Apr 24 2009
The Help by Kathryn Stockett - a review
I don’t remember where I saw my first review of The Help by Kathryn Stockett but I’m really glad that I saw that review and decided to get the novel out of the library. I even had to wait a few days before reviewing it because it had such a tremendous impact on me.
This novel takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s - 1962 and 1963 to be exact (and apparently, the author also hails from Jackson herself!!). The novel centers around three women - one white and two black - who take a very dangerous step in the fight for racial equality between blacks and whites. Black maids pretty much ran white households and raised white children, even though the Emancipation Proclamation freed them from bondage 100 years before. These maids, although worked to the bone, were paid pittances and given even less than that in credit for the hard work that they did. The segregation and the inequality was so bad, that they were often forced to use separate bathrooms because their white employers were afraid of catching diseases from them (!!!!!!). Ms. Skeeter, one of the white women of privilege, defies the stereotypes for women of her age and day in many ways - she graduated from college, at 23 she is unmarried and writes a weekly column and wants to become a professional editor at one of the big editing houses in New York. She comes up with the idea to write a narrative of stories taken from the stories of the maids that work for the white people in Jackson. Abileen and Minny are two of the black maids that are instrumental in convincing other maids to be interviewed by Skeeter, even though the risk to them and their families is tremendous. These women risk physical violence as well as financial hardship - essentially, they could get fired and blacklisted among the other white families in the area - if rumors of their cooperation get out.
I loved this novel. I loved the characters and the issues that they faced. I admired them for standing up for what they believed in, even though it could lead them to become social pariahs and could harm them and their families in many ways. The writing was wonderful and the plot phenomenal. I was so sad when I turned the last page, that I actually cried, these women and their struggles were that real for me.
Definitely rung out and get this book!
Book 21/100
