The Help

Well worth reading and even better than the movie.

If you love, `TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, GONE WITH THE WIND and another new gem THE CLOCK OF LIFE you will fall in love with this novel. The Help is about a young white woman in the early 1960s in Mississippi who becomes interested in the plight of the black ladies maids that every family has working for them. She writes their stories that are so much more than stories, about mistreatment, abuse and heartbreaks of working in the home of white families just before the Civil Rights revolution. The novel was inspired by the authors memories from her childhood in Mississippi. I have similar memories from growing up in Montgomery, AL during the same period. (SPOILERS, but they are not too significant) Hilly is the self-appointed white queen of the group, with deep-rooted attitudes from the past towards race. She hopes to lead her cronies into joining her crusade to make sure every home in Jackson, Mississippi, has a separate toilet for the help. She has read that is necessary because based on clear hygienic criteria, this will save both blacks and whites from awful diseases. Disagreeing with Hilly and not following her examples could result in you being alienated and ostracized from their peers. Abilene and Minnie are the maids that are responsible in getting other black maids to tell their stories. Abilene has suffered much suffering, including the death of her only child who was in a terrible work related accident. He probably could have been saved if he had received prompt medical attention, but he was afraid his white employers would fire him if he said anything. Despite her tribulations, Abilene remains kind, sweet and dedicated to raising the children of her employers. In spite of the discrimination she is subjected to, she tries not to judge people. She remains loyal to friends and family and kind to her everyone. Minny has had many jobs since she was fourteen. She is angry, bitter and she finds it hard to keep quiet when white people can hear about the discrimination she has heard or seen. She finds it almost impossible to follow the seven rules her mother had repeatedly lectured to her: 1. Keep your mouth shut when it comes to white folks business and dont tell them yours, they are not your friends; 2. Never let them find you sitting on the toilet they use, use the one for the help. If there is not one you make sure you are not caught on theirs; 3. When cooking their food taste with your spoon and keep it away from their food; 4. Use the same cup, plate and fork every day and keep it in a separate cupboard; 5. Eat in the kitchen; 6. You do not hit on the children, white people like to do their own spanking; (I was never spanked by the help, but I did receive an occasional swat in my backside if I was being bad.) 7. No sass mouthing! Ive not going write any more, I want other to experience this terrific novel. I think youll find that the characters and story will live on in your memory long after youve finished this book. This is one of those books that me sad when I turned the final page and one that I will read again. Id give it 10 stars if I could. **UPDATE: June 2013: After much contemplation, I have decided to change how I rate the books I read. I feel that this is necessary for two primary reasons; there are too many high rated reviews from SPs and or friends of the author. Secondly, we are limited by Amazons rating system which I feel needs to be changed but until then this is my only option. My standards for the stars, (noted in the title of review), are shown below:** 5 STARS: This will be for books that I consider outstanding, meaning that I will keep the version I have to reread again. 4 STARS: Books I would have previously rated as 5 will be 4.50 or higher and books under 4.50 will be the same as Amazons 4 (I Like It). 3 STARS: Books I would have previously rated as 4 will be 3.50 or higher; books under 3.50: will be the same as Amazons 3 (Its OK, recommend). 2 STARS: Books I would have previously rated as 3 will be 2.50 or higher; books under 2.50: it was good enough to finish, not recommend. 1 STAR: Books I would have previously rated as 2 will be 1.50 or higher; books under 1.50: I didnt like it, but eventually I finished it; books under 1.50: I hated it and may not have finished it, not recommend.

