Book #5: Fabookulous

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Book description: 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 seventeenth 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. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don’t.

To describe my reaction to this book in one word: WOW. And this is the author’s DEBUT novel! She has such a gift for storytelling. I decided to read this book after seeing LibraryLove’s review of it last month.

My first historical fiction piece in a long time, this book had me so engrossed in every character. I love seeing the story from more than one view and empathized with every woman. I found myself in awe of Aibileen and Minny and their strength and perseverance to continue to put up with what they had to. And Skeeter, well she was very brave and honorable to use her talents to make a difference.

It’s amazing what women can do when they push past stereotypes and what society says and come together for a mutual cause. The Help is a wonderful example of women keeping the faith and fighting together, no matter what. I definitely recommend this book and will be looking forward to seeing what Kathryn Stockett writes next!

5/5 stars.

5 down. 47 more. Steady does it…

~Fabookulous~