is the third character the novel centres around, she fondly remembers her own maid, Constantine but lacks information about her disappearance and current whereabouts.Her ambition to write and love for her childhood carer lead her and the maids to eventually come together and become invoved in a dangerous project which puts all their lives at risk.

This novel hooked me from the start as it deals with important issues and gives a unique perspective with interesting characters.It looks at the civil rights movement from a different angle as it uses maids who help in a very different way, as they simply describe their work so it can be printed into a book.However, it is not as simple as just telling their story as their eventual willingness to outline their work, immediately puts everyone involved in a threatening position.This danger lurks over all the maids involved for the whole story, creating tension and atmosphere.

The novel switches between three characters,Aibileen,Minny and Skeeter.I loved all of the characters especially Minny as she'll talk back and can be quite funny.Her interactions with her employers and others is a delight to read as she's written so well.All viewpoints are gripping but for me, Minny was definitely the best and I would have prefered if she had more chapters than Skeeter.

I enjoyed Kathryn Stockett's writing as I thought she did an excellent job at creating tension,painting an image and giving the characters complexities.The plot was engrossing as there was never a dull moment and no parts I felt needed to be cut out.

For me, this was a fantastic book which I thought dealt with racial themes and inequality brilliantly.This is a book I would definitely pick up again. ...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Cecily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: canada-and-usa

This is a powerful story about women's relationships with each other, and how they are affected by race (and class), told from the viewpoints of three women (two black maids and a young white woman). It is set in segregated Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962-64, at the dawn of the civil rights movement, but it's local and domestic, rather than looking at the big picture.

The first third of the book establishes the main characters and their situation and relationships; the rest of it revolves around a ...more

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Sep 29, 2010 Will Byrnes rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The Help is a tale of lines, color, gender and class, in the Jackson, Mississippi of the early 1960s. This is a world in which black women work as domestics in white households and must endure the whims of their employers lest they find themselves jobless, or worse. It is the Jackson, Mississippi where Medgar Evers is murdered, and where spirit and hope are crushed daily. It is the Jackson, Mississippi where Freedom Riders are taken from a bus, a place where segregation and racism are core belie The Help is a tale of lines, color, gender and class, in the Jackson, Mississippi of the early 1960s. This is a world in which black women work as domestics in white households and must endure the whims of their employers lest they find themselves jobless, or worse. It is the Jackson, Mississippi where Medgar Evers is murdered, and where spirit and hope are crushed daily. It is the Jackson, Mississippi where Freedom Riders are taken from a bus, a place where segregation and racism are core beliefs and where challenge to the status quo is met with resistance, to the point of violence. It is a time of political turmoil on the national stage, as the civil rights movement is picking up steam. It is also a place where using the wrong bathroom could get a black person beaten to death.

The Help sees this world through three sets of eyes, Aibeleen, a fifty-something black woman who has taken care of many white children and is beginning again with a newborn. Minny, in her thirties, has troubles enough at home, with an abusive, drunken husband and several children of her own, but her inability to control her tongue has led to a series of jobs and a series of firings. Skeeter is a young white woman, newly graduated from college, and eager to pursue a career in writing. Skeeter has grown a conscience and no longer accepts the presumptions of the past. She yearns to know what happened to Constantine, the black woman who was so important to her as a child. Skeeter sees the unfairness of the social structure. She engages Aibeleen, Minny and a host of other black domestic workers to tell their stories for a book, hoping to expose the hypocrisy and cruelty of Jackson’s white society.

The story not only places the events in historical context, but offers a taste of what it must have been like for the Aibeleens, Minnys and Skeeters of the time. Stockett has created living, breathing characters, people you can relate to, cheer and cry for. If there is softness here, it is that the devils are painted in glaring red, which may be an accurate portrayal of the time, but makes for a melodramatic feel at times. The heroines are fully realized. We get a sense of how they came to be the way they are. While we are offered some background on the baddies, it is not enough to make them as completely human as the three narrators.