The Help is set in Jackson Mississippi from 1962 to 1964. It is told from the perspective of three women. Aibileen, is a black maid who has a special gift for working with other peoples children. Every day she tries to make Mae Mobley, the little girl in her care, feel loved and important. It hurts Aibileen to see the way Mae Mobleys mother treats her as a burden and a nuisance. She feels sometimes that no matter what she does, Mae Mobley will turn out like her mother. Then theres Miss Skeeter. Skeeter is a young white woman who has just graduated from college. She and her friends are officers in the Junior League. They hang out at the local country club and host bridge parties every week. When Skeeter returns home she discovers Constantine, the black maid who raised her, has disappeared, and no one will tell her what happened, least of all her mother. The loss of Constantine makes Skeeter more aware of the people her friends refer to as the help. Her eyes begin to open to the injustices that the black maids in town put up with every day. She wonders if they ever wished that things could change. The final narrator is Minny, Aibileens best friend. MInny is a smart-mouthed, black maid who has a habit of getting fired for speaking her mind. She butts head with one of Skeeters best friends, Hilly Holbrook, the president of the Junior League. Miss Hilly does her best to make sure Minny will never be hired as a maid again. Minny finds a job, albeit a strange one. She must work in secret every day for white trash turned rich girl Miss Celia, so that Miss Celias husband will believe that she is a good housekeeper. Minny thinks Miss Celia is crazy, but she takes the job because its the only one she can get. The characters lives begin to intertwine when Skeeter, an aspiring journalist, decides to write about the lives of black maids in Jackson, Mississippi. Her search for the truth leads her to Aibileen and Minny. The trouble is, some people in Jackson dont want the truth to get out. Those people dont want things to change, and they will go to drastic measure to make sure the help stays in their place. I love finding a book that I cant put down! This book has such an array of memorable characters. I really enjoyed reading about how each of their lives intertwined with the others. I also really liked that there were three narrators. I think it added a sense of mystery to the book. One character would begin telling of an event, and it wasnt until later, in another characters story that you discovered the outcome of that event. The author really embodied each character. I felt as if I was reading three separate memoirs. I also love books that make me think about them long after Im done reading them. Desegregation of the south is not a topic Im unfamiliar with, but this was a new perspective on the topic for me. I knew that many people were against desegregation and that terrible things were done to people who were black in the south in the early 1960s. But Ive never stopped to think about how dangerous it was for anyone, even a white person, to speak out in favor of desegregation. There were normal, seemingly nice people who were dead set against black people having equal rights. Its pretty hard for me to imagine someone who believed in segregation speaking out about it just like they were discussing the weather. Its even more incredible to me that those people could have felt no shame or guilt. My eyes have been opened to the fact that, in some parts of the south, it wasnt just a few radical groups like the KKK that treated black people as if they were something less than human. This book helped me feel as if I lived during that time for a brief period. Thankfully, when I was done reading, it was 2010, and though we have a long way to go until there are equal rights for all people, we sure have come a long way. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys great, character-driven fiction, especially historical fiction. I orginally got this book from the library, but I loved it so much that I bought a copy so that I could read it again and pass it along to my friends and family!

Such an amazing story.

