The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Absolutely loved this book. The characters were all believable and likable; and although there was a definite message about civil rights, the plot did not scream at you. It was amazing to realize what some of the maids in the book endured just so they could keep their job. The day-to-day toiling is often overlooked in the broader sense of civil rights. There were times when I thought a maid was over reacting (like when Minny was afraid her boss would come me, find her and kill her); yet when you put the storyline into the historical perspective, it certainly made sense that these otherwise strong willed women were cowed by their white world. Interspering actual historical events was also intriguing. Yet, I was never sure what sort of twist the plot would take: I enjoyed the unpredicability of the story. I also liked that Stockett did not capitalize on some of the more well known parts of the civil rights movement: the book is set in the early 1960's before some of the better known events took place. (or at least, better known to me) I don't usually like it when a story switches narrators, and it's the one thing I didn't like about this book. While I appreciated learning the story from the three different perspectives (the two maids and the white protagonist), I didn't think there was enough "voice" difference between the two maids. I had to keep reminding myself which maid was narrating. However, I absolutely loved the fact that this book had no foul language and no explicit sex in it. It is Stockett's first novel, too. What more wonderful could there be?