The Help

I recently had the great pleasure of reading "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. If you have not read this book, you should. I really, really enjoyed reading it every night.  

The book centers on and is told through the view point of three main characters: Aibileen, Minny, and Miss Skeeter. Miss Skeeter is a young, white woman living in Mississippi in the 1960's. She is a member of the local social scene, playing bridge once a week and writing the newsletter for the Jackson Junior League. Aibileen and Minny are both African Americans working as hired help in the homes of white women. Aibileen works for Miss Skeeter's friend Elizabeth. Minny recently got fired by Hilly, who also happens to be the antagonist in this story, and now works for Celia Foote.

Skeeter has dreams of being a writer. She sends off an application off to Harper and Row, but gets a rejection letter saying she has promise but needs experience. So, she applies to the local Jackson newspaper filling in for the writer of the housecleaning column. Off course, Skeeter has no experience and decides to ask for Aibileen's assistance. After working with Aibileen, Skeeter thinks that writing a book from the point of view from the help would be something that Harper and Row would be interested in, and they are, especially with the Civil Rights movement.

Minny, who is sassy, works for Celia Foote. Celia is an outcast of the social scene, mostly because she married Hilly's old flame. She desperately wants to fit in, but she is never given a chance. Minny ends up becoming her confidant.

This book is an interesting look at race relations in the deep south. There is a lot more to the story, including the interactions between Skeeter and her mother, Skeeter's search for the truth about what happened to her old maid, Constantine, and Skeeter's relationship with a certain senator's son, but I don't want to give too much away because it is such a good book that you should read. And the movie isn't bad either!!