The Help

by Kathryn Stockett

In many ways, I feel like the last bookseller in the country to read this book, but now that I have, I must add my voice to those that have given this beautiful book such a glowing reception.

Set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s, The Help gives voice to a group of women from both very similar yet different backgrounds and experience, who find themselves drawn together in a combined effort to shine light on something that affects them all.

The world in which The Help is set seems very far removed from the world we now live in, and in many ways, thankfully it is.

The world in which we now live does not have the same strict lines of division concerning race, class and so forth, and that is truly a good thing. However, in the time that has passed it seems we have forgotten how far we have come in a relatively short time. Not to mention how hard the journey was for so many, and what they risked to pave the way for those who would follow.

The Help introduces us to wise, regal and caring Aibileen, a woman who has raised seventeen white children- the most recent one after losing her own beloved son to a tragic accident. Aibileen is alone in the world, except for the children under her charge, and her best friend, Minny. Although they share a close friendship, Minny and Aibileen are very different. Aibileen is quietly resolute, choosing to teach the children in her charge a different way of seeing the world while she suffers the indignities of a bigoted society. Minny, on the other hand is daring and outspoken in her opinion towards her white employers. When we meet her, she is on the brink of losing yet another job due to her inability to appear in any way subservient to her employer’s daughter. When that same daughter uses her influence to ensure Minny is unable to get another position, Minny exacts revenge on this woman in a manner so daring and outrageous (while at the same time so comically just) that you can’t help but cheer at her audacity. Ironically, for all her flash and fire, Minny lives in fear of how her husband Leroy will react to her losing another job. In fact, contrary to her outwardly bold nature, Leroy seems to be the one thing Minny truly fears.

The woman who, in her own unwitting way, brings Minny, Aibileen and eventually many others together is young Eugenia, or Skeeter, as everyone knows her. Skeeter has returned home from college, with a degree and a desire to write professionally- but to her mother’s consternation, without a husband. The person Skeeter is most looking forward to seeing is Constantine, the woman who raised her in much the same way that Aibileen raised her ‘children’. However, when she arrives home, she finds that Constantine is gone. The fact that Constantine, who has been a source of continuity and support throughout Skeeter’s life is gone without any word is unacceptable to her and she sets out to find the truth about what happened.

In the course of trying to resolve the mystery of Constantine’s abrupt departure, Skeeter slowly befriends Aibileen, who is also her best friend Elizabeth’s housekeeper. The more the friendship between Skeeter and Aibileen evolves, the more Skeeter sees the injustice and wrongdoing that her life-long friends see as perfectly acceptable behavior. When Skeeter asks Aibileen at one point if she wishes things could change, the seed of an idea is born. This idea evolves into a book documenting the stories of a collection of women who have served generations of white families. They have cooked, cleaned and tended to them. They have held their confidences, soothed them in time of illness, and raised their children when they were unwilling or unable. These women were treated like trusted confidants or with crass indifference and cruelty- sometimes both.

As Skeeter collects the stories of the women Aibileen brings to her, all of them becoming partners in this project, her view of the world she has always known is altered with almost brutal clarity, and she is forced to reevaluate whom she can and cannot trust.

In The Help, we see events both large and small in the context of how it affects the lives of these women. We see these women grow and trust one another regardless of their differences.  We witness both their combined and individual strength. The Help chronicles both the amazing kindness and love that humans are capable of, as well as their careless and deliberate cruelty. Stockett does this with an amazingly deft hand, creating every character in the novel in fine multi-layered detail. Each story, from each woman’s perspective, draws you in and holds you. You cheer for them, cry with them, and feel both their pain and joy. The Help is an unforgettable joy to read.

Review by Brenda Seward, Owner, Simple Pleasures Books & Gifts

The Help, released through Amy Einhorn Books, a member of the Penguin Group is available for purchase at Simple Pleasures Books & Gifts

Simple Pleasures Books & Gifts is a family owned independent bookstore. Owned and managed by my three daughters, and myself. Our focus is toward women, while seeking to offer a little bit of something for everyone. From books, chocolate, unique custom gift bags and note cards to tea towels and bath products, Simple Pleasures offers just that- the simple pleasures of life.

All titles reviewed here are available at Simple Pleasures Books & Gifts in Ashland, VA, 804-378-7736, www.simplepleasuresbooksandgifts.com.

Or online at: http://www.alibris.com/stores/spbooks1.