The Help is a powerful, moving read, blessed with a colorful, believable cast of characters, a compelling setting and an eternal message of shared humanity, a knockout of a first novel.
...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Ahmad Sharabiani rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 21th-century, historical, fiction

The Help, Kathryn Stockett
The Help is a 2009 novel by American author Kathryn Stockett. The story is about African Americans working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the early 1960s.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز هفتم ماه آوریل سال 2015 میلادی
عنوان: خدمتکار؛ نویسنده: کاترین استاکت؛ مترجم: هدیه تقوی؛ تهران، البرز، 1389، در 728 ص، شابک: 9789644427299؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان امریکایی - سده 21 م
مترجم: شهناز کمیلی زاده، کرج، در دانش بهمن، 1390، در 714 ص، شابک: 9789641741497؛
مترجم: شب The Help, Kathryn Stockett
The Help is a 2009 novel by American author Kathryn Stockett. The story is about African Americans working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the early 1960s.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز هفتم ماه آوریل سال 2015 میلادی
عنوان: خدمتکار؛ نویسنده: کاترین استاکت؛ مترجم: هدیه تقوی؛ تهران، البرز، 1389، در 728 ص، شابک: 9789644427299؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان امریکایی - سده 21 م
مترجم: شهناز کمیلی زاده، کرج، در دانش بهمن، 1390، در 714 ص، شابک: 9789641741497؛
مترجم: شبنم سعادت؛ تهران، فراز، 1391، در 597 ص، شابک: 9789642434350؛
مترجم: آراز ایلخچویی، نشر آموت، 1391، در 608 ص، شابک: 9786006605012؛
مترجم: نسترن ظهیری، تهران، ققنوس، 1391، در 664 ص، شابک: 9789643119973؛
داستان در میانه ی قرن بیستم میلادی می‌گذرد، دهه ی شصت سده بیستم میلادی به پایانش نزدیک می‌شود، و زندگی‌ها در هم گره خورده‌ اند: امریکا تغییر می‌کند، و این تغییرات بیشتر اجتماعی هستند. جنگ ویتنام به روزهای سیاه خود نزدیک، و جنبش سیاه‌پوستان اوج گرفته است، فاصله ی بین نسل‌ها گسترش یافته، و جامعه در حد و مرز انفجار قرار دارد. در این میان، در ایالت می‌.سی‌.سی‌.پی (یک ایالت جنوبی و بشدت نژادپرست) زندگی رنگین‌ پوستان و سفید پوستان در هم تنیده است. داستان در کنار خدمتکارهای رنگین‌ پوست، و خانواده‌ های آنان، در جامعه ی طبقه ی متوسط و ثروتمند سفیدپوست، می‌گذارد. رمان ساختار روایتی تکه‌ تکه‌ ای دارد: چند شخصیت کلیدی، هرکدام فصل‌هایی را برای خوانشگر روایت می‌کنند، و این روایت‌ها، در کنار اخبار و گزارش‌هایی که جا به‌ جا درون رمان جای گرفته، به خوانشگر این اجازه را می‌دهد، تا خود تصمیم بگیرد که در روایت داستانی چه می‌گذرد: آدم‌ها می‌آیند و می‌روند، مکان‌ها دیگر می‌شوند، و از یک ماجرا، تفسیرهای کاملاً دگرگونه عرضه می‌شود، اما ساختار کلی داستانی یکی ست، خدمتکارها و روزگار آن‌هاست. همان‌طور که کاترین استاکت در موخره ی خود، بر کتاب می‌نویسد: «با اطمینان می‌توانم بگویم که هیچ‌کس در خانواده ی من، هرگز از دیمیتری نپرسیده بود: یک سیاه‌پوست بودن در می‌.سی‌.سی‌.پی، بخاطر کار کردنش برای خانواده ی سفید ما، چه احساسی دارد. هرگز به ذهنمان خطور نکرد بپرسیم. روال زندگی همین بود. چیزی نبود که مردم احساس کنند، لازم ست بررسی و پژوهشکی کنند. سال‌ها آرزو می‌کردم کاش آن‌قدر بزرگ و هوشیار بودم تا از دیمیتری این پرسش را بپرسم. وقتی شانزده سالم بود، مرد. سال‌ها، پیش خودم تصور می‌کردم پاسخش چه می‌توانست باشد. و به همین خاطر است که این کتاب را نوشتم.»؛ پایان نقل. ا. شربیانی ...more

