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)

LOVED THIS!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Help to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print version, but was delighted in the audio version and consider it better than the movie.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Abeline was my favorite, but I liked most of the characters. They were well-developed and seemed to resemble people I have known.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene is when Hilly's mother tells Hilly she bought the pie for her.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

A lady in the store reached out to the writer and said she would not accept Hilly's demand to fire her help as the help was the only person keeping her sane.

Any additional comments?

I was a small child in Mississippi in the 60's. We sometimes had help but our situation is completely unlike those in the book. As much as I delighted in the story I would hope that it is not perceived as completely historically accurate. There are other scenarios that were not mentioned.

Spectacular!

Not only was this story beautifully told and very compelling, the narrative was absolutely spot on. This is definitely a must read!

One of the best!

This book is a jewel! Well written, with well developed, interesting characters and a great story! So hard to believe that this is an accurate picture of the relationship between many white southerners and their help in my own lifetime. The narrators are as good as they get, making this one of the very best books I have ever bought. I was sorry to have it end, and I have bought it in hardback for my husband for Christmas. Thank you, thank you, thank you...for a wonderful listening experience!!

I could not put down this audiobook

Kudos to Ms. Stockett for writing a book with characters who you love and cheer on, others who you hate, and yet others who are complicated, and you try to figure out how you feel about them. I never lived in the South, but I have memories and observations from being a child during this time that hit home for me while reading this book. These attitudes were not so long ago, and sadly, may be more prevalent than I wish to believe even today.

Amazing Book

I was going overseas, so I did not want to carry a heavy hardback book with me, so I decided to download "The Help". I am so happy I did. The readers make the book come alive. I couldn't stop listening, and I was so so sad when the book was over. This book was a truly a gift to readers!

Great read

I was a teenager who lived in California during the 60s'. Prejudice in California was nothing like what it
was in the South. The author did a great job of bringing to light what is was to be a maid in the South in the 60s. It was hard to stop listening. It showed the good, bad and ugly of humans. It also showed what a few good people can do when they stand together for justice. It also showed what people who are "sheep" look like.
Marilyn

History with a sense of humor

This is a true classic! I loved listening to the the stories thru the eyes of the different woman of the south. Although the topic of the Civil Rights movement and the cruelty that African Americans endured during that time in history was awful the author has you laughing at times and other times crying. I would recommend this book to all my friends, I didn't want it to end.

Totally Relatable...

I Loved this story and loved the narration.It echoes my favorite book of all time "To Kill a Mockingbird" in that it is a love story between the most unlikely of companions for the time in which it took place. I was also impressed by the complex relationships between daughters and mother-figures. I appreciated being reminded how much different and better American society is than it was 50 years ago. I will miss these ladies and their unique personalities.

Much better than the movie

I'm so glad I listened to this book before seeing the movie. While I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, the book is much better, and the narration is mostly fantastic. I wasn't as fond of the narrator for Skeeter's parts of the books--her interpretation of Aibileen and Minnie felt off to me--but overall very good. The book, for me, takes a more complex look at the reality of the time period than the film.

Narration was perfect!

I love this book. In fact, I am waiting to listen to the ending because I do not want it to be over! I loved all the characters and the narrators who read their stories. The characters were funny, sad and beautifully honest. I do not think I would have liked the book so much if i had not listened to it. The narrators really did make the story for me.