Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 1163
 Reminds us how far we've come... but also, how far we still have to go November 23, 2009
M. M. WEYER (Hollis, Maine United States)
I've read this book three times. The story is so well written. Just as real life issues and emotions are never black and white, Ms. Stockett reminds readers that the civil rights struggles of the past and current day were complicated and emotional. This story made me want to continue to work toward civil rights and justice for all people. This should be required reading for all public school teenagers.
Loved reading this book! November 23, 2009
Elizabeth Frist (Northport, NY)
Each character taking a turn to recall events had her own distinct voice. I loved each one.
The Help is a really enjoyable, loving and learning experiencethat deserves all of its accolades and awards.
The Help November 23, 2009
Carol Hall (Friendship, wi)
It is rare to find such a beautifully written novel. I paced myself while reading it, just to be able to enjoy it a while longer.
Interesting Plot, Excellent Characters, Great writing November 23, 2009
Deborah Crawford (Memphis, TN)
The Help is set in Jackson, MS at the beginning of the civil rights movement. It is told from three points-of-view, starting with Aibileen,who speaks in the dialogue of an undereducated black housekeeper. It's a little off-putting at first to read Aibileens's chapters, but worth getting used to because she is a great narrator. Another narrator is Minny, the outspoken, younger best friend of Aibileen and a housekeeper who has a hard time staying employed due to her outspokenness, but who needs to work to support her large family. Skeeter is a white college graduate, unmarried and unable to find love or happiness or even a place to fit in. The three let us glimpse into their worlds as they work together to write a book about the world of black maids and their white bosses, a venture filled with danger for all of them.
Stockett does a great job of creating plausible characters for this story. There are pretty clear lines drawn around the oppressed and the oppressors, but very few of the characters are one-dimensional. Most are quite developed and believable. She fills the plot with enough drama and suspense to keep it interesting and moving along.
This is an excellent read and I highly recommend it. I hated for it to end and would love to find out what came next for the heroines in this story.
Great work of fiction November 21, 2009
Cheryl Wedesweiler (So. Cal.)
The author writes with such familiarity with the times and Mississippi itself that you feel like you are inside the novel. I felt that I could see, hear, and feel Mississippi (although I have never been there). The novel takes place in a time before I was even born, 1963-1964. It was a blast from the pre-me past.
I loved all of the characters and they were so well developed that I cried, laughed, and felt fear with them. I was proud of their strengths and was astonished at the cruelty of some.
I absolutely loved how the maids helped to write the book. Help, that showed the plight of the maids in Jackson, MS in 1963. When a story of hardship exists it needs to be told and shown to everyone.
I am the author of Summer Born: A Life With Cerebellar Ataxia and Dreams in August: Life, Love, and Cerebellar Ataxia
Showing reviews 6-10 of 1163
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