Anyone who is a parent to grown or even teenage child knows the pain inflicted when that burgeoning adult disagrees, chastises or looks down upon this his/her first and ultimate authority figure. Imagine the anguish caused by the child who after automatically accepting his/her family black housekeeper as a first mother comes to be taught by society that this warm and caring womans inferiority is such that she cannot even use the same toilet facility. A knife of sadness so deep pierces the hearts of these surrogate mothers when the unconditional love of a child becomes segregated behind the bigoted traditions of an unenlightened community. Such is the emotional stuff of Kathyrn Stocketts novel The Help, a tale of Jackson, Mississippi in the Civil Rights era of the early 60s told from the perspective of three members of its fractured social framework. The story pivots around the restless aspirations of Skeeter, a recent graduate from Ole Miss whose desire to be a scintillating Southern writer that would diminish even the glorious Faulkner and Welty is quickly extinguished by her mothers desire for her to settle down and marry before anyone worth knowing deems her a gawky spinster with untamable hair. When the familys longtime maid, Constantine leaves without saying goodbye to the girl she raised from a baby, Skeeter suddenly becomes aware that sadness can reach depths that can carve out a piece of her soul. Against the dark backdrop of sit-ins, freedom rides and Southern resistance, she begins to wonder how such circumstances wound the ever-smiling black servants without whom white households would not run and decides to focus her attention on crafting a book that will reveal the thoughts of these seemingly tireless yet resilient women. She enlists the help of the strong and sensible Aibileen with a writers aspiration of her own and the wildly outspoken Minny, whose big mouth and anger over unjust situations loses her more jobs than can be had in such a small city where propriety and reputation count for so much. Add to this mixture of historical events and the emotional experiences of the three women the activities of the local Junior League headed by the extremely dislikable Hilly Holbrook who has decided that the Jim Crow laws reflect her inner mantra prompting her civic duty to include ensuring the installment of separate bathroom facilities for any family employing black help. Along with the well-developed empathy for all citizens infected by the rigidly defined pre-flower power milieu of the 60s, Stockett inoculates the reader with a jab of fun and madcap mayhem from the ominous virus of misfortune that could, at any time, overtake these women and their clandestine project and cast them into a tailspin of misery that could include beatings, imprisonment and death. Most entertaining is the interchange between the sassy Minny and her employer, the ditzy Marilyn Monroe stereotype, Ceclia Foote. Stockett revels in her ability to create poignant moments and goes out of her way to pull out all the stops, allowing her reader to breathe in the heavy Southern air, feel its stifling humidity and become familiar with the cozy flamboyance of each voice. The author, hailing from Jackson, herself, brings a great deal of verisimilitude to her tale, so much so that this reviewer wonders what her fellow Jacksonians think about this expose as it most definitely is written as not only a time capsule but a tribute to the black woman who raised her and a finger-shaking at the ignorance of the governing community groups prevalent at that time that still may exist today. Surely, as such conditions were alive and well only a generation ago, the history of such systemic bigotry still extends somewhat and sadly into present sensibilities. In fact, a lawsuit currently exists between the author and her brothers 60-year-old maid/nanny who feels humiliated that Stockett used her as the model for the books Aibileen claiming embarrassment at the characters use of patois and annoyance at the too many personal history similarities that seem more than just coincidental. Nevertheless, nothing can detract from The Helps obvious appeal. The individual voices of each of the main characters remain entertaining throughout while providing an interesting depiction of the interplay between whites and blacks in South during the Civil Rights period. Stocketts portrayal of Skeeters relationship with her mother, her dealing with both her parents expectations and her desire for freedom in individualistic expression remarkably exemplifies from the Southern vantage point the universal theme of a young woman yearning for more than just marriage and a home that buttressed the Womens Liberation Movement of the seventies. Bottom line? The Help provides page-turning entertainment that showcases the interplay between white and black citizens of Jackson, Mississippi during the early 60s. Readers cannot fail to fall in love with the steadfast, loving Aibileen and the rebellious, outspoken Minny while despising the pompously ridiculous Hilly and her kowtowing minions. While the depiction of Skeeters coming-of-age may, at times, seem a bit trite, it, nevertheless, rings true with episodes of disappointing dates, pathetic future in-laws and full-blown expectations so gilded with fairytale happy-ever-afters that the almost saccharine acceptance of this character by the black community applauding her work on the interviews seems fitting. Readers old and young will laugh and cry from the first page to the last, wishing that the story will go on well past the final paragraph. Highly Recommended. Diana Faillace Von Behren reneofc

