The Help

All I could say was 'WOW' at the end of the book. This Kathryn Stockett astonishing coming-of-age debut novel is masterfully written and brilliantly crafted book. It is definitely a compelling , unputdownable read. The narration of the story is done by three pivotal characters namely Aibileen, Miss Skeeter and Minny. After every string of chapters the narrator changes. This narrative style requires not just the subtlety but understanding from the perspective of the character.The book is talked from the perspective of the coloured as well as the white people.That is where we come across the author's  sheer ingenuity in writing about their train of thought. Its a beautiful mixed bag of every element we look for in a story; whether it be romance, mystery,laughter,social issues etc. The characters in the book are so exquisitely essayed and are voiced with such unbelievable brilliance.The bondage between the southern white and coloured women is another highlight of the book.

The story begins with Aibileen's narration where she introduces herself as the help of Miss Leefolt's household who has 2 year old daughter named Mae Mobley. Aibileen and Mae Mobely are soon close that Mae considers Aibee her second mother and Aibileen dotes on her completely as Miss Leefolt shows very little affection and more of annoyance at the mere sight of Mae Mobley.It then shifts to the narration of Eugenia Phelan or Miss Skeeter who returns to hometown Jackson, Mississippi after completing college. When Skeeter ; an aspiring writer; is planning on chasing her literary dreams her mother is desperately trying to get her hooked up to someone. And then comes Minny, who works for Mrs Walters ; Hilly's mother. Minny who is sass mouthed hates Hilly and because of which she does the Terrible Awful Thing to Hilly resulting in not only losing her job but also gaining a tarnished reputation of being a thief. Aibileen later gets her a job in Missus Celia Foote's(wife of Hilly's ex- lover) household.Things begin to get complicated when Hilly announces her 'Home Help Sanitation Initiative' at the bridge games with Mrs Leefolt and Miss Skeeter.To this Miss Skeeter gives a flippant remark which sets the two of them into disagreeing terms.This is also when Jackson experiences several race riots and protests. The book then moves on to another level where Skeeter starts to engage herself in writing a book about the southern white women and their help from the coloured women's perspective like the difficulties they faced while working for white women and the pleasures. Aibileen is the first to support and help her with this initiative which started off when Skeeter was asked to submit original ideas by a senior editor of a publishing company she had applied to earlier. Eventually Minny and 10 other coloured women get ready to tell their stories about their bosses as they had been promised their names and the place would be changed in the book. All this was done in discreet fashion with Skeeter's secret meetings with Aibileen at Aibileens place. With the uncertainity of how the book would be received once published,and if anyone would recognize the fact that the book is about Jackson; then the consequences those coloured women have to face, not to mention Miss Skeeter, would be dangerous and horrifying. They were putting their lives at stake. Miss Skeeter alone struggles to understand what happened to her own black maid,Constantine who was very dear to her and who had left without a word before she got back from college.

The book also gives glimpses of incidents of the 60's when its written about the space explorations, assassination of J.F.Kennedy, teachings of Martin Luther King ; even the bestseller 'To Kill A Mocking Bird'. This book provides you with immense pleasure in the end just so because they do exactly what they wanted to do even when they knew they would land in trouble.The author eventually suceeds in pulling some heart strings as well. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.With such bold characters and a very different writing style, its a book that not just tells a story of those times but also keeps you thinking and engaged in a different way. Stockett has weaved a story out of such a creative combination of fact and fiction ; that it is truely a modern classic. Definitely a book to treasure.