THE HELP
By Kathryn Stockett
Penguin/Fig Tree. 451 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978-1-905-49043-1
The black maid from the Southern US States seems a bit of a stereotype. From Gone with the Wind to Tom and Jerry, she is hardworking, plain speaking, loyal and overweight. Kathryn Stockett, a white writer, has written this well-plotted and entertaining story The Help about the reality behind this stereotype and the culture of the deep South.
The story is narrated in three voices: Abileen, Minny and Skeeter (risky to take on the voice of a black maid if you are a 30-something blonde southerner!). Skeeter is a college girl, trying to find her place in the stuffy society of early 1960s Jackson, Missisipi. She is tall, single and awkward, with an ambition to write that leaves her outside the normal bridge parties and benefits of her racially bigoted contemporaries. The only experience she can find is writing the household hints column of the local newspaper, which leads her to Abileen and then to Minny. A writing project bigger than cleaning tips emerges; Skeeter decides to record the reflections of 12 ‘coloured’ maids.
Misogyny, rights & Rowling
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