The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I don’t like books about racism. I’ve avoided reading this one because I thought I didn’t need to hear again about the racial conflict in the 1960’s. It makes me angry and sad to read about how white people have treated other people of different races and colours. And so, I have ignored all the hype about this book and steadfastly refused to read it.

Until I went on my vacation and my sister insisted that I would love this book. I broke down and bought it and was mesmerized by the first words. This book made me laugh and cry. It’s the type of book that people who see you reading it want to talk to you about. I talked to a guy in the elevator whose girlfriend was reading the book and loved it. It’s the kind of book that you can talk to about with a black hotel receptionist who grew up in Alabama and hadn’t read the book but had seen the movie. I encouraged her to read the book; I wish I could talk to her once she’s read it.

The story is told in the voice of the black women who work as servants and in the voice of the white woman who is writing the story. It was a bit difficult for me to adjust to each chapter being told in a different voice as the story was so mesmerizing that I was sometimes slow to realize that now someone else was talking. But that is really the only criticism I have of an other- wise flawlessly written novel.

This is a debut novel for Kathryn Stockett and I surely hope that she has a sequel in the works. If you’re like me and have avoided this book, please go out and buy it. It’s worth the read and worthy of the discussions you will have about it.