The Help

Author: Kathryn Stockett

One-sentence summary: Despite the racial climate of Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s, a young white woman enlists the help of several brave black maids to help her write a truth-telling book about being a maid in a white household and raising someone else’s children.

B.A.D. Girls Book Rating: 8

Our favorite thing about it: We loved this story and the characters really resonated with us. We also loved the glimpse into the perspective of the black maids.

Our least favorite thing about it: At least one of us did not care for the ending, which seemed to be rushed compared to the pace of the rest of the book.

Main Topics of Discussion: Civil Rights, Raising Kids, Social Rules, Friendships, Relationship Power-Dynamics, Racism

Our favorite quote: “Wasn’t that the point of the book? For women to realize, we are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I’d thought.”

Notes: We enjoyed the unfolding of this story and getting to know the characters, who we thought were very interesting. We really appreciated learning more about the social structures in Mississippi in the 1960s and hearing about it from the black women’s perspectives. We talked a lot about how the various white women fit into their social circle because of their views. The contrasts between the friendships of the black women and the friendships between the white women were very interesting. The humor and candor of the book was refreshing to balance out some parts that were very real and heartbreaking. We also discussed the fact that the author, a white woman, chose to write from the voice of two black women. We think she did this well, but we also think that is a hard thing to pull off. The fact that the author included the perspective of a white woman added depth and interest to the story as we followed the consequences to her actions, which were different from the black women’s consequences. Again, at least one of us thought that the ending didn’t quite fit the rest of the book and felt like the author just didn’t know how to end it. That may have been the biggest thing that held our rating back from a 9, although some of us rated it that high individually.

Memorable Meeting Moments: We ate dinner at Sawadika Thai Zone Restaurant and we all shared different dishes to get a taste of everything. We gave Becky her birthday books and then made our way over to Half Price Books for a quick browse. Finally, we went to see The Time Traveler’s Wife…one of the first few books we read.

What We Ate: Ginger Chicken, Sesame Chicken, Thai Basil Chicken, Pad Pra Ram, Pad Thai