The Help by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett, 451 pages

The Help tells the story of black maids and the white families they serve in Jackson, Mississippi, in the early 1960s. The story is told from the point of view of three different women: maids Aibilene and Minny, and Miss Skeeter, a young white woman who was, for all intents and purposes, raised by her family's black maid. Almost completely naive to the civil rights movement, Skeeter sets out to interview Jackson's maids for a book as she realizes that she isn't too comfortable with how her Junior League companions treat the help. Sweet and nurturing Aibilene and "sass-mouth" Minny are two of those that she interviews.

Stockett did a fantastic job switching back and forth between points of view, including tailoring each individual's verbal style to fit the character. I also really appreciated the tension created in the plot (which was interwoven with true events that took place during the civil rights movement in Jackson), as well as the evolution of each of the main characters.

One thing that's definitely worth reading is hidden after the acknowledgments at the back of the book. Over a few pages, Stockett writes an essay about Demetrie, her own family maid from when she was a child. It brings the preceding 440 pages into even sharper focus, which is an impressive feat.