I'm not sure if I mentioned that I received a Kobo* Reader from my daughter and her family for Christmas. It's amazing. The Help is the second book I've read on the Kobo and I loved it. It takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in 1962. It's still a time in history when Blacks are fighting for equal rights. Rosa Parks has protested, Martin Luther King is in the news on an almost daily basis and maids are good enough to raise white children, but not to use the same bathroom as their employers.
The Help is told from the viewpoint of three women, who are unforgettable. Minny is a black maid who is always losing her job because she "back talks" her employers. Aibileen has raised many white children, this being her seventeenth. Miss Skeeter is a white woman...an inspiring writer who was raised by a black maid.
Skeeter decides that she wants to write a book about the way the black "Help" is treated. She recruits Aibileen, Minny and a few other maids. She prepares and sends a book proposal to Harper and Row in New York City. To everyone's surprise, it is accepted.
This is a fantastic book. It makes you laugh, cry and feel the fear of those involved in the writing of the book. You will love some of the characters and feel despise for others.
I don't think Miss Skeeter realized the danger she was bringing upon herself and the maids until after the book was published. However, I do applaud this fictional character for doing her best to see that the maids were treated fairly and for believing that they should have equal rights.
This is a book that I recommend for everyone. If you haven't read it, check it out at your local library or book store.
Great book review... Loved it!!
ReplyDeleteI loved this book - one of the best! Have you seen the movie? We liked it too.
ReplyDeleteI've heard about this book and the movie, but I've never read or seen it. I bet I'd like them, though. Thanks for telling us about about the book.
ReplyDeleteOh yes....I had this little paper back in my hand yesterday at the book store and put it back on the shelf 'cause Bud was anxious to go somewhere else...had no time to purchase it. I still read books that I can hold in my hand 'cause I still love the feel, the smell of the print. LOL Call me weird. Anyway, I WILL read this eventually, and I WILL see the movie when I can find it cheap.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the invite Mary. I will reciprocate by inviting you for my Friday Fragments that I am writing up right now for my blog...I too will have a book review. You may be able to find it with your new gift!!! So, drop by on Friday and see if this will be of interest to you.
Mary, I concur completely with your review of this book. It is absolutely fantastic and the movie is great too! (One of those rare occasions when I actually leave the house to go see a movie -every 4 or 5 years or so, ya know). But anyway, anyone who hasn't yet read this great book or seen the movie too, I'd recommend doing both as soon as possible!
ReplyDeleteExcellent book and movie IMO. I am using the Kobo app on my Playbook.
ReplyDeleteI haven't read the book or seen the movie yet but it's one I definitely plan on seeing! The injustices that were brought on the blacks back then just breaks my heart and I know that it's a story I could really get into. An excellent book review, my dear:-) xoxo
ReplyDeleteI liked the book but found the movie not as impressive. I thought more of the flowery language should have been used Such as Stuck like hair on soap. etc. I agree with Hootin Anni I like the feel and smell of a real book. How can it be a page turner if on some kind of electronic device? Showin my AGE. Peace
ReplyDeleteI'm with your friend Hootin' Anni. I prefer a real book in my hand and I wonder about one's eyesight on those electronic reads.
ReplyDeleteThis story was set during the Civil Rights Movement at a time when Jim Crow was still in full force...A very turbulent and sad time.
ReplyDeleteI'm just thankful that everything has worked out so well since the 60's. It's only fair that everyone be treated equally - and I always argue that by not declaring the slaves freed men was why the U.S. Constitution was/is NOT the perfect document. Almost perfect, of course, but lacking in that department. But given that slavery was legal, the founding fathers didn't want to push the argument - they were afraid that all of the colonies/states wouldn't ratify the new Constitution.
The un-Civil War didn't help either. Afterwards, reconstruction, along with the creation of the northern/black Union and Loyal Leagues and the southern/white KKK, a future of Jim Crow Laws and a Civil Rights fight were bound to happen.
But to be honest - I think that race relations were the best back in the 70's and 80's - at least in Atlanta. Back then, the races could talk to each other. We weren't yet taught how to be so 'politically correct'.
I'd like to read this book ASAP - if only to see if some of my observations are similar.