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Dec 25, 2016 Praveen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I done finished this book finally !
I ain't never seen a book like this lately.
it were not too long before I seen something in me had changed, reading it ! May be a seed was immediately planted inside a me.

After finish it I seen a small baby in street. She very much like Mae Mobley Leefolt. When I see her, she laugh, dance a little happy jig. I touch her cheeks, she smile again.
Then I go to work but find her dancing again weaving her hand !
:)
---------------------------------------
I'll try to righ ...more

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Dec 29, 2016 Peter rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction, favorites

Servility
This is a story on many levels: it is an interesting and engrossing novel, but it covers deep moral issues. It’s about racism and an insight into a time and place that is fascinating and how it affected society in the US. It’s a story how servants/maids show more integrity and moral compass than their employers. It’s a story of life and communities: how we love and hate, how we laugh and cry, how we interact with family, friends and those we work with/for.

The narrative in The Help pla ...more

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Jan 26, 2010 Maggie Stiefvater rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: everyone and their mum. and their barbers

Recommended to Maggie by: everyone's mum and their barbers

Shelves: adult, recommended

So, it looks like THE HELP is turning out to be one of those novels that I love despite flaws. Nearly everyone in the world knows what this book is about (as I pen this review, it is at #2 in Amazon sales ranking) but I shall reiterate: it’s the story of three women -- two black, one white -- in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi, and how the two black maids work with the one extremely naive white young woman to write a book of their stories as “the help.”

In the spirit of honesty, I should tell you tha So, it looks like THE HELP is turning out to be one of those novels that I love despite flaws. Nearly everyone in the world knows what this book is about (as I pen this review, it is at #2 in Amazon sales ranking) but I shall reiterate: it’s the story of three women -- two black, one white -- in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi, and how the two black maids work with the one extremely naive white young woman to write a book of their stories as “the help.”

In the spirit of honesty, I should tell you that I didn’t want to read it. It sounded like it was going to hit the Maggie Trifecta of Doom:

1) Fiction that is Good for You
2) “Women’s Fiction”, now with 60% more tears
3) Mint Julep references*

*I have not been thrilled by a single novel that mentions a mint julep. I’m not sure if this is coincidence.

However, I loved it. Despite the fact that the book is massive -- pick it up next time you go by, it’s a doorstop -- I read it in three evenings. It was engrossing, very well characterized and often funny. Strangely enough, two of those are also part of what I consider its flaws. The characters are so reliably themselves that they are nearly caricatures in some areas. While it meant I could definitely never mistake one woman’s voice for another, it also gave it a bit of a Hollywood/ sitcom feel; they were types instead of people. And the funny -- well, race relations in ‘60s Mississippi is not exactly all fun and mint juleps, as everyone knows. But this book is upbeat, uplifting, and ultimately made a bit fluffy by all its humor and optimism. Again, I could imagine this as a Hollywood screenplay in a New York minute.

Still, don’t get me wrong -- it’s wonderfully written and easy to love and very easy to recommend. I also think it would be a killer book club book, because there is a lot to talk about in here, and I don’t just mean the Trifecta of Doom bits. I think that everyone who reads it will at least like it, even if it will not become their absolute favorite in the world. And we need books like that. So go out and read it.

***wondering why all my reviews are five stars? Because I'm only reviewing my favorite books -- not every book I read. Consider a novel's presence on my Goodreads bookshelf as a hearty endorsement. I can't believe I just said "hearty." It sounds like a stew.*** ...more

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May 06, 2009 Lucy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

Gush, gush, gush, gush, gush! I cannot gush enough about this book.

