The Help by Kathryn Stockett
I can not believe that I almost have forgotten that I hadn’t yet reviewed The Help by Kathryn Stockett! Easily one of my most favorite books of the year! I can not rave about this book enough. I want to pepper this review with explanation marks everywhere!!
I knew that everybody was saying The Help was incredible, but I never found the time to set it aside to read until my neighborhood book club chose it as our next read (which by the way – was a fantastic book to discuss – especially if somebody brings chocolate pie for dessert). I was preparing myself to be disappointed because of that whole expectation thing. I’m glad to say that hands down, everybody at book club said The Help was easily one of our most favorite reads in two years.
I could not put this book down, I found myself at the stove with the book in one hand while flipping pancakes with another. At 464 pages, I almost wished it was another 300 pages long. I didn’t want it to end. I read non-stop. It was simply wonderful!
Set during the civil rights movement in Jackson, Mississippi, The Help, simply stated, is about the black women who run the households and raise the children of white women. Abileen and her best friend Minny, are just two of those black women who while being entrusted with seeing to all their employers needs must put up with being treated as less than human.
Reluctantly, they begin to trust, Eugenia Skeeter Phelan, freshly home from college and the bane of her mother’s existence as she arrived home with a degree but not a husband. Skeeter is all to aware of her hypocritical white friends and begins to gather the stories of the black women to be published in an anonymous book about what it’s like for the maids to serve in the white homes. Not sure, if she’ll even be able to get it published, the whole affair is dangerous work as antisemitism is alive and strong in the area. But the potential rewards and exposing the ugly and the touching stories are worth it.
My rough summary of The Help barely touches upon how truly astounding the book is. The characters are the most memorable characters I have read about in a really long time. The friendships and relationships are truly touching. The writing is beautiful. The stories and plot line is absolutely engaging. You’ll be laughing out loud, shaking your head in disbelief and telling everybody you know that The Help IS the book that they have to read simply because it’s just too good not to be shared. My highest recommendation.
Seriously. A perfect book. What more can I say than that?
Links of interest: Kathryn Stockett website, more book blogger reviews.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam. February 10, 2009
Hardcover, 464 pages. ISBN 0399155341
The Help is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.
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Tags: African American, book club, E-H Title, female author, Fiction, IRL book club selection, published 2009, Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books
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I’m seven pages into it. I’m looking for reading the rest during my holiday!
on December 22nd, 2009 at 6:50 pmI really liked this one too.
on December 22nd, 2009 at 7:21 pmI’ve heard it is so great! I’m glad it’s so highly recommended and I’ll look forward to reading it.
on December 22nd, 2009 at 9:42 pmOn my list (and my mother’s) it goes! Thanks! Ack, is your site snowing on me as I type??
on December 22nd, 2009 at 10:22 pmYes, yes, yes! I wholeheartedly agree with you. It is really hard to find words to express the raw emotion in the story, the raw emotion that you feel when you read about these beautiful, strong women. My book club is in the bad habit of basically reading crap, so when my turn came up this month to pick, I chose this one. I’ll show them what a good book is all about! Who cares if it is a re-read for me? I really look forward to our meeting next month!
on December 22nd, 2009 at 10:27 pmI love it when a long book makes you wish it was longer. I felt that way about Galway Bay. I hope to read The Help at some point. I’m probably the last person to read it!
on December 23rd, 2009 at 7:03 amI’m beginning to think I’ll be the last person in the world to read this book – you’d never know I’m anxious to get to it.
on December 23rd, 2009 at 8:47 amI’ve been up in the air about this book, but after reading your post, I think I’ll add it to my list.
on December 23rd, 2009 at 1:59 pmGood to know since I plan to pitch this to my book club next month.
on December 23rd, 2009 at 3:53 pmI loved this one too! I read it last year, and it made my top 10 list, even though it hadn’t even been published yet.
This is one of those books I feel comfortable recommending to almost everyone.
on December 29th, 2009 at 12:02 pmI haven’t read this one but so many bloggers raved about it that I gave a copy to my sister-in-law for Christmas.
on December 29th, 2009 at 7:37 pmThis was one of my favorites as well. There were so many things to like about it!
on December 30th, 2009 at 7:24 pm[...] THE HELP, by Kathryn Stockett. A young white woman and two black maids in 1960s Mississippi. [...]
on February 7th, 2010 at 8:55 pm[...] reviews (more raves!) The Book Lady’s Blog At Home with Books S. Krishna’s Books Maw Books One Person’s Journey through a World of [...]
on February 18th, 2010 at 7:57 amI agree with you, this is a wonderful book which was hard to put away. In the beginning i had to get used to the language of Abileen.
on May 22nd, 2010 at 8:32 amWe read it in our bookclub in Shanghai where we all have fulltime help. We had some interesting discussions about the comparison of helpers in the book and that time & place and nowadays in Shanghai!
[...] Maw Books [...]
on November 7th, 2010 at 7:18 pmI have been reading this in audio format. I love the voice over for the characters! It is a wow!
on January 8th, 2011 at 5:14 pm