For her first novel, this author did an amazing job. I love to read but it is rare that a book affects me like this. This was one of those books that I thought about all day at work and couldnt wait to get home to continue reading. Its been a long, long time since Ive had a book like that. I enjoyed the first person story telling of each chapter as it went from Minny to Abileen to Skeeter and back. I think this was the absolute best way to write this book. It was brilliant, frankly and I dont think the book would have flowed quite so well if it had been written from only one persons perspective. This book brought out all sorts of emotions in me. I got angry, (Hilly...grrr!!), I was disgusted, I was happy, I felt respect and for some characters, deep respect, I laughed, (Minnie...oh, wonderful Minnie), I cried, I felt shame, I was scared, anxious, apprehensive...sigh. Ive read a lot of books. Many books have made me emotional but I dont know any book that has made me feel these things consistently, throughout the book from the beginning all the way to the end. This writer grabbed me right from the start and kept my interest to the very last word. Her characters were incredibly well developed and I cared for Skeeter, her mother, the Help and little Mae Mobely. I did not care for Hilly, Elizabeth and their ilk but this writer made me feel intensely about them. I really wanted to smack Hilly right in the mouth. Many times. I even started to care a little bit about that ditz, Miss Celia. But mostly, I cared about the help. I adored Minnie. I love that woman! She may have had a thick wall of defense around her but inside she was soft. She tried not to care, many times but she did care. Not that she would admit it, maybe not even to herself. I loved how she would bite her tongue, bite her tongue, bite her tongue and STILL something would come out. I totally understand. It does get one in to trouble a lot but for some of us, the candor we cannot control, no matter how hard we try. And the pie? Oh how I laughed! Gutsy, strong willed, beautiful woman. And Abileen, with her warm, giving heart. Her constant prayers. Her willingness to be the first to work with Skeeter on the book. All the praises she gave Minnie, she failed to realize, she should have given to herself because she was the one who stood up and said, Ill do it and convinced others to, as well. Finally, Miss Skeeter: Young and naive. Eventually though, she stopped being a toy for Miss Holbrook and started thinking for herself. She started the writing for one reason but as she went along, learned a great deal about her life and the life of those around her. She grew stronger with each passing month even as she lost all of her friends and her boyfriend. While those who were The Help had much more to lose, Skeeter was also brave. As she grew, so did my respect for her. This book is about brave women who stood up against those who said such nasty things as, you can get many diseases from a black person. Who had their tongues cut out for speaking out. Who were mistreated in so many ways. Who were not looked upon as humans but rather as disposable. They were scared but they did it anyway. I tried to put myself in the shoes of those maids. Empathize with what it would be like to have someone view me that way in everything I did. I think weve all had a small, very small taste of what these women went through on a daily and constant basis. There is no way for us to ever fully understand it though. And this is where I found the deep respect for them. It actually affected me in my own life. I found myself standing up for myself more at work. I also found myself brushing off things that I used to think were a big deal but now realize, Ive had it really easy all this time. I just cant say enough about this book or this author. I am truly impressed with the author and I found her In Her Own Words, at the back of the book to be equally interesting. It takes books as well written as this to get me to write a review. I want to sing this books praises from the mountaintops. I dont typically do reviews because I feel Im not very good at them but mostly because Im just not moved enough to actually write something other than, it was good or it was not good. I tend to stick to reviewing that which I truly enjoyed but even then its going to be rare that I give 5 stars. I give this book 5 stars. I would give it more if that option were available. And I will definitely buy books from this author again just as soon as they start getting published. The only downside to this: After reading something so engaging, so wonderfully written, feeling all the emotions I felt, really caring about the characters, its going to be a tough act to follow. The next book I read is going to have to be good in its own right or it wont stand a chance.

