Directly after reading Go Set a Watchman, I started listening to The Help by Kathryn Stockett on audio. This was deliberate–on the surface, they’re similar books. A young woman returns to her small Southern hometown and is appalled by the racism she observes in her friends and family. But there’s a crucial difference–I liked The Help SO MUCH better!
The Help is the story of “colored” maids working for white families in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s. Three women alternate points of view chapters to tell their stories: Aibileen, a maid who deeply loves the white children she cares for; her friend Minny, whose outspokenness has made her almost unhire-able; and Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, a white woman in her early twenties who has just returned from college and dreams of being a writer. Skeeter starts seeing the racism in her friends and her town, and becomes inspired to write a book of interviews telling the story of the maids.
This book is so good because we get so far inside each of the major characters, learning their backgrounds, what inspired them, what led them to where (and who) they are now. Skeeter is deeply influenced by Constantine, the black maid who raised her–and by her own mother, who seems to be perpetually disappointed in her. Minny’s mother told her the rules for working for white families when she was fourteen (and Minny’s never been all that good at following them), and Aibileen’s own son died shortly before she began working for her current white family. Those are just a few snippets, as the book gives such a rich and complex picture. Continue reading “Book Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett”
Not too long ago I mentioned rereading my favorite Star Trek novel, First Frontier by Diane Carey and Dr. James I. Kirkland. I’ve mentioned it once or twice around here, but I’ve never done a proper review. So I think it’s time!
Tales of the Marvelous 