The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This is the second time that I've read this book. I enjoyed it as much the second time as I did the first.                                                                                  The Help is set in the early 1960's in Jackson, Mississippi. It's about the time when the civil rights movement was coming along. It was a dangerous time for people of color. It was a time of segregation  and the Jim Crow laws.  It was a time where "the help" took care of the babies, cleaned the houses, took care of the elderly.  In the story, Skeeter comes racing home from college only to find that her beloved nanny has suddenly quit and disappeared without a word to her after thirty years of service. No one will tell her what had happened. Skeeter isn't the normal southern bell as her friends are. She went to college to learn, not to find a husband much to her mother's dismay. She wants to be a writer and when the publisher suggests she write something meaningful, Skeeter sees the opportunity to write about the helps view of what it is like working for their employers.  Not an easy task as no one wants to take the risk of being caught talking. They would lose their jobs, their spouses would lose their jobs, and they might even lose their lives. It was a dangerous time.  Yet when a maid is sent to prison, their need for change over rules their fear and we see the story play out. We see the benefits, the satisfaction, the beginning of change. 

      It really is a beautiful story. It has all the elements of laughter, tears, anger, frustration, fear. It is a satisfying story that I enjoyed. 

    There were two things I did not enjoy about the book. It took me a little bit of time getting use to the dialect she was using at the beginning of the book. It was from the maid Abilene's POV. It took some getting use to, but once I got into the story, I didn't notice it any longer.

     The second thing I did not enjoy was the part where we finally find out what happened to Constantine. We are only given a glimpse. 

THE BOOK VS. THE MOVIE

I read the book before I saw the movie.  The book is so much better. The film took to many creative differences that it seems like they missed the point of the book ESPECIALLY the end. The film does not show you what it cost these women to participate in writing the book. There is no real character development as to who they really were as it was done in the book. 

Frankly, although the main actors acted well, they were in my opinion, completely miscast with the exception of the character Minney.  Skeeter was much to pretty and her hair was gorgeous. This woman would have had men climbing all over themselves to get to her. Hilly was much to skinny. I did, however, love Hilly's mama. 

I think I would have been bored with the film if I hadn't read the book first. Don't judge the film on my opinion though because other people have seen it and loved it. I know that I was bored watching it and I'm really glad I didn't spend a lot to see it. 

If you haven't read "The Help" yet or seen the movie, I would recommend you see the movie first (if you want to) and then read the book. Just know that the book is WAY WAY WAY much better. 

Did you read the book or see the movie? Leave your comments below and tell me what you thought of it.