Our Friends in the Deep South

Yesterday, I finished 'The Help' by Kathryn Stockett and I absolutely loved it.  It's not a book I would've picked up myself, but someone bought it for me as a birthday present, so I wanted to give it a go.  I'm so grateful to them, I had no idea what I was missing out on!

'The Help'
by Kathryn Stockett
(Film Tie-in,
Penguin, 2011)

Set in Jackson, Mississippi, in the early 1960s, 'The Help' is the story of the town's African American maids and the white women and families they serve.  It has three narrators, Aibileen, a calm, dignified woman who understands the white children she cares for much better than their mothers, the adorably feisty Minny, whose tendency to speak her mind can get her into trouble with her employers, and Skeeter Phelan, a wannabe writer who has just returned from university to find her own beloved maid, Constantine, gone and a wall of silence around exactly what happened.  Through their eyes, we see the good, bad and ugly of Jackson society and none are more ugly than the genuinely evil Hilly Holbrook.  When the search for Constantine leads Skeeter to start writing a book about the maids and their experiences, the malignant shadow of Hilly and those in her thrall looms large.  Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny know the project is important, but can they see it through safely?

I was completely absorbed by the world Ms Stockett has created  from the very first page.  She's done such an absolutely amazing job of capturing the different characters in this book, I honestly felt like I'd get to the last page and discover they were all real people.  I was genuinely disappointed when the book ended as I knew I wouldn't 'see' them again and know that they were OK.  Weirdly, they almost felt like friends - that doesn't happen very often!

The whole book is an emotional rollercoaster - I cried, I hoped, I winced, I pitied, I laughed out loud, I sympathised and, in the last few chapters, I was on the edge of my seat.  Chopin said "People who never laugh are not serious people."  Life is full of funny moments and its a mistake for any author to think their work will be more realistic without them.  I love this book all the more for not shieing away from that, even though the underlying themes of racism and prejudice are so serious.  Without them, the book would have lost its characteristic energy and sparkle.

Although this is a fantastic book, I think it would appeal mainly to those interested in human relationships, so you might want to think twice if that's not really your thing.  Other than that, go!  Go out now and buy a copy immediately!  Or three!  I know I will - an awful lot of my friends will be getting this for their birthdays this year!