The Help by Kathryn Stockett

This book was recommended by a very good friend who happens to be Southern Elegance defined in her very nature.  She recommended the book, claiming it to be one of the most divine and non-stop laughter pieces of writing she had read in a very long time.  

I knew vaguely what the book was about from her synopsis as she told the highlights that she remembered through her laughter, but until I began reading, I did not realize it to be as socially inept as it was.  As a matter of fact, I found it stunning that it was not only a book that didn't spark a social uprising of sorts, but that so many found it to be so entertaining.

The book centers around a wealthy, well-to-do young lady whose chosen profession is to be a writer.  She decides to write a book from the perspective of "The Help" (thus the name), the African-American women who lived on their side of town, which might as well have been another planet.  

She finds herself sneaking in and out of their homes to interview them about what life is like from their side of the tracks and tells the story through eyes.  The ready becomes entwined in a story which was set in the 1960's and is told mainly first person by one of the black maids who tells the story with fascinating truth and feeling.  She truly does make all - black, white, rich, poor - see the dreary and terrifying lives that black people lived in as recent as fifty years ago.  

The story goes into great detail, including how the black people had their own restrooms (which seems to be a fascination of this writer - in one scene, an entire yard is littered with toilets in protest, meant to be symbolic of the fact that they were unable to use the same bathrooms which they cleaned, day after day), walked to and from their places of employment, and through a twist of fate, they begin to trust the writer who decides to speak on their behalf.  

The book leaves the reader with much to consider, much to be grateful for and much to ponder when treating others, no matter who they are, what their lot in life or what their financial status.  Describing old Southern homes right down to the shining of the brass candlesticks to the finely woven doilies, the reader closes the book but is tempted to open it again and read for a second time, to make certain that nothing important was missed.  

Kathryn Stockett does an excellent job introducing herself to the literary community and, as a reader, I can't wait for her second book.

Five out of five:)