The Help |  | Author: Kathryn Stockett
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Rating:  1785 reviews
Sales Rank: 3
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 464
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.5
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.8
ISBN: 0399155341
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9780399155345
ASIN: 0399155341
Publication Date: February 10, 2009
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| • | ISBN13: 9780399155345 | | • | Condition: NEW | | • | Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark. |
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Product Description
Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.
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.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 1785
 Touching, Brilliant, Wonderful March 15, 2010
Sarah Boring (Tennessee)
I absolutely loved this story. The way each chapter is written from a different character's point of view made falling in love with these people so easy. Stockett painted such an amazing picture I could absolutely feel the sweltering summer heat and then that first cool blast of relief from the gaudy window air conditioner.
I sometimes get bored or dread trudging through when so many details are described in stories if the characters really have no depth to them but I couldn't get enough of this book. Even the seemingly unimportant details...they just made me love this story more. I never wanted it to end.
I can't wait for the movie and I'm sure it won't be too long before I'm reading this book again.
 depressing and really stretches the truth March 15, 2010
Book Bunny (Mendon, NY USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I, too, had a alot of trouble with the dialect. The white ladies would have spoken with an accent similiar to their maids but that's not reflected in the book.
I think it's unfair to highlight the bad situations and not say more about the good relationships. I grew up in Tenn in the 50s. My parents and their friends were from the deep south: Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi. Yes, we had 'help' as did our neighbors. But not one of them was mistreated. In fact, the ladies who employed the maids actually took an interest in their well being: a warm coat, enough food, the kids had shoes. And it wasn't done in a 'charity' way. It was just an employer looking out for an employee. All us white kids were expected to show courtesy and answer 'Yes Ma'am' to our maids.
I also had a huge problem with that pie. It could and should have been handled in a more genteel manner. I hate it when an author resorts to 'shock' to boost sales.
Another thing I'd like to point out is that Yankees had their own maids and, in some cases, were even worse to their help: Irish & Jews were particularly considered lower than the low and these people were never considered a part of the family.
Please read this book 'with a grain of salt.' Yes, segregation and prejudice were reprehensible. Our Southern culture desperately needed to be changed and thank goodness it was. But please don't think that all Southern women acted like those in Jackson - it's just not true.
One word: Amazing March 15, 2010
sweetmisery10
I read this book on a whim since it was on the Bestseller list. I knew absolutely nothing about it and hadn't read any reviews. I fell in love with it from the first chapter. I loved the language of the book and how she told the story. I joined the plot and felt a part of the story, I laughed and cried with the maid's tales. Coming from someone who has never enjoyed the classic eccentricity of African American fiction (such as Toni Morrison, etc.), this book could bridge that gap between genres. It was heart-touching and truthful. I never wanted it to end. You'll find yourself cheering for Skeeter and all of the maids who contributed to Help. This is a must read!
Awesome, Awesome, Awesome!!! March 15, 2010
Bilan A. Costley
Kathryn Stockett did an amazing job creating a journey of laughter and tears. For a few days I was flying in the lives of the extraordinary women in this book. As a black woman I found it hurtful at times and then I would turn the page and completely relate to the sassiness of Minny. This book is on my top five reads. Awesome, Awesome, Awesome!!!
 The movie might be better March 14, 2010
Regina L. Walker (Lilburn, GA USA)
Before I purchased this book, everything I'd heard about it - which, granted, was very little - made me believe the author was African-American. Unfortunately, I found out that was not the case just prior to reading it. The mention of that fact - the book written about the lives of black maids from the point of view of a white author - got me turned up noses, rolled eyes, and pursed lips. I pride myself on not settling with initial feelings that I have that are racist, biased, or prejudiced. However, I found myself thinking thoughts such as, "How is a white woman gone write about life from the point of view of a black woman?" Mind you, I still haven't cracked it open yet.
Finally, I began reading and what I found most difficult was getting a rhythm. I have read books that are written in dialect, so to speak, such as Zora Neale Hurston's work and usually have to read them aloud until I find the rhythm of the writing. But this was different. I found myself thinking, "See? She don't even know how to write the way we talk." My authority on the matter is self-ordained. Never mind I didn't grow up in Mississippi in the 60's and never was a maid - I have decided I am an authority on writing the way we speak, also ignoring the fact that I am not a best selling author yet.
As I go further into the story I am very much engaged. I want to know what the Terrible Awful was and am guessing why Miss Celia has a rust colored stain on her rug. I am pulling for Skeeter and feeling sorry for Stuart. And I feel like this is more of the author's story than her perspective of life from the point of view of a black maid.
But in the end I think, "Why is this book just now being released?" I am not asking a question about the author's timing in writing the book nor the time it took to be published and released. I feel like this should have been released in 1965. Then I would appreciate it better. But right now it just makes me angry. As so much of what I hear about Mississippi does.
Anyway, I felt a little more connected to the author in the section where she shares her story in her own words. She is from Mississippi and lived in New York for several years and now lives in Atlanta. She may complain about Mississippi but you better not complain about it in front of her - especially if you aren't from there. That's real and brings me down off my high horse.
As far as the story - as I said, it was engaging. I want to know more about what happens to each character - I'm not content with the ending where you have an idea of where each person is heading. I want to know the history of Hilly and Elizabeth - two women I feel sorry for (although if I said that in Book Club I would get the strangest looks, dead silence, and then they'd move on to the next question). I felt that it ended a little more optimistic than I would expect to be feasible for some of the characters. There were stories that I felt could have been expanded - but the book is over 400 pages so I guess some things had to go.
I don't know if I will specifically suggest you read it. I hear it's going to be a movie. The movie may be better than the book.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 1785
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