The Help

In May, I finished reading The Help. In the space of a couple months earlier in the year, both Sharon and Larkin had separately recommended the book to me. The owner of a bed and breakfast in New Orleans had recommended the book to Larkin, while Becky had recommended the book to Sharon.

The Help is the story of African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s. The novel is told from the perspective of three characters: Aibileen, a middle aged African American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny, an African American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family's struggles with money and her desperate need for jobs, and; Skeeter, a young white woman who has recently moved back home after graduating college to find out her childhood maid has mysteriously disappeared.

The book is a fascinating and unique look at race relations in the deep south. It is well written and nicely paced. I highly recommend it.