Read of the Month: The Help

Since the movie just came out starring Emma Stone and Viola Davis, I felt that I needed to read the book before I saw the movie. The books never fail to be better than the movie so I like to read them before they have a chance of being ruined as a movie. I must be in the same frame of mind as Hank Green  because he just posted a video on YouTube expressing the same thoughts. I wanted to read The Help, by Katherine Sockett, before I even knew they were making a movie.

This is a book written about writing a book. Which is something different in itself but it is also about segregation in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s. The two heroines of this book could be considered complete opposites. Skeeter is a fresh out of college journalist and comes from a well to do white family and Abileen is a 40 something black maid who is still dealing with her only child's death. And yet they become very close through all the trials of getting a book published. Skeeter also has to deal with the difficultly of coming home from college and realizing that it is different than before. Changed and not in a good way for her. Most of her high school friends got married and dropped out of college to make a home for their husbands. She ends up realizing that Jackson is no longer a place where she belongs. Abileen ends up becoming a hero for helping other maids find their own voice. She also realizes that she can start her own life over and over comes the grief of her lost son.

The other characters in the book are also very well developed but I'm going to let you read the book to learn about them. I love the way this book is more about trying to get two different but similar groups of women to start talking to each other. It's not just about race but respect for everyone. I definitely recommend this book to everyone. 

Let me know what you think of the book after you have read it!

Peace!