The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett was a fantastic read - it should be compulsory reading for all people living in countries where they still pay for hired help to help them in bringing up their children and keeping their houses clean.


'Enter a vanished and unjust world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted not to steal the silver...There's Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own son's tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; and white Miss Skeeter, home from College, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared. Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. No one would believe they'd be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend and rely upon one another. Each is in a search of a truth. And together they have an extraordinary story to tell...'


I highly recommend this book - I couldn't put it down. The way it was written using the voices of the individual characters, the beauty she has been able to describe in situations that made me feel uncomfortable and the suspense towards the end of the book that made me so tense and nervous - I loved it all. I especially connected with the characters of Minny and Aibileen - Kathryn Stockett describes them so vividly that I have a perfect image of who they would be in my mind and they are tough, beautiful women who will stay with me for a long time.


As a child growing up in South Africa, I am vaguely aware of being looked after by 'nannies' as a small child. I don't remember much of these relationships - either good or bad - and now wish I'd paid more attention to those lovely ladies who were leaving their own families back in the townships or country to look after us for what would not have been much money (I am assuming a lot as I've never discussed these women with my mother and wonder whether she knew much about their personal lives either - should find out I guess!).


This book would make a great book club selection - there are so many issues in this book to discuss and I wonder how we would all go living in that environment. 


There is one part of the book that resonated with me ( and also I note in the back of the book, with the author herself) and that was for people to come to the realisation that "We are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I'd thought".