I grew up in the north but I was aware of the racial attitudes in the south. I now live in the south, but it is a new south. Our help has almost always been recent latino immigrants who I am sure will also have their own stories to tell in time. I found the charcters to be multi-dimensional though the author didnt always treat them as such. Abilene was the most memorable and attractive of the three main characters who are Skeeter, Abilene, and Milly. Hilly and her cohorts play the villain. Celia Foote a curveacous, sexy, beautiful white trash woman who has married up is pathetic. Even Milly feels herself to be more cultured than Celia Foote. The ostrascizm of the other middle class white females was nothing short of classique. It was so true of cliques of earlier times, but is with us still in more subtle ways. We find it in the garden clubs and Jr. Leagues across America. It is no longer cool to discriminate based on class, but there are other subtler ways of ostraciing women who dont fit the desired mold. I thought Abilene was well portrayed. Milly, however, is a different story. She is 20 years younger than Abilene and from a different generation. She questions and confronts a great deal more than Abilene ever would. The author fails to comment on the fact that Milly has brought some of her miseries on herself. She is married to an abusive man, yet she has 5 children with him. Then she becomes pregnant with twins. Her house would have been small with 2 children but with 5 and the seven to be, the living conditions are substandard. No where in here does the author comment on Millys irresponsible choice to have so many children with an abusive man. She cannot possibly hope to support all of them well. I find this to be a failure in most poor and undereducated famiies. They go for quantity not quality. Stockett had a perfect opportunity to comment on this issue. It was a situation that had nothing to do with the white culture and discrimination and everything to do with Millys culture and mileiu. Hilly was despicable as the alpha female who adhered to the mores of an even earlier time. She ruled the roost and used her power in unhealthy ways. Going after a maid who she thinks has insulted her to the point of preventing her from getting future jobs is just mean and spiteful. She did not have to give her a reference but preventing anyone else from doing so including her mother was cruel. It also demonstrated that in spite of the fact that she believed herself to be better than Milly, she was still threatened by her. The question is why? Skeeter was well portrayed as the not too pretty southern gal who outgrows her small town upbringing to become a full fledged flower child of the 60s. I was not disappointed when she discovered that the one beau she had would not be the one to rescue her from spinsterhood. Their values were too different. He wanted to stay with the old guard, and she was ready to move on. When the novel ended the reader had every expectation that she would find a suitable mate in her new home, NYC. In NYC one can assume that her slightly different appearance and her forward leaning mores would be an attraction. As for Kathryn Stockett. did I think she was presumptuous? Yes. But not for the reasons she expected. I thought she was presumptuous to write in Skeeters voice as if she was revealing these awful secrets about the South in the 60s when it would have brought her critisizm by her own hometown. She wrote in in the 21st century when the authors views are the accepted views. It is doubtful that she has engendered any dislike or distrust from the community on which she relies for her livlihood and society. Now society even in the south agrees with her views. Instead of bringing her opprobium, publication of the book brought her praise. Her attempt to allign herself with Skeeter, the forward thinking, sensitive, and caring author rings hollow. Had she written this book in the 60s before she was born or even in the 70s before she was mature enough to publish, maybe it would have been more impressive. But even by the 80s the bulk of opinion was surely with her. If not in secret, it was in the open.

I have had this book on my radar for quite some time, it was always there, just on the periphery waiting to be read. Then I stumbled across the trailer for the soon to be movie and decided I had to read it before the movie dropped in theatres. I am so glad that I did- I can truly say that this book is a new American classic. It explores a time in history that is not talked about often, glossed over in classrooms (if ever talked about at all), and still deeply painful for entire generations of people, both black and white alike. While the book is a fictionalized account of life in Jackson, Mississippi during the tumultuous years of the 60s, I suspect that a greater amount of the book is grounded in truth and fact. I am sure that there are several chunks of it that are glossed over and made gentler by the passing of time. While I have no experience growing up during that time frame, and have no experience being black or in the racial minority- it is a story that will resonate with all people for its themes of acceptance, bigotry, hatred, misguided self-importance, and social pressures to conform when dissent could be disastrous. It is a timely message that applies not only to racial relations and civil rights, but also to recent tensions with Muslims, immigrants, and any other class of people. Its something to think about as we examine what separates us and what pressures are present in societal norms. The book itself is an easy read that is told from the point of view of two main characters for the most part. Skeeter is a white woman who has recently returned from college, getting a degree when her social circle is more concerned with status and husbands. She is plain, earnest, and possessed with a self-assured sense of direction when it is improper for a woman to do so. She wants to interview the maids in Jackson and tell a story from their point of view. Its a dangerous position, even for a white woman. Racial tensions are high and fraternizing with the colored folks is looked down upon, even as many families rely on them to raise their children and run their households. Abiline is a maid for a white family in town, she has worries and pressures of her own, a family, church, and friends as well. She is honest, caring, deeply spiritual, and humble in her presentation. She is educated and wise beyond her years, having been steeped in the darkest of human nature and class separation, but also preciously close to what peace could mean. She is warm and gentle, but possessed of a deeply moral spirit that surprises even her. The writing flows easily and the story unfolds layer after layer, doling out equal parts humor and heartbreak at a pace that keeps the pages turning and leaves you feeling oddly satisfied and sad when it is over. Several comments are made at the way the maids are portrayed at having a thick dialect and the white family members do not. I dont see this as racial or degrading in any way, but more as a way for the author to differentiate narrators and viewpoints by taking the reader out of the familiar and sterilized language of the white families and helping them shift focus to the maids and their separate, but just as deeply rich, culture. I love this book. I wish everyone would read it and then read it again. I know it is one of my favorites will live on my bookshelf near some of the most powerful books ever written, it is truly our modern classic that deserves to be remembered with some of the best books ever written. Stockett has crafted a wonderfully lyric tale of both heartbreak and hope. What an amazing read.

