A review from reader Nancy Duncan:
Filled with strong, believable characters, with a setting rich in history, "The Help" by Katherine Stockett is the best book to be published this year. I couldn't put it down.
Set in Jackson, Misssissippi, during the early 1960s when the civil rights movement is getting started, "The Help" is the story of black domestic workers in white households. Doesn't sound like much, right?
Well, the characters of Skeeter, the white woman who longs to escape Jackson, and Abileen and Minny, the "colored" women who tell Skeeter their stories, are so full of life that you want to know how this book will end. How will these women, and the other women who come to Skeeter with their tales, survive in this small town, where everyone knows each other's business, whether they are black or white? The telling of these stories must remain a secret, if word got out that the domestics were commenting on their white employers, the women, and their families, wouldn't be safe from retribution.
The times were changing and social and racial barriers were being broken down. Although change was slow to come in Jackson, humanity and respect rose to the top.
An excellent debut novel.
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