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, follows the lives of three women living in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi. Two of the women, Aibilene and Minny are black, hired as help to wealthy, or trying to appear wealthy, white families. Eugenia, or "Skeeter" as she is called, is a white woman recently graduated from Ole Miss University and trying to become a writer. She is what probably most of us are, kindly ignorant of the world around her. Rai Gush, gush, gush, gush, gush! I cannot gush enough about this book.

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, follows the lives of three women living in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi. Two of the women, Aibilene and Minny are black, hired as help to wealthy, or trying to appear wealthy, white families. Eugenia, or "Skeeter" as she is called, is a white woman recently graduated from Ole Miss University and trying to become a writer. She is what probably most of us are, kindly ignorant of the world around her. Raised on what her mother embarrassingly still refers to as a "plantation" she lived in an environment with all the privilege and prejudice you'd expect from a southern belle. Living at home again, Skeeter doesn't quite fit in anymore among her friends, who are all married with children.

When a feminist editor from New York rejects one of Skeeter's submissions, she includes with that rejection the advice for Skeeter to write about what disturbs her. It is while playing bridge with her friends, and she becomes aware of her friend, Miss Hilly's, crusade for every home to have a separate bathroom installed for "the help", to contain the germs blacks carry that whites are more susceptible to, that Skeeter realizes she has found her subject matter.

Skeeter is the least developed character of the three but she is the means in which this uniquely uplifting story can be told. Without Skeeter, who at 22, finally and lonesomely comes of age, The Help would simply be another shocking look at the racial inequality that existed still so recently in the South. It is Skeeter's character, and her ambition to write a book that matters, that strips Aibilene's and Minny's blatantly mistreated, funny and irresistible characters out of their perfectly pressed maid uniforms and into each of our lives.

I don't want to give away too much about Abilene and Minny, who became women I loved. They mattered to me. Aibilene, especially, is so vividly written, that her voice, her mannerisms... her unguarded moments... took solid form in my imagination. More than anything, I wanted her to thrive. To triumph.

As rich as this book is in both characterization and plot, its real accomplishment is that it encouraged me to examine my own prejudices. Racism has always been a frustrating topic for me to think about, as has sexism. My mind has a hard time wrapping around the idea that there was a time when educated people - enlightened people - sincerely believed that any race or gender was superior to another. It seems our spirits must have always had the capacity for understanding that this could not be so, but The Help showed me how such beliefs are possible.

Stockett, a southern white woman herself, exposes this possibility with an experienced sympathy. Using a variety of characters, she demonstrates how many Southerners in this particular chapter of our nation's history weren't racist because they were mean-spirited or elitists, but because tradition and bogus science had supported their belief. Foolish traditions, yes, but they were able to be easily convinced that a separate toilet was not only desirable but necessary because they lacked scientific understanding about germs and contamination and genetics. They only thing available to counter such painfully offensive actions was personal reflection and, perhaps, their consciences.

More so, and what was really eye opening to me, were the attitudes of "the help", and how their own actions and attitudes were also heavily influenced by tradition and fear - as much so as their white counterparts. Whites, with control and power, dosed out injustice after injustice that was defended by their fear and blacks adjusted to the degradation based on their own learning and fear. Minny was taught by her mother how to behave as a maid in the home of a white woman - what to say and do and how to say and do it. She also experienced first hand the consequences of breaking with that tradition, being fired and blacklisted and unable to provide for her family. The difference between what excuses the fear as loathsome or imaginable was the availability of recourse. Blacks had none. Or very little.

I must believe, as a human being, that there is something inside each of us that witnesses the value of our souls. However, blacks, then, had even less access to understanding and knowledge than their white peers which left them with little other than their own consciences as proof of their worth. How frustrating to be human whose freedom is limited by the understanding of others. It made me wonder which of us are like Miss Skeeter, Miss Hilly, Aibilene or Minny. Are we currently kindly ignorant, arrogantly holding all the answers, quietly giving the best of ourselves with what society allows or protecting our vulnerability with a tough outer shell?

