I finished The Help by Kathryn Stockett last night and it was truly one of the best pieces of fiction that I have ever read. I've seen reviews on it floating around the blog world, but I needed to see for myself. I didn't even read the synopsis of the book before I read it, just went in blindly, and I could not put it down! Here is a synopsis from Stockett's website if you are interested:
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.
Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.
Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.
Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.
In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women--mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends--view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.
Reading this book made me more aware of how these house maids were treated. How awful! Every time their "employer" would make derogatory remarks about the color of their skin or the "diseases they carry" I cringed. It made me uncomfortable at some parts but I think the author was trying to make a point of how these black maids were treated. The young housewives were so wretched that I wanted to come through the pages and tell them off! It was that bad. I still can't fathom that there are people that have lived through this kind of oppression. When you think about it, it wasn't that long ago. Our grandmother's could probably tell us stories from those times. That is what hit me so hard when reading this book, that it was 40 years ago. If you haven't read the book, read no further, because I am going to talk details. You have been warned!
_________________________________ Spoilers below! _____________________________________
I like how the book is written from the point of view of three women. I read slowly the first few days because of the dialect writing in Aibileen's point of view, but she was definitely one of my favorite characters. How she stayed so quiet when the bridge club ladies came over and ridiculed her is beyond me. I know that those were different times but it would be hard for me to stay quiet. When she lost her job in the very end, I was so ticked off because Elizabeth was such a wimp to give in to Hilly. I think Aibileen went on to be happy. I think Oprah should play her!
I've never disliked a character so much as Hilly Holbrook. Never! She was absolutely so mean, so cruel, so two-faced, such an awful girl. Didn't you want to just slap her? I can't believe that everyone gave her so much power. I couldn't deal with anyone like that! I want to think that Hilly got what was coming to her.
The Minny and Miss Celia relationship was very sweet to me. When Celia miscarried the baby in the bathroom, my heart was racing. It was such an awful scene, but Minny helped her so much and you could tell that she really cared for Miss Celia. When Celia arrived at the Junior League function I laughed out loud. I could just imagine what all the prim and proper girls thought when they saw her squeezed into her dress. What a site! I think Scarlett Johansson should play Miss Celia if there is ever a movie version! Maybe I could even see Jennifer Hudson as Minny (although we would have to de-glamorize her!)
I just loved Skeeter. Her character was so much fun to read about. At times there was so much heartache for her that I just couldn't stand it. She lost her friends, her boyfriend (fiance?), her reputation, and almost lost her mother. Even though she so wanted to do the right thing, it would be hard to do what she did, knowing how it all turned out. My heart would race when she was at Aibileen's house and they would write together. I always predicted that the police would find them out, although they never did. Her relationship with Stuart was bittersweet, although I predicted that they would end up together. When he proposed to her my heart leaped, and then when he left her because he didn't feel like he "knew her", I was absolutely devastated. I knew after that that he would not be coming back. I loved her character and I am so glad that she eventually got the job offer in New York. I was so happy for her!
I can only wait and hope that there is a movie version someday soon! Who would you want to play these characters? If you have read The Help, please tell me your thoughts on the book. We can do a little mini book club and talk about it in the comments section.
