“It was a world I had heard about, but not one I knew…”

“The Help” by Katherine Stocket

Available for $15.80 via Booktopia. 

‘The Help” by Katherine Stocket was another world to me. It was a world I had heard about, but not a world I knew. As a young adult in the sixties I knew of the racial tensions in the USA. I knew the story of Rosa Parks and had admired Martin Luther King. And I have seen the movie ‘Mississippi Burning’.

That is the historical context of ‘The Help’. Written by a white woman – and I think race is significant here – the novel is told by three people. Skeeter is a plantation owner’s daughter who is wanting to break into New York journalism, Aibileen is an African American who minds other people’s children, Minny is also African American always losing jobs because of her outspokenness.

Skeeter wants to publish the stories of the African American women in Jackson, Mississippi who work in the homes of wealthy whites. She realizes that their stories are worth telling though it is difficult to gain their trust and co-operation, naturally enough. They are afraid of losing their jobs, they are afraid of never being employed again. They are afraid of physical violence to their families. These fears are not unfounded.

Aibeleen ‘ghosts’ Skeeters column of household hints and advice in the local paper. All this is done in great secrecy. Aibileen is also the maid – they wear uniforms, by the way – caring for for young Mae Mobley whose parents neglect or scold her.

Minny loses her job yet again but finds work with a social outcast who swears her to secrecy so that her husband does not know she is getting household help.

The socially prominent white women in the book, to my mind, had no redeeming features. Who cared what happened to them?
When the book is published the town is too thinly disguised, so Minny has to resort to blackmail of the most unpleasant kind to keep Hilly’s mouth shut.

“The Help” has been made into a successful movie, which I have not seen. I’d love to hear what you thought of the movie and if you’ve read the book and seen the movie, how did it translate?

Available for $15.80 via Booktopia. 

See the trailer below:

Available for $15.80 via Booktopia.