What I loved about this book: A white woman living in 1960’s Mississippi begins to see the help as human beings. She becomes interested in their perspectives on what it feels like to be a black maid taking care of white children. The stories she is clandestinely told by those courageous women open her eyes to how things truly are for these women and not how she imagined them to be. The stories are tragic, horrifying, and also filled with love and understanding. I also witness Skeeter, this young woman, develop from an ugly duckling into a beautiful, courageous, self-confident woman who can stand on her own two feet even after losing the biggest catch in Jackson.
What I didn’t like about this book: The black slang was terrible; inconsistent, mispelled and often completely wrong. Stockett completely drops the ball on that and it is inexcusable. So much so, that she may have well alientated the Afrian American readers who might have enjoyed this story. There is lack of character development, some stereotyping and some plotlines left undeveloped. Celia Foote is the best example. She is the white trash floozy with a heart of gold who wants to be a part of a society that will never accept her. She is a dim bulb and her maid regards her as a fool. Stockett never really tells us what is it about Celia that made her husband dump the town’s most popular socialite and biggest racist for. She never tells us why Celia drinks, why she can’t carry her babies to term and why she is so full of pain.
Taking all that aside, The Help is a highly entertaining and engaging read, often leaving us in mini cliffhangers as the plot switches to another character. Abileen, Minnie and Skeeter are very much alive and I felt as if I was sittng in that room listening as Skeeter feverishly typed their stories in the dead of night, with the curtains tightly shut.
A read.
Serfas CP 323 Combo