The Help - Spoilers

We read 'The Help' for our book club and it was unanimous that everyone loved it.

We rated it as a 4.5/5.

Kathryn Stockett has done a phenomenal job as a début novelist. Her narrative style is unforgettable and her descriptions paint an extremely vivid picture.

'The Help' is set in Jackson, Mississippi  in the early sixties. The story revolves around two coloured black maids Aibleen & Minny, and 3 society women Skeeter, Hilly & Elizabeth.

The story starts with Aibleen's narration. It is a heart wrenching description of her raising Elizabeth's  2 year old baby girl. While the mother barely glances at her own child, Aibleen is the central figure in the little girls life. This part of the story just stole my heart. The baby is craving for the mothers attention yet the maid is the only one who shows her any love.

Then comes the loud mouth Minny. Although the story starts with her being employed with Hilly's mother, she has a falling out with her and since Hilly is very influential, Minny has a very hard time getting a job anywhere else. Minny's character is very colourful. And she is shown to be extremely suspicious of all white people.

Skeeter is an educated, sensitive woman, who was also brought up by her black maid Constantine. Her sensitivity to the coloured maids seems to stem from her emotional attachment with Constantine, who is no longer part of her life. Although she is best friends with Hilly and Elizabeth, she doesn't agree with their philosophies about segregation. Initially, she airs her opinions gently but as the novel progresses, she goes on to befriend Aibleen & Minny. She ends up writing down the stories of black maids who have spent their lives employed with white women,  raising their white children, as their own, while being subjected to daily racism from those very parents.

Hilly is a very opinionated, prejudiced woman who considers it her duty to educate everyone around, how they should treat their help. She is very vocal and vindictive. She tries to push segregation laws forward with the support of other society women. Due to their different views, Hilly & Skeeter drift apart.  

The relationships between the maids and their employers is depicted beautifully. Against the fiery background of the 60's in USA, these stories are a great window into the private homes of the people of the time. Although many of the narrations are of prejudice and downright cruelty, there are also some beautiful stories of sympathy and genuine fondness for one another.

Although this is a fictional novel, it doesn't read like one. There are parts that make the reader cry. When Skeeter is alienated from her friends and almost her entire social circle, one feels her pain and grit that she has to follow through with what she knows is the correct thing to do. No where does she compromise her moral belief, whether its standing up to her mother or her loud mouthed friend Hilly. 

One of my favourite parts is after Skeeter's book is published, she is given the book with all the maids signatures and a personal message from the coloured Reverend saying that she is a part of their extended family now. It was so well written that after all her struggles and dilemma over writing the book, one can feel her finally relax when she she knows how much it meant to the entire black community.

It is a beautiful story of changing times, human rights and integration. I can see this book becoming a  read for African American Studies.