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)

The Help

I throughly enjoyed listening to this book. It held my attention every afternoon for 2 weeks while my grandchildren napped.
Growing up as a child in Oregon during the 50's and 60's I was unaware of the treatment of people in the south. I was a little more than surprised to hear an account of the lives depicted in this book. I aligned myself with skeeter. Truly enjoyable and enlightening.

A MUST READ

I laughed, and literally shed tears throughout listening to this book. Stockett does an amazing job of illustrating the complex relationships between the characters in this novel. The narration is superb. A MUST READ FOR SURE!!

The Help

this was an AMAZING read...i am a tough sell, and i was hooked from the start and it just got better and better. not only a terrific story and narrators, it is a real socialogical look at a time in american history that we should really reflect upon. i felt like it was true, because of the writer's attention to the historical details that are enmeshed in the story. Jenna Lamia is simply mezmerizing as the voice of the main character, just as she was in "The Secret Life of Bees". i just loved this book, it truly moved me...

I chuckled throughout

Great characters, and true experiences! Well written and performed with excellence!

Spellbinding!

I simply cannot think of one, single way to improve the story or how it was delivered! Each day I found myself sitting in my car in the garage, listening to just a few more minutes before I had to turn the key off and go back to reality. I laughed, I cried, my heart ached and soared - - and I didn't want the story to end.

Loved it!

Absolutely loved this audiobook! The readers put you right into the story. Their southern accents were lovely,

Wonderful

I loved this story it is very well written I loved the characters they were so real and inspiring. The women who narrated were excellent they brought the story to life. I highly recommend this book.

Amazing!

This one is not to be missed. Stockett's use of language is astonishing; the narrators are all brilliant. I could not stop listening.

a compelling look at Mississippi in the 1960's

I loved listening to this, I enjoyed every second of it, felt like I was there.

Exceptional

A very well written book with a glimpse of all sides. Engaging. I had a difficult time putting this one down.