So as it turns out, I’ve done a BUNCH of summer reading and now I feel that I should comment on some of what I’ve read.
If you haven’t yet read The Help by Kathrynn Stockett and are looking for a good, enjoyable, but quick read, this is it.
The book depicts the lives of three very different women in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960′s (1962 to be precise) where white women employed black women to raise their children but couldn’t be trusted not to steal the family silver. Told in first person, the story jumps between three different perspectives to follow Jackson’s elite and hired help during the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement. Intertwining historical fact with fiction, Stockett does a remarkable job drawing the reader in quickly and then painting a detailed view of life in Jackson.
Without giving anything away (because that would just be mean and you really *should* read this book), the seemingly separate stories slowly begin to weave together until you suddenly realize that the story being told is not at all what it seemed it would be.
Stockett’s characters have such lively, distinct voices that I felt I could almost hear them speaking. Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan is a white woman raised in Southern society, Aibileen is a maid who often quits when her charges grow too old to need her, and Minny is a smart-mouthed maid whose cooking is often the only thing that saves her job. The stark differences in each woman’s world is suddenly catapulted into the spotlight when Skeeter’s friends begin to speak frankly about politics and what they feel they should do to “protect” their town and their families.
I read this in a weekend because I couldn’t put it down.
Go. Read.
