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)

Beautiful story

I loved this story. It made me laugh and cry. I recommend this book to anyone!

So so so good!

One of the best audible books I have listened to. I loved the book and movie but the audible was my favorite!

I imagine it as a true story loved

the performance was so true to life I can almost imagine it happening at the time.

Loved it!!!!

One of my favorite audibles thus far! Excellent narration, and such an awesome story I could not stop listening!

Better than the movie even

One of my favorite audibles of all time. A great performance.will listen to this one time and again.

Very Good

This book made me laugh, cry and angry at times. It was enlightening, everyone should read it.

First all 5 star 🌟 rating from me

I absolutely loved this book!! I have no complaints, except maybe I wish it was longer!! I was so engrossed in these characters lives that I wanted to continue to follow them on their journeys in life...... The world building, making me sweat like Minny, even the description of the grocery store had me feeling likeI was right there with them doing my shopping!!

As an African American knowing all that my ancestors before me suffered so much with racial inequality, and how we STILL SUFFER NOW, I was grateful to see the good and the bad from both sides... It has shown that we are a strong ppl without beating ppl over the head with the msg.

The narrators were GREAT!!! I will definitely listen to this again... Makes me wish that more of these events made it into the movie 🎬 ... The book is always better, righr?!?!

Great story and excellent narration

This is one of those books I listen to over and over again. The book is far better than the movie, in my opinion.

Wonderful

This book has fueled a desire for me to be a better person. It’s a must read.

Captivating Story of the South in the 60’s

My wife and I listened to this together and we’re captivated by the story and the performances! The portrayals of both black and white women during that pivotal time in America’s history was quite enjoyable. It’s the unabridged version, so it does run long, but it is a good listen.