Lately my life has been a lot of travel, on planes, trains, and in a station wagon that is so beat up I am pretty sure it's not going to pass...
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DebZ, March 3, 2012 (view all comments by DebZ)
I read many appalling things in this book; my mouth literally dropped open a few times. I found myself often considering how cruel people can be, in all kinds of situations. But, I laughed, too - out loud. I found the dialect sticking with me throughout the day; I would stand at the sink doing dishes and "hear" Minny and Aibileen. I do not pretend to be fluent in any Southern dialect but thought the author did a fine job of keeping it consistent. I'm sure the situation was much, much worse for many at that time but that this offered a good balance of the good and the bad within individuals trying to co-exist. I think the book has done a good service. Also, it was well-written and flowed impeccably well. The book did what I expect any good book to do: it entertained me while running me through a gamut of emotions.
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tina blacksmith, March 1, 2012 (view all comments by tina blacksmith)
I'm not even done with this book (still have a little over 100 pages left) but it is such a good book. Stockett did such a good job of displaying the emotions that these people had to have felt back then. Excellent read!!
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fritter, January 31, 2012 (view all comments by fritter)
This book makes a point that one person seeing injustice can change it with the help of other courageous people.
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pjona, January 28, 2012 (view all comments by pjona)
The birth of yet another American classic. I fell in love with this book ~ with the characters, the language, the story, the writer. Stockett's skill at telling a story so historically and socially complex is stunning. I loved every minute of this page-turner. Telling the tale of both the oppressed and their oppressors with such comfort and intelligence is not an easy task. She does it all without effort, and we are both appalled and inspired. It is the story of race and gender in the American 1960s, and it's the story of a household. This one's a keeper. I promise you won't be disappointed.
Diane Taylor, January 21, 2012 (view all comments by Diane Taylor)
If you thought there was nothing more to say about race discrimination, read this book. "The Help" paints a new and vivid picture that rings true with everyday life details that are shocking to us now, but even more moving because the setting is the 1960's, relatively recent history.
"Review A Day"
by Erin Aubry Kaplan, Ms. magazine,
"In her tale of an aspiring white writer in 1960s Mississippi who decides to secretly compile the untold stories of black domestic workers, Kathryn Stockett attempts to work out her own complicated feelings about race relations in her native South. She throws herself into the attempt with gusto and gravitas, a risk that pays off to a point: The Help is buoyant in its most sober moments, occasionally insightful. Skeeter Phelan is a misfit, a 24-year-old college grad growing uneasy with the social hierarchies of home; the two black women who risk their lives and livelihoods to help collect the interviews she seeks, Aibileen and Minny, are sympathetically if somewhat predictably drawn. Yet the buoyancy often undermines the book's more serious intentions; ultimately, The Help can't decide if it's modern Faulkner or pop lit with some racial lessons thrown in for fiber." (read the entire Ms. review)
"Synopsis"
by Ingram,
In Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, there are lines that are not crossed. With the civil rights movement exploding all around them, three women start a movement of their own, forever changing a town and the way women--black and white, mothers and daughters--view one another.
"Synopsis"
by Penguin,
It’s 1950, and as the French Quarter of New Orleans simmers with secrets, seventeen-year-old Josie Moraine is silently stirring a pot of her own. Known among locals as the daughter of a brothel prostitute, Josie wants more out of life than the Big Easy has to offer. She devises a plan get out, but a mysterious death in the Quarter leaves Josie tangled in an investigation that will challenge her allegiance to her mother, her conscience, and Willie Woodley, the brusque madam on Conti Street.
Josie is caught between the dream of an elite college and a clandestine underworld. New Orleans lures her in her quest for truth, dangling temptation at every turn, and escalating to the ultimate test.
With characters as captivating as those in her internationally bestselling novel Between Shades of Gray, Ruta Sepetys skillfully creates a rich story of secrets, lies, and the haunting reminder that decisions can shape our destiny.
"Synopsis"
by Firebrand,
Visit www.penguin.com for the latest news, tour information and more.
Listen to an excerpt from the audiobook.The wildly popular New York Times bestseller and reading group favorite
Aibileen is a black maid in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, who's always taken orders quietly, but lately she's unable to hold her bitterness back. Her friend Minny has never held her tongue but now must somehow keep secrets about her employer that leave her speechless. White socialite Skeeter just graduated college. She's full of ambition, but without a husband, she's considered a failure. Together, these seemingly different women join together to write a tell-all book about work as a black maid in the South, that could forever alter their destinies and the life of a small town...
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