The Help

By: Kathryn Stockett

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

Length: 18 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's summary

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid, Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her 17th white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women—mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends—view one another.

This edition now includes the afterword "Too Little, Too Late—Kathryn Stockett in Her Own Words", as read by the author.

Bonus Audio: Hear an exclusive interview with Kathryn Stockett.

©2009 Kathryn Stockett, Cover Art: (c) 2011 DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC (P)2009 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“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)

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

My initiation to audio books

I have a feeling I've been spoiled by this book and will now compare all other narrators to these three. I loved the book: the story and the narration. Coming of age during the early sixties, I found it a refresher course in our country's history. I am now hopelessly hooked on audio books. The voices are mesmerizing to me, as I unwind from my day.

My Favorite Audible book so far

Wonderful story and excellent readers, really acted the parts with excellent accents, etc. Easy to "see" the characters. I'll probably be disappointed by the movie. This is a must.

Wonderfully Read

It's a good story, but it's the voice actors that really make this a terrifically entertaining audio book. Minnie's storyline had me laughing out loud a dozen times. Great performances.

this book is excellent

excellent story and performing reader ... i also liked that it was longer than your average audiobook.

Completely entertaining.

I listen to about 25 books a year in my travels and have to say this was a riviting listen. The narrators completely did it for me! They were brilliant. Don't miss this listen of the story by going to the movie. The movie didn't completely butcher the book, but if you don't LISTEN to these women, you won't get the complete feel of the story.

Great Story, Great Narration

One of the best books I've listened to in a long time. I listened to this for so long on my iPod that my ears hurt. I could hardly stand to turn it off when it was time to go to bed. I laughed at some parts, got mad at some parts, shook my head in places and cried at the end. The narrators did a great job. They turned all the different characters into real people with their own way of speaking and distinct personalities. I highly recommend listening to this one.

Help Review-Loved it!

I often drive more than 3 hours per day for work, so I listen to audio books from my Kindle. This book is one that once I began listening to I could not turn off and wait for the next long drive to finish. I carried my Kindle around my house and could not put it down until after I'd heard the entire book!

I really dislike studying history, but if history was presented in the format of this book, through a story, I would love it.

This book was read by 3 different readers acting as specific characters, which added to the quality of the book and brought the characters to life.

I am a child development specialist and this book places an exclamation point on the importance of understanding the role of culture and parenting on the outcomes of children and our communities. I don't recommend many books to colleagues but this one I will go out of my way to recommend. It will be added to my recommended reading list for parents, early childhood educators, and professionals wanting to better understand the role of culture.

This book was amazing and it provoked deep thought and generated a broad range of feelings that stayed with me for several days and are easily recalled. This is something I do not believe many books accomplish.

I highly recommend this book, and hope that I can find more like this.

Revealing and Very Touching

I could not wait to get back to listening to this story! It was a very enjoyable and captivating tale. Congratulations to Ms. Stockett. For those of us too young to have lived during this time period it is quite an eye-opener. The performances were outstanding!

SUPERB!

I did NOT go see the moving before listening to this book. I loved using my imagination and all of the narrators were perfect for their roles. I would recommend listening to this book any day, anytime, anywhere! I could not wait to get back to it when I had to stop! Now I'm just sick trying to find something like this book to hold my listening interest! This is one of the 'all time' good reads!

No HELP needed for the HELP !!

I heard people talk about "THE HELP" but had no idea. This was my first time listening to an audiobook and what a GREAT way to start. The book was fantastic. The story was good and the narrators were the best. Each person was brougth to life in the audiobook. I saw the movie as I was half way through the book and I must admit, the audiobook was better. I would assume that the audiobook is better than the hardcopy book. Thanks