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)

A MUST READ

This is one of the best books I have heard (or read) in a long time. Believe it or not, the seriousness of the story is told with laugh out loud humor. The writing is so vivid you feel like you are there and the narrators deserve an Academy Award.

wonderful read

Could not put the book down. The narrators made the book come alive. A must read from audible

Highly recommended!

I read thru the reviews for both the book online and the audiobook here. I am so glad I chose to listen b/c The Help is one of the most wonderful engrossing books I have ever listened to. It has true life villans and if you're from the South you will recognize many of the women in the book from your own experience. I raced thru it b/c it was so good, now I am sad it's over. It's not very often you come across a book that you HAVE to listen to every spare second. I highly recommend this book and can't wait to see more of Stockett's work in the future. Read The Help.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

I feel somewhat redundant adding on to this list of glowing reviews. There's nothing I can say that hasn't been said somewhere in this pile of 126 pages. But you also can't listen to this and just not comment. It seems rude somehow. So I'll repeat: best audiobook of all time, you will fall in love with these characters and narrators. PLEASE listen to this book!

A Real Gem!

The Help is a story based around three characters. Minny, Aibilene, the two black maids, and Miss Skeeter a college educated white woman. You get a background about each of these woman and listen as their plights bring them together to institute a project that will not only change their lives, but the lives of women in the town of Jackson Mississippi in the 1960's.

Minny (my personal favorite) is a shoot from the hip, no-nonsense black maid who is shunned by most of the white families because of a nasty rumor until she meets her new employer Cecilia Foot.

Aibilene is a middle age maid who has raised many white children in her years. She is loving and truly adores the white children she has raised.

Eugenia Phelan (Skeeter) is the white young women who is not afraid to cross the line to help these black maids who are victimized by their white women employers.

This book actually has a voice. The narrators make it come alive and you feel like you are right there. It is enchanting, delightful and a sheer pleasure to listen to.

After reading about the author Kathryn Stockett, I realized this book is loosely based on her own experiences growing up. How sad I was when it was over. I have never felt this way about a book before, I could have listened and listened. I will definitely go back to hear this one again.

One of the best

This is one of the best audio books I have read. Moving and interesting throughout.

First review ever!

Never before have I felt an urge to write a review of something I have read - but this is the time. Disturbing, spellbinding, human - excceptional story and writing.

Outstanding!

I have listened to over a hundred audible books during the past couple of years while driving for work, and most recently while running long distance. It takes a really good reader to keep me engaged while running 15 miles, and all four of the readers in this book were terrific! I had been listening to this book at work all week, and I actually couldn't wait for the Half Marathon I was running in this past weekend to start so that I could listen to the last several chapters. It was truly one of the most enjoyable books I've listened to so far.

An absolute joy.

This is easily the best audio book I have ever listened to, and due to a long commute, I listen to a lot of audio books. Not only is it a wonderfully well-written story, but the narration is absolute perfection, giving this listener a feeling akin to being in a theater. I generally don’t care for multiple narrators; to me it tends to make the performance sound too much like old time radio theater, but these women breathe life into the characters and give them the individuality that their story demands. An absolute joy that I did not want to end.

Excellent choice

What a great book! I especially like that there are 4 different narrators. It really adds interest to the story. Not that it wasn't just fine by itself. The last review I read said that he kept checking the time to see how much "book" was left. I felt the same way. After I'd turn it off, I could hear the voices and stories echoing in my head. I'd wonder what was going to happen and how the story would continue. The author captured the thoughts and feelings of both the white and black ladies that these stories were centered around. It gave a terrific insight into the Civil Right's movement from the characters point of view.
I'll definitely be looking for more books from Kathryn Stockett.