Perhaps, we are all of them, at different times of our lives, progressing at our individual rates of enlightenment and courage. As Skeeter explained, "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'."

Amen.

Now, go read this book! ...more

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Sep 15, 2008 eb rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

An engrossing, vivid, funny, and important book about three women living in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s. Stockett writes in three first-person voices: 1. a middle-aged black maid who specializes in childcare, 2. a hot-tempered black maid who cares for a once-poor, now-rich white woman, and 3. a white girl who's just graduated from college and is floundering around. The Help is "about" race and feminism, but not in an earnest or heavy-handed way. Story is Stockett's first concern, and Jesus ...more

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Oct 02, 2016 Natalie Vellacott rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

"I know there are plenty of other "colored" things I could do besides telling my stories--the mass meetings in town, the marches in Birmingham, the voting rallies upstate. But truth is, I don't care that much about voting. I don't care about eating at a counter with white people. What I care about is, if in ten years, a white lady will call my girls dirty and accuse them of stealing the silver."

I watched the movie based on this book a few years ago so when I saw this book at a neighbour's gara "I know there are plenty of other "colored" things I could do besides telling my stories--the mass meetings in town, the marches in Birmingham, the voting rallies upstate. But truth is, I don't care that much about voting. I don't care about eating at a counter with white people. What I care about is, if in ten years, a white lady will call my girls dirty and accuse them of stealing the silver."

I watched the movie based on this book a few years ago so when I saw this book at a neighbour's garage sale I thought it might be worth reading.

The Help is fiction that reads like non-fiction--probably because it is in large part based on some of the experiences the author had as a child growing up in Mississippi. She explains this in an additional section at the back of the book.

The book tells the story of several black maids or house-helpers working for white families in the early 1960's in Jackson, Mississippi when racial segregation was the norm. The maids are at first reluctant to share their experiences fearing the backlash from their employers. But are persuaded by a young, ambitious white girl nicknamed Skeeter, who happens to be best friends with Hilly--the white girl who treats her own maid in an appalling manner. Losing friends, a boyfriend and falling rapidly out of fashion with the rest of her social circle, Skeeter eventually produces an anonymous book with fictional characters simply entitled Help. But what will happen in their small town if the book is published and people start to recognise themselves?

The book is related in the first person by several of the maids and by Skeeter herself. The chapters alternate between the different characters. The perspectives are incredibly realistic and the characters well developed on both sides of the racial divide. There are, of course, characters that don't fit the racial stereotypes or don't behave in the prescribed manner--characters who revert to human kindness and temporarily forget the entrenched segregation. It is difficult to see who is more shocked by this--their peers or the maids themselves.

"She clear her throat again and I'm wondering why she telling me all this. I'm the maid, she ain't gone win no friends talking to me."

The thing I liked best about this book was the fact that the author made it clear that the maids had both good and bad experiences depending on who they worked for. There were clearly employers who went out of their way to demonstrate care and compassion but others who treated the maids like trash on the street.

It is a good reminder for us, as Christians, that cultural division and attitudes are not an excuse for sinful behaviour. We all have a choice. Just because everyone is doing something doesn't make it right--we should listen to our consciences, not over-ride them. The Help is also a reminder that God sees what we are doing in secret even though others may not know about it. The book written by the maids exposed all of the behaviours of the employers that they had no doubt expected to be kept hidden--the good, the bad and the ugly. We need to remember that God sees all of our dealings with others and He will hold us to account.

This book is a page turner, the author somehow makes every-day details interesting and I was hooked. I wanted to give it 5 stars and I would have done but for the bad language and fairly regular blasphemy--there are at least fifty swear words in the book. There is limited violence and a scene where a man exposes himself which some readers might find offensive although it wasn't especially graphic. There are also some graphic details of a miscarriage which may upset some people.

I recommend this book. ...more

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