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)

Amazing, beautiful, I didn't want it to end

This was a great book and I really have all good things to say about it. All I could say Is I have no words except that it's beautifully written and addictive. I recommend it for all ages.

Simply wonderful

May I repeat - simply wonderful. The story, the narration, everything.

Help

Ok it looks like a boring title..... NO WAY!!!! This was one of the best books I've downloaded... I find myself thinking about the book and wondering about the women's lives from the book. What a wonderful story about the struggles of women from the past, white or black.

In a word...Amazing!

"The Help" came recommended to me by several friends, however, I was not prepared for this wonderful "book" Audible version I could not stop listening to. I have an older car, the book is so good and well written that I seriously considered going out and purchasing a newer vehicle with MP3 technology so I didn't have to stop listening to the book. Amazing!

Beautiful..

I loved this book. It inspired me so much! The Women in this book are amazing and Kathryn did an amazing job of bringing them to life. I did not want this book to end.

The BEST audio book - ever!!!

What amazing acting and stellar story as I cried and laughed my way through the book. The only disappointed was that it ended.

a great story to hear at the right time.

The audio version with the different voices and accents added an entire dimension to the story. I felt like I was listening to the characters. They really came to life.

Bet the Movie is Gonna be Great!!!!

This is a great story about how life most likely was during that time. I never really thougth about it because of not being brought in that time or in that region of the country.

They readers did a wonderful job telling the story and changing the voices to fit the character and the mood of the story. True Story tellers. Makes me hope all the books on here wont disappoint.

The Help

I walked by the bus stop in CA where 3 Hispanic women were sitting and one standing while listening to this book, and wondered if they are living the same life as the women in this book.

Really good and heartwarming

The book was great. As a Southerner growing up in the 60's, then living in Mississippi from the 70's on, I can relate to the story (the better characters, thank you!) The narration was very good, especially giving voices to different characters by allowing for different readers.