January Book Review ~ The Help

One of my goals for 2012 is to read one new fiction book each month.  The Help was my first pick.

I loved the movie, and not surprisingly, I loved the book as well!

There are several differences in the storyline of the book that surprised me, and obviously, the book goes into greater detail than the movie.  It takes place in the 1960s in Jackson, Mississippi, and  the story switches back and forth between three narrators:  Aibileen, Minnie, and "Miss Skeeter."  I loved seeing the events from three distinctly different personalities and points of view.   I love the heart of the friendships between the three main women in this book, how they go out of their way to protect and pray for and encourage each other.

With Miss Skeeter, the book went into detail on what it feels like to suddenly become the outcast among the group that was formerly your closest friends.  To have people look the other way and refuse to acknowledge you, to know they are whispering about you, to know they all think you have lost your mind.  And to find the inner strength to keep going and recognize that those friendships were fake and toxic from the start.  Loved that.

Miss Skeeter wants to be a writer, and is told: "Write about something that disturbs you, particularly if it bothers no one else."  I love that advice.

The author goes into much more detail than the movie did on the long process and hard work and determination required to get a book published. It made me laugh to think that Katheryn Stockett probably felt a bit vindicated getting to write about that.

In one of my favorite sections, Minnie complains to Aibileen that Celia Foote is just too stupid to "see the lines."  The lines between black and white, the lines between the other snooty wives and herself, etc.  Aibileen tells Minnie she's starting to realize that the lines are not real.  That nothing makes them inferior.  That we are all people and have a lot in common, and there is not as much that divides us as we tend to think.  (She says it more eloquently, I'm sure.)

Anyway, it was true, and profound.  The more we focus on what separates us and makes us different, what makes us feel superior or inferior to others, the more we struggle with bitterness and fear and hate.  The more we focus on what connects us and on finding a way to speak honestly about our differences, the more the lines will dissolve and things will begin to change for the better.  There will always be people who choose to focus on the dividing walls and point them out to everyone else, but I hope to be among the group that has the character to tear those walls down.

So I recommend reading this book.  It is entertaining and uplifting and real.  It is about standing up for yourself and standing up for those who are mistreated.  It is about finding your purpose and doing something that matters to you, even if it isn't what everyone expected.  It is about healing from past betrayal and learning to trust people enough to share your heart and stand together.

 And it is about loving others enough to cross over "the lines."