The Help by Kathryn Stockett
I know most people have already read this book or at least know what it’s about but I’m going to summarize it anyway. The story is told in three voices, a white woman, young and idealistic and two black maids. The white woman, Skeeter, has just graduated from university and would like to be a writer. The story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the mid-sixties, an extremely volatile time and place in white-black relations. Skeeter has an idea to write a book about the relationships between white women and their black maids – the help. Aibileen and Minny, two black maids are persuaded to help her with the book. At a time when black men are being beaten just for using a white bathroom, being involved in this project is extremely dangerous and all three women are taking a huge risk.
I listened to about the first three-quarters of the book on audiobook and read the last bit from the book. I have no complaints about the audiobook but I don’t have as much time to listen to books as I do to actually read them and I really wanted to find out what happened so I just picked up the book.
The audiobook was amazing. There were three different readers, one for each woman, and they were all so good. I loved the accents and the dialect and I actually felt like I was right there sitting across the table from them telling me their story. I might actually have to go back and listen to those last few chapters because I found it kind of disappointing to read after the listening. It made the story richer and more real to be able to hear those voices.
As for the book, I loved it. It was funny, and sweet and poignant. I’ve never experienced racism and it really bothers me that it even exists. Books like this are so important because I think we need constant reminders about how hurtful and wrong it is so we can hopefully prevent it from happening.
I will definitely read this book again and I would recommend it to anyone.