In Spring 2010, a Caucasian friend asked me to write a review for Kathryn Stocketts best seller, THE HELP. I had read favorable reviews on national best seller lists, yet despite the popularity of Stocketts first novel, my initial reaction was disinterest. However, I agreed to write a synopsis and summary opinion because Stocketts novel was selected for my friends book club and she was persistent. Her reasoning was that, because I then lived in Mississippi - 2001 until December 2010, she wanted me to ask around and find out whether the conditions for black domestic help was, ...really as bad as all that - when asking the opinions of black maids of that era. That is, whether the experiences of black maids as depicted in Stocketts novel was accurate. The problem was that I didnt know anyone who was a domestic worker in Mississippi during the sixties. And, frankly I felt ambivalent about the topic. Yet, I went ahead and purchased, THE HELP. Remarkably, while waiting for the book to arrive in the mail, I met an extraordinary 94 year old woman born in Oxford, MS who used to work for William Faulkner. I asked if I could interview her, and she agreed. I knew she would be a credible source for information about the plight of domestic workers in Mississippi during the volatile period of civil rights activism. BTW: She and many other domestic workers like her were educated, working long hours. They raised families on meager wages because they had no other options for employment. This remarkable woman has a daughter who was a Superintendent of Schools, and a son who is a successful lawyer. The book arrived, and I settled down to read it with an open mind. Yet, from the very beginning, Stocketts novel degenerates into an affront to black domestic workers of the sixties era in Mississippi, and an insult to [unskilled] poor black women in general. Her tone felt mocking rather than authentic. There were many reasons; some subtle, some obvious. Yet, most appalling and unforgivable was Stocketts ineptness to capture the southern black vernacular accurately. The way she presents it, the black vernacular becomes both abhorrent and belittling, particularly in that throughout most of the novel, Stockett avoided the use of the southern white vernacular when telling the story in the voice of the two main white characters, Miss Skeeter, and Miss Hilly. I wondered, Was this deliberate? Ive read many authors who have written in the southern vernacular, including Zora Neale Hurston. However, Stockett failure is intolerable. Having lived in MS for almost ten years, I can assure you that like most native Mississippians, Miss Skeeter and Miss Hilly did not speak the way Stockett wrote their dialogue. Granted, although Stockett is a novice compared to [a] Nora Neale Hurston when it comes to accurate vernacular, her failure to be consistent is intolerable precisely because she [Stockett] was born and raised in Jackson. I could understand this error if the book was written by someone from a different region or state. Fact is that white native Mississippians have a very strong distinct vernacular. Thus, Miss Hilly in real life would have used slang, heavy dialect, and southern expressions; i.e. Yall, yonder, How come?, etc. I still wonder, Why did the editors allow this inconsistency and discrepancy? Among those few who share my opinion on the inaccurate vernacular blunder is journalist, Lynn Crosbie of THE GLOBE AND MAIL online journal in a column titled, Bestseller novel The Help needs help with its history homework. Yet there is a more striking comment she wrote, which was especially poignant. She wrote: Stockett, a white Mississippi native, seems, incredibly, unaware of her competition - her novel is not only devoid of any deep insight into black womens lives, it exists in a cultural vacuum, seemingly oblivious to the impact of black artists and activists of the era she writes about. Granted, Stocketts book was not intended as a great historical classic novel. In fact, a close friend who enjoyed the book pointed out that its certainly possible that Stockett was just trying to tell a simple story about the plight of maids in Mississippi during the 60s. She explained, Certainly one could argue that Stocketts Skeeter character is similar to Harper Lees character, Scout in TO KILL A MOCKING BIRD - only now Scout [like Skeeter] would be grown up. She further commented, After