The Help By Kathryn Stockett

Imagine life as a coloured maid in 1960’s Jackson, Mississippi. How would it feel to raise white babies who love you but grow into the demanding employers that maintain racial segregation? What if one white lady gave you a chance to tell your story? Would you brave the possibly violent repercussions? Kathryn Stockett tells such a story. She weaves the voices of three women telling the same tale from different vantage points.

The Help is a story of two maids and one white employer who reveal the daily trials of domestic help in Mississippi, just as the Civil Rights Movement takes hold. Against the background tension of a society ripping itself apart, unfolds the complications of women’s relationships in a segregated society.

The maids, Minnie and Aibileen form a tentative bond with Skeeter, a budding writer who is part of the white, upper class. Skeeter returns from College, balking against the expectation that she find a suitable husband, and ready to do something worthwhile with her life. She is devastated to learn that her favourite maid has been fired. In her anguish, she stumbles across the opportunity to write a story for a New York, Jewish, publisher about the perspective of black women, just as Martin Luther is about to descend on Washington with the famous March. Aibileen works for one of Skeeter’s best friends and is frustrated by the violence in her community, including the loss of her son in a terrible accident. Minnie is angry about her limitations in a segregated world and keeps getting fired for speaking her mind. She finds a job working for a white woman who is marginalized by Skeeter’s friends for stealing a boyfriend and coming from the poor part of town.

The Help is an excellent novel. It will make you cry and laugh, sometimes at the same time. Kathryn Stockett is a talented writer. Her attention to detail enriches her story. The relationships are believable and frightening. The history and culture is fascinating. The tension will keep you reading and make it tough to put down! Her novel is a great summer read and will make you feel as if you learned something worthwhile. And it is a timely story as Obama works to lead the United States into a new era.

Review by Jackie Powell