The Help Tells All!



The Help Kathryn Stockett’s debut novel is on Writer’s Corner. I listened to the whole novel.  There were four narrators who told the story Octavia Spencer, Jenna Lamia, Bahni Turpin, and Cassandra Campbell for this journey.  Are you ready to step back in time?

Synopsis: 

Skeeter Phelan has just graduated from Ole Miss with a degree in journalism.  She wants to be a writer.   Her friends Hilly and Elizabeth along with her mother would just like to see her settle down.  Skeeter has other plans like writing the Ms. Myrna column each week for the Jackson newspaper.  Her dream job is as an editor at Harper and Row. Ms. Stein who works for Harper and Row as an Editor gives Skeeter some advice, and tells her to find a story a cause worth writing about.  What could that story be?  Look no further than the help in Jackson.  Abileen is the maid for her friend Elizabeth who also helps her with her column.  Skeeter asks her to help with a special project.  This project would tell the story of the maids and their white employers.  Is this a story worth telling?  Events surrounding their work lead Skeeter and Abileen to believe in their project, and so they enlist the aid of Minny Jackson.  Will the story be told?

My Thoughts: 

The Help is an entertaining novel!  A great debut by author Kathryn Stockett!  The setting is Jackson Mississippi in the early 1960s.   This novel is peppered with colorful characters such as Minny Jackson, Skeeter Phelan, Hilly Holbrook, and Celia Foote.  I did feel that this novel dragged in some places.  I wanted to know if Skeeter and Abileen be successful?  How would their actions affect those around them?

I listened to the audio of this novel and it had four narrators.  I thought that each narrator brought something to this project.  I especially enjoyed the exchanges between Celia Foote and Minny Jackson.  These narrators truly brought these characters to life and conformed to the setting of the novel.

Rating: 

3/5

Please visit Kathryn on her Facebook Page and Her website.

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