The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett


We had a fun evening discussing our first selection for 2012. This is a first novel by Kathryn Stockett which was made into a movie last year with Octavia Spencer winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in the role of Minny. Incidentally, Octavia Spencer is also the narrator for the same role in the audible book available from Audible.com which is a highly enjoyable and captivating rendition.

Our discussion was mainly on segregation and whether things have really changed that much since the 1960s, the timeframe of this novel.
The author gave a good picture of what being poor, black and a woman must have been like.  Even though some of us found the voices who tell the story a little disjointed, we were quite captivated by some of these characters : Skeeter and her search for her maid Constantine, her relationship with her domineering mother; Celia and Minny's attempt at fooling Celia's husband; Minny, who was usually strong and speaks her mind, being finally free from an abusive husband; Hilly and her sanitation initiative and her "reckoning"; Aibileen and her attempt at bringing up Mae Mobley to be good and fair...

It is pretty amazing that these women managed to get their book on the truth of their relationships with their white employers published.  The ending was quite optimistic and uplifting.
The author's Epilogue gives a good insight into her reasons for writing this novel.  There was a suggestion to reread the beginning chapter after finishing the book to revisit many of the characters in the novel.

Those of us who saw the movie found it highly entertaining.
We do recommend this book and give it a rating of 8-9 out of 10.

Our next selection is The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmond De Waal and our meeting will be on May 2 (Wed) at Jane's.