Kathryn Stockett's book has been on our book club list since May (these ladies don't mess around-we schedule a year out), and then went up as the latest One Book, One Denver selection. It's been everywhere. I haven't heard one negative thing about it. Per the ushe, I procrastinated until the week before our meeting to start it. Then I was sick and didn't read a single word for 4 days. Which means that Saturday last, I read all 450 pages of this bad boy. I wasn't bored, I barely took breaks....and I finished it...inside of 24 hours.
The next day I got the bright idea to read a book a day for an entire week (standby for posts on all titles)-obviously cheating with much shorter books.
The Help focuses on the relationships between white folks and their black maids. The book takes place in Jackson, Mississippi, in the early 1960s, and uses 3 separate and alternating voices throughout. These voices belong to Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. Skeeter Phelan is a recent college graduate who was raised in privilege (including a beloved maid, Constantine, who has disappeared in some sort of scandal to which which Skeeter isn't privy), Aibileen Clark is maid to Skeeter's childhood friend, and Minny Jackson is the mouthy maid who has worked for too many homes to count.
In the midst of integration and the Civil Rights movement, these 3 ladies are moved to make an impact on the community of Jackson, which is hesitant (at best) to receive any change. Finding a publishing house in New York City interested in helping her progress, Skeeter begins to interview black maids under the cover of night in hopes of a book.
Nine black students attend a previously all-white school in Little Rock, four black students in North Carolina sit at a segregated lunch counter at a Woolworth's-these things are spoken of in Jackson and dismissed as foolishness. Skeeter's friends play cards and continue building separate bathrooms for their "help". Then James Meredith enrolls at the University of Mississippi and Medgar Evers is killed on the streets of Jackson-these things aren't so easily dismissed. These incidents also make the prospect of publishing a book about the harsh climate seem like an impossibility.
The supporting characters of this story are fully fleshed out and boost the flavor of this well-written piece of fiction, and the fact that these scenes are painted with historical episodes. I can't say that I'm a huge fan of how each of the storylines tie up so neatly, but it was worth the read. (Can I mention here that I can't wait to see Lee Daniels' Selma?)
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