The Help: A Novel / by Kathryn Stockett

In 1962 with neither the married/engaged-to-be-married status achieved by her sorority sister cohorts nor the means to do much else, recent Ole Miss grad Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan has reluctantly returned to her parents' Jackson home. Desperately hoping to become a real writer so she can move to New York City and spurred on by the advice of a publisher who's told Skeeter to "write about what disturbs her", she turns to the world inside her own home for material. She focuses on "the help", the black women on whom her family and other white families in town rely on for housework and nanny duties. At first this seems a tall task. Skeeter's own world is limited to her old school chums and gossipy Junior League set, all with their closed minded beliefs centering around the pervading racist attitudes and unspoken caste standards of the era. And while Skeeter is neither racist nor an elitist, she's also a bit naive and uninformed when it comes to understanding the social distinctions in society. Inspiration and insight find Skeeter though after meeting Aibileen, a maid who's raised 17 children (none her own), and Aibileen's outspoken friend Minny who's employed by a young, clueless "poor white trash" girl recently married to a ritzy, local entrepeneur.

Stockett's book, basically centered around Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny's experiences, is informative, well-rounded and sentimental though never without subtle humor or satire. The reader is showed how the young Skeeter gains the courage to break down her own personal boundaries and pursue her dreams even as these same sentiments reasonate with other characters at a broader level. Poignant, layered and full of heart yet not lacking for edge factor, Stockett has achieved a brilliant story of social awakening during the burgeoning Civil Rights era. (FIC STOCKETT)