Book Review: The Help

Book review of The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

What drew me to The Help by Kathryn Stockett and made me buy it at my local Wal-Mart was the picture on the cover; two white women sitting idly on a bench and two black women standing beside them whispering to each other enigmatically.  The slogan on the cover reads, “Change begins with a whisper.”  I was intrigued.

The Help is a book about black maids and their white female employers that takes place in Jackson, Mississippi during the sixties’. The maids live in poverty, have less rights than white people and are often mistreated by the women for whom they work.  Most of the maids in Jackson have heartbreaking (or heartwarming) stories about the cruelty (and occasional kindness) of their employers.  However, the cruelest woman is Hilly, who is an adamant advocate of separate bathrooms for black maids in white homes.  

The story mostly revolves around Aibileen and Minny, two best friends who work as maids.  While Aibileen is quiet and pensive, Minny is quick to anger and has a tendency to talk back in any situation, which gets her into trouble sometimes.  

Meanwhile, Skeeter, a lonely, bookish recent college graduate, is having trouble finding employment as a writer. Skeeter wants to write a book about the struggle of black maids in her hometown and, with a great deal of determination and hard work, she eventually convinces several black maids to tell their stories for the first time.  

The book is written from the perspectives of the three main characters; Aibileen, Skeeter and Minnie.  I loved their personalities and they seemed so real and unique to me as characters.  

I was mostly satisfied with the ending, except for the way it ended with Stuart, Skeeter’s boyfriend.  I expected him to be gone for good, but it was still disappointing to see how much appearances mattered to him.

I think this is a very original story.  I have not read or heard of a book that deals with this specific topic, although there may be a story like this somewhere in film or literature.  I’m not absolutely certain.  Also, I’ve personally never been able to relate to a protagonist so strongly.  I felt hopeful as I read about Skeeter’s wonderful experiences and what she had accomplished.  If she is capable of being successful, maybe I am. 

In my opinion, The Help is a book that is simultaneously uplifting, moving and hilarious.  I had no idea how few rights black people had in the sixties’ before reading this book, so I learned quite a bit about that particular time.  It’s hard to imagine people being so horrible to each other just because of skin colour.  Reflecting on the racism in that book, I wonder whether people fifty or one hundred years from now will look back at our society and see us as bigoted and intolerant people  just like the way I see the people in the United States in the sixties’.  I would recommend The Help to everyone.

Rating: 4.5/5