all, I suspect that Scout [also] took her black nanny for granted because she was a curious little girl trying to unravel the secrets of the recluse neighbor. Yet, there is a difference. Harper Lees character, Scout and her brother, Jem are enlightened and forever changed in fundamental ways which elude Skeeter. It is unmistakable that through Lees characters experiences of innocent childhood play and antics, and of situations and events they witness in their small town, Scout learns lasting lessons about classicism/poverty, and social and racial injustice and the unfair treatment of blacks, primarily through witnessing the courage of her father, Atticus. I concede that Atticus certainly didnt quote DuBois. And even if Harper Lee was simply trying to tell a simple story about injustice in a small southern town, her story emerged as literature; a keen academic criticism of social injustice, ignorance, and racial intolerance. It is the power of this message on social inequality which was diminished in Stocketts story. Furthermore, it was striking that Stockett unwittingly trivialized the fervor of the 60s racial upheaval. After all, her story took place in Jackson, the capitol of MS during an era of radical racial activism gaining national headlines - NOT in some other obscure little town in the south. Im not alone in this opinion. Lynn Crosbie speaks about this in her column pointing out that in THE HELP national headlines were muted, omitting details of important events such as when Medger Evers and others were killed or lynched in Jackson, and where only thirty miles away, the murder of James Chaney and the two white New Yorkers - Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, was not mentioned. Nor was there mention of when James Meridith had to be escorted by National Guards to attend Ole MS in Oxford. Surely, Stocketts characters Abileene and Minnie would have spoken a lot more about these tragedies - especially to each other. To a lessor extent, like Lynn Crosbie, I also wondered about the deletion of the role that white men played in the subjugation of black maids. My [other] problem with Stocketts novel is that she spent too much time with nonsense, such as the infamous chocolate pie incident, which I considered insulting, or at best, degrading slapstick; a writing gimmick - sensationalized and solicitous [like the way lurid sex, gore and violence is used by writers] to lure readers wondering if Minnie actually committed this offensive act. Worse, when Stockett attempted to capture the mindset and plight of the two main black characters, Aibileen and Minny, her vivid and detailed negative descriptions of the physical appearance of maids, and the way she described other blacks - black as tar, big lips, palms and sole of their feet being orange against black skin, etc., triggered images of exaggerated caricatures of black southerners that used to be in cartoons and movies during the 30s, 40s and 50s. No wonder! Considering Stocketts background, growing up in Jackson, and her [reported] relationship with the maid who help raise her, I viewed her analysis of Aibileen and Minny as shallow and shortsighted, and even contentious. I asked myself, How can Stockett possibly understand any deep insight into what its like being a black domestic worker? After reading her bio, I understood why she failed to enlighten readers. Instead, her presumptuous and often tenuous peek into the souls of Aibileen and Minny, and the negative portraits she paints, becomes gravely overshadowed - if not irrevocably tarnished - by an unnerving rumbling and perpetuation of racial stereotypes, which rises to a crescendo that ultimately shatters, soils, and distract from the narrative ... thus, diminishing the power of the story. The true tragedy is that the tarnishing was ever so subtle, and probably unintended. Finally, although I give Stockett credit for her attempt to tell a story about racism, suffering, indignity, humility, and redemption, she becomes her own saboteur. Because in her clumsy efforts to elevate the courage of the two black maids, the narrative becomes disingenuous if it leaves just ONE reader with a reinforcement of stereotypes or long held beliefs sprung of prejudice. Or, if just ONE reader is left with just cause to feel offended. Sorry, but I happen to be among the latter. Maizie Lucille James Edited: January 16, 2012

Very very funny