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I went into this book a bit skeptical. A young, white woman writing about the experiences of two black women in MS in 1963 just did not seem like it'd come out without being... offensive? trite? "The Help" is none of those things. Stockett deftly avoids making the South a caricature of itself.
Almost immediately I found myself pulling for all the characters. Even while my rational brain said "no way, no WAY this could've happened it's too easy, to quick" my emotional brain was right there in Ske ...more
Almost immediately I found myself pulling for all the characters. Even while my rational brain said "no way, no WAY this could've happened it's too easy, to quick" my emotional brain was right there in Ske ...more
This compulsively readable novel is set in Jackson, Mississippi in 1963. It's told in alternating chapters from three characters - Aibileen and Missy, who are black maids that work in white households, and Skeeter, a white woman who aspires to be a journalist. When Skeeter gets the idea to interview black maids and write down the true stories they have to tell about their work in white households, she knows that she might be putting lives in danger, but she knows that it's too important a story
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This story follows three women as they live and work in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s.
Aibileen is a black maid working for a white woman to raise her child. Aibileen loves this little girl, but questions if she should let herself get so attached to yet another baby (this is her 17th, after all!). Amidst her employer’s (and her friends’) racist actions, Aibileen is still nursing the wounds left from her son’s death.
Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is the best cook in Jackson, but has a ha ...more
Aibileen is a black maid working for a white woman to raise her child. Aibileen loves this little girl, but questions if she should let herself get so attached to yet another baby (this is her 17th, after all!). Amidst her employer’s (and her friends’) racist actions, Aibileen is still nursing the wounds left from her son’s death.
Minny, Aibileen’s best friend, is the best cook in Jackson, but has a ha ...more
I loved this book. At its core, it's a white woman's attempt to pay homage to her childhood black maid. And, yes, it's written somewhat in dialect, which can put some readers off, and has all the typical Southern stereotypes. It's not a perfect novel.
Stockett depicts well the tenuous love-hate relationship between black and white women in 1960s Mississippi--and how generations of white children were guided and inspired by amazing black maids who genuinely loved their charges. She addresses the s ...more
Stockett depicts well the tenuous love-hate relationship between black and white women in 1960s Mississippi--and how generations of white children were guided and inspired by amazing black maids who genuinely loved their charges. She addresses the s ...more
A lovely book, in some ways. In others, a GIANT PILE OF NO. I listened to the audiobook because I cannot freaking stand written dialect, and I'm kind of surprised the publisher presented something cartoonish. Or maybe I'm just a naive Yankee because I've never met an avid reader/advice columnist who lamented that the "policemens" wouldn't protect her "peoples." I mean, take it down a damn notch!
It's a tiny detail, but, I hated that, in a book that switched POV's, Skeeter's chapter headings were ...more
It's a tiny detail, but, I hated that, in a book that switched POV's, Skeeter's chapter headings were ...more
I have confused feelings about this. Very well crafted and it will pull you right through the end and you will be moved. And this is an interesting, real-feeling portrait of the civil rights debate. Sometimes historical fiction feels like "har har, things were so bad then and are much better now, har har" and they totally are better in most ways, but I wish shit-eating was a thing of the past. And there are still nannies and in New York most of them aren't white. And I wanted to say "classism" a
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I was a little bit worried about this one going in because of an article I'd read about the narrow edge the author walks when handling race relations between the African-American domestics and their white employers and charges. But so many people who's taste I trust loved it, and -surprise- it was genuinely affecting and pretty great in general. I've recently taken up audiobooks in an effort to stay literate post-baby and that was a really lovely way to experience this book.
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There was an incredibly tense, anxious quality to this book that reflected its setting perfectly. The long descriptions of the heat, the scary sense of oppression that pervaded daily Mississippi life in so many ways -- it all worked together beautifully.
I also admire Stockett for trying something she admits in the postscript to have been really difficult: writing as a white woman in the voice of the black Southern maids. It was brave and, I think, successful.
I also admire Stockett for trying something she admits in the postscript to have been really difficult: writing as a white woman in the voice of the black Southern maids. It was brave and, I think, successful.
So this book was recommended to me by several people, practically drooling over how wonderful this book was and it changed their lives and won them the lottery etc. And maybe it's my cold, black, dead heart, but I certainly didn't find this book gush-worthy. It was very well-written and the author really captured the essence of her different characters, but it certainly didn't change my life.
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I don't normally pick up the uber-popular books (this one has had a hold list of 70+ people for well over a year now at WPL) but this book was amazing. I want there to be a sequel because even after spending 15 hours with these characters on the audiobook, its not enough.
I am amazed that this was Kathryn Stockett's first book. I can't wait to read what she comes up with next. ...more
I am amazed that this was Kathryn Stockett's first book. I can't wait to read what she comes up with next. ...more
All of my favorites in the one: authentic historical fiction where I really learned something, moving characterizations, quick but extremely satisfying.
Excellent.
Feb 08, 2010
Jennifer Kronk
marked it as to-read
Jul 06, 2011
Erin
marked it as to-read
