The Help, By Kathryn Stockett

Title: The Help
Author: Kathryn Stockett
Publisher: Berkley
Publishing Date: 2009
Length:  522 pages
Summary: (From book)  Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, raising her seventeenth white child. She's always taken orders quietly, but lately it leaves her with a bitterness she can no longer bite back. Her friend Minny has certainly never held her tongue, or held onto a job for very long, but now she's working for a newcomer with secrets that leave her speechless. And white socialite Skeeter has just returned from college with ambition and a degree, but to her mother's lament, no husband.  Normally Skeeter would find solace in Constantine, the beloved maid who raised her, but Constantine has inexplicably disappeared.
 Together, these seemingly different women join to work on a project that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town-to write, in secret, a tell-all book about what it's really like to work as a black maid in the white homes of the South. Despite the terrible risks they will have to take, and the sometimes humorous boundaries they will have to cross, these three women unite with one intention: hope for a better day.
My Thoughts:    What a wonderful book. I loved it even more than the movie. I am so in awe of the writing style of this debut author. To be able to handle three very unique first person narrations and an entire cast of distinctive characters is quite an impressive feat.  I fell in love with all the personal stories and started crying at the end.  This book is unforgettable and tells an important story in a light that is both entertaining and humorous, but with just the right amount of gravity to realize the sadness of the widespread belief of segregation.

Things To Be Cautious Of:  Language. The Lord's name is taken in vain repeatedly throughout the length of the book.  There is a scene in the novel not found in the film about some insane, naked wild man running around Celia's house.  Mentioning of violence, domestic abuse, unfair treatment of African Americans.

What I Learned: We are all God's children and He loves us all equally. We need to remember that.