The Help

The Help
by Kathryn Stockett

First published in Great Britain in 2009.

This is one of those books that you know you should read when it comes out.  It's one of those that everyone talks about and tells you to read.  Then the film is released a couple of years later and the hype is refreshed.  This is pretty much exactly as it happened for me, and I ended up buying the book to read before someone lent me the film.

The story is set in Mississippi in 1962 and follows a group of black maids dealing with their lives as second-class citizens and Skeeter, a young, white woman who comes home from college to find that the maid who brought her up has gone.  As she tries to find out what happened, Skeeter uncovers the horrendous way the 'help' is treated behind the closed doors of her neighbours and family's friends and decides to write an anonymous book about it all.  As more and more maids find their voices and come forward to add their stories, tensions in the town rise.

The Help is narrated in turn by Skeeter, Aibileen (a maid who is bringing up her seventeenth white child) and Minny (a maid who struggles to keep jobs because of her temper).  These three women are tied together by the risk they take in starting the book project - if they are discovered the maids will be fired and Skeeter's writing dream will be shattered.

Minny and Aibileen are each dealing with problems with their husbands and children at home, yet still have to endure the terrible unfairness of life as a black maid.  I really liked Minny and her wicked temper, but felt more of a connection to Aibileen with her gentler ways.  Although she is not happy with her situation, she concentrates on the child in her care and tries not to let the injustices she faces upset her.
Skeeter is an interesting character; she is the only white person in her town who takes the time to ask why the maids are treated as they are, and in doing so makes several enemies.  This does not stop her, rather it empowers her to reveal the truth.  Saying that, she does struggle with going against her family and friends at first.

It took me a while to get into this book, not because of the story, but because when the maids are narrating it is written in their dialect.  I thought this was a clever way to really get into the mindset of the characters but it also divided theirs and Skeeters sections and, I felt, represented their division in life.  It may take a chapter or two, but once you hear the voices in your head it is difficult to stop them!

The story itself is excellent.  It captures the Mississippi way of life in the sixties without skimping on the details.  Other writers may have hinted at the maids experiences, but Stockett exposes them fully.  That being said, this is not a tragic tale.  It is one of hope and courage, and shows that any lines can be crossed, no matter how ingrained they are.

If you want a book that has a deep message without being preachy, get your hands on this one.