A Beautiful Novel

The Help was perhaps one of the best books I've read in a while. It's taken from three different perspectives and seamlessly woven together. The story takes place in Jackson, Mississippi 1962. Skeeter, who has just graduated from college is scorned by her mother for not having her MRS, but she wants to become a writer. Aibileen is an older black maid who works for a white family. Minnie is a fiery black woman who works as a maid, but has crossed the wrong white lady. Their lives tangle together when Skeeter decides to share their side of the story; what it's like to be a black maid working for a white family.

Kathyrn Stockett did a phenomenal job writing this book. She captured the helplessness, heartbreak, anxiety, joy, and frustration of the characters. Her writing recalled my own hurts and it felt like she had taken the words that I couldn't form for myself and written them down in this book.

I actually listened to this book on tape, which I always think is cheating in a way. After hearing this read to me, I will never think that again. It actually made all the difference having it read to me. The dialog is written in southern dialect, so it's easier to say the words out loud anyway. With three perspectives, it helped having three different readers. I would highly recommend listening to this book, or just reading it for that matter. The story was rich and I could not stop listening. I thought I would only listen to it in the car, but I found myself popping it into my DVD player and just sitting and staring off, imagining what was happening.

O and for those of you who like reading books before they are raped by the silver screen, you may want to give this one a read pretty soon.