Book Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I just finished this book last night. I LOVED it.

This is the Summary from the Barnes and Noble Website:

"Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town.."

It was great. The thing I loved about it was that it takes place in MS and you know I love MS. The book is over 400 pages which is great because I love getting into a LONG book, but it took me a little bit longer to read than usual because of the language and spelling. The author is very good at writing out the words and language as it is spoken. I would be in bed reading and I would LAUGH out loud and Rick would give me the elbow to keep it quiet.

It's thought provoking. Having lived in MS, it was so interesting to compare what race relations were like when I lived there compared to the 1960's when the story takes place.

The author grew up in Jackson, MS. She is a great writer--this is her first novel. I loved reading about all of the street names, town names, and stores that I recognize from living there. (she mentioned Flowood, which is where Cole was born.) for some reason I get a kick out of reading about specific places that I have been to. Although, I think anyone could read this book and still get just as much from the story without having lived there.

Good, Good Book.