2011 Bookshelf: The Help

This book review is a bit overdue, considering that I listened to "The Help" mostly over the holidays, and finished it up a few weeks ago. In a nutshell, this is a great book. I listened to it on CD (during the long drives over the holidays), and I think hearing it was what made it really special.

The book is set in Mississippi in the early 1960s. The story is told from three different viewpoints, all given at different times throughout the book: two of the viewpoints are from black women who work as maids for white families, and the other from a young white woman, who has a maid of her own. It's a story of how this young white woman secretly writes a book about the experiences of the black maids in Jackson, Mississippi, and the experiences of the black maids as they relate their stories. There is a lot more to the story, though, as you get a glimpse of the struggles and fears experienced by the black community in the South in the '60's, and the either clueless-ness or outright racism of the white community. I especially appreciated the experience of the main white character, as she learns to "come into her own" in what she believes, and takes a bold stand for what she knows is right - risking (and losing) relationships along the way. I was also intrigued by the subtle parallels the author makes between this character, and a child in the book who is cared for by one of the black maids whose point of view we get to enjoy.

Listening to this book made it so enjoyable. It felt so real - the voices, the dialects - it was full of warmth and life. This is a great read (or listen)!