The Help

By: Kathryn Stockett

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Jenna Lamia, Octavia Spencer, Bahni Turpin

The #1 New York Times bestselling novel and basis for the Academy Award–winning film.

Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who's always taken orders quietly, but lately she's unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She's full of ambition, but without a husband, she's considered a failure. Together these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a black maid in the South, that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town.

Critic reviews

Praise for The Help

“The two principal maid characters...leap off the page in all their warm, three dimensional glory...[A] winning novel.”—The New York Times

“This could be one of the most important pieces of fiction since To Kill a Mockingbird…If you read only one book...let this be it.”—NPR.org

“Wise, poignant...You’ll catch yourself cheering out loud.”—People

“Graceful and real, a compulsively readable story.”—Entertainment Weekly

“A beautiful portrait of a fragmenting world.”—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“The must-read choice of every book club in the country.”—The Huffington Post

“At turns hilarious and heart-warming.”—Associated Press

“In a page-turner that brings new resonance to the moral issues involved, Stockett spins a story of a social awakening as seen from both sides of the American racial divide.”—The Washington Post

Powerful Message That Reaches Beyond Its Setting

I made a mistake by buying this book before the release of the movie--and then watching the movie first. I really didn't like the movie very much. I didn't find it all that funny. As a child growing up during the time this story takes place it just brought back so many memories that I would rather not remember. It really wasn't a funny time. So, in the end I put listening on hold. Then, at last--years later--I decided to give the book a try. I am so glad that I did.

The book is very different from the movie. The message is much more complex, layered, multi faceted and totally enthralling. It captures the fear, the cruelty, the violence, the nasty disregard, the struggle for survival and the hope for change that filled the era. More than this, to me, it wasn't just about race relations but really about how we all treat one another. Yes, racial inequality, prejudice and maltreatment take the front stage--but if you look deeper it exposes much more than this. It makes you look at friendships, parent/child connections and treatment, marriages and dating and the hierarchy of a community in a whole new light.

The narration was fantastic, but, be prepared, it's a rollercoaster of a ride. The style and the voices of the women reading take hold completely and won't let go. For me, not laugh out loud funny. Instead, this excellent book transcends time and makes you really think about how far we have come and how far we still need to go.

Large elements of truth

The only reason I did not give this book a 5 star was because some of the characters could have used more development. A technicality you can dismiss.
My mother was raised in the south on a farm but my grandmother had "help".Her name was Cora. In my mother's family the bond was tight between Cora and her children and my mom and her siblings. My mom moved north to PA to marry and I met Cora on one of our frequent trips south when I was about 5 years old.She introduced herself to me as my "chocolate mammy". Having grown up in a small PA town she was the first black person I ever met.
Although I observed both the harsh racial discrimination in the south and the love and respect of my mothers family(they were never allowed to use the word nigger)to Cora and her family I could never explain with credibility to my northern born and raised friends the unusual love/hate relationships to blacks that existed in the south.
These Yankees all professed a strong belief in racial equality but felt very uncomfortable around blacks and did not include any in their close social circle.
This book says it all and illustrates the situation I have been trying to explain to my friends my whole life.The characters are real and I could put different names to all of them from the roster of my southern family and their friends and acquaintances.

Tho worried that most reviews came from females...

...and that it was on my wife's book club list, I went ahead and listened. Guys you will like this, too. Great choice of three narrators. Moving and poignant without being "preachy". Fresh and enjoyable listen taking one believably right into the life of Jackson, Mississippi in the 60's.

IT's everything you have heard it is

Sometimes I shy away from "bestsellers" since I have been disappointed too many times with those lists - but when I saw that nearly everyone had rated this book a 5 star I couldn't pass it up. It is worth it - very good book with excellent narration of the characters... a good reader realy brings the book to life.

I recently listened to the SECRET LIFE OF BEES and liked that book a lot - this one reminds me of it - but in a much deeper and historical way.

Fabulous!

I loved this book! Nuanced, unsentimental portraits of three remarkable women, two of them African American maids and one a young white woman who questions the status quo of the 60's during the civil rights movement. While these events are important historically, they don't generally appeal to me as subjects for fiction. I was drawn to listen because of the stellar reviews and I'm so glad I did. I was deeply touched and now, having finished miss the characters as though they are friends who've moved away. The story evolves easily and naturally. I couldn't put my IPod down. The writing is insightful, artful, real, subtle and respecful. A classic. The narration is beyond wonderful.