Suzanne
Rating:
Review
This one took me by surprise. The Help vividly depicts three women's lives in Jackson, Mississippi during the civil rights movement. Aibileen and Minny are middle-aged black friends who work as maids/nannies for wealthier white women. Their employers' lives of leisure struck me as quite foreign; it's hard for me to imagine actually thinking it's important in life whether the silver is polished or not. Skeeter, the final main character, is a young, white, aspiring writer who has just returned home from college. Her education doesn't serve her well at all in a society where women are supposed to do little besides get married and be gracious hostesses at society events. Besides shining a light on the blatant oppression of blacks in the Deep South, the story brings up uncomfortable questions about the consequences of not raising your own children. While Skeeter gropes about for something worthwhile to write about, her childhood friend Hilly, now the ringleader of a prestigious local clique, campaigns to get a law passed requiring black domestic workers to use separate bathrooms from their white employers. Skeeter's pursuits lead to unexpected connections with both Aibileen and Minny, mirroring the social upheavals in other parts of the U.S. in the 1960's. I especially thought that Minny's employer Celia Foote was an interesting character as an erstwhile "white trash" newcomer to small town Jackson. Overall it was incredible to be reminded of just how recently this kind of overt racism was accepted and legal in the South.
Best Line:
"Their eyes hint remorse, as marriages are scorned (she never lets me do anything fun), youth is remembered (why didn't I go to California that summer?), first loves are recalled (Roxanne…)." (pg. 321)
Kim
Rating:
Review
Set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s, this story is told from three different women's perspectives, but include many other memorable players. Aibileen is an older, and very wise black maid working for the Leefolt family, and while she may not always enjoy working for the lady of the house, Elizabeth, she loves their little girl, Mae Mobley. Minny Jackson is also a black maid, younger than Aibileen, and much more vocal (often to her detriment). Minny is working for Celia and Johnny Foote after a falling out with the town's wanna-be big fish, Hilly Holbrook. Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is a 24 year-old white woman, recent graduate from Ole Miss, who comes back home to Jackson, to her family and friends Elizabeth and Hilly, and tries to establish a life for herself after college. Skeeter quickly becomes disenchanted with the separatism and racism running rampant all around her. She has an idea to potentially change the status quo in Jackson in the wake of the civil rights movement, and she enlists the help of Aibileen and Minny, along with several other maids, to write a book about their experiences. Though I thought some parts of this story were a little long, I was completely fascinated with all of the characters, and not just the main ones. Minny's description of Celia in all of her too-small pink outfits made me laugh, and I found Aibileen's decision to help boost Mae Mobley's self-esteem admirable and heartening. This 450 page book took me just short of three days to read, as I did not want to put it down.
Best Line:
"Sorry is the fool who ever underestimates my mother."
