Loved the film, so couldn't resist picking up this wishlist book from Bookmooch.com

I really like the film that is based on this book, and have watched it a number of times. So I picked up the book in trepidation, as how often do you love one and hate the other? But I needn't have worried.

I think what the story does very neatly is highlight the racism, but also the moments of respect and love, that existed between the black 'help' and their white employees. Hilly is just a horrible person - and I can't believe that all of her 'issues' are just to do with her upbringing and how she has been taught to see her maids - there is definitely a fundamental flaw in her make-up, as she treats her white friends just a badly. I'm glad she got her comeuppance.

This is my choice for the Favourite Book of 2021 Rounabout.

List of Readers:
Ythan
Cross-Patch
Poodlesister
Earthecaroleanne
Greenbadger
grovalskii
Paulanni
Fifna
Estelle1806
mcsar
mathgirl40
valpete (feel free to release it once you've read it)

It's here, my first book for my first Roundabout.

I've seen the film but I haven't read the book or this author before.

Thank you.

The book goes into more depth than the film, which is a good thing. Not a book I would have picked up for pleasure but it makes its point well, it is very quick to read, and held my interest throughout, that's always welcome.

On its way to Cross-patch.

Arrived already!

I read this when it first came out and I remember enjoying it then. Just as interesting as the first time round, so I enjoyed a revisit.

Continuing on its journey in the Favourite read of 2021 roundabout.

I’ve had a copy of this before but not read it.

An interesting book. I read Rosa Park’s autobiography recently and the descriptions in this book reminded me of some of the racism described by Parks. When I googled The Help I found that Kathryn Stockett was sued by her brother's family's longtime nanny, who says Stockett borrowed her likeness and her story without permission — and portrayed her in a way that she found painful and humiliating. The lawsuit was brought with the support of Stockett’s brother. When I told my niece I was reading The Help she said something about the book being an example of “white saviour complex”. So although I enjoyed the book I feel slightly uneasy about the plot, the fact it’s a white woman writing about black womens’ experiences and the way Stockett got her ideas.

I will send this to earthcaroleanne when I next visit the post office.

Thank you! Arrived while I was away.

I loved the way this was written with the voice of the main characters alternately taking a chapter. I often felt it seemed much earlier than the 1960s and kept forgetting the white ladies were so young. The book itself commented on how quickly they went from loving their black maids who brought them up, to mistreating them. Thank you for sharing it.

Sending on in the roundabout.

After an amazingly slow journey in the post this has arrived this morning, thank you!

1960s Mississippi, and the society ladies all have a black maid doing the housework and raising their children. There is Aibileen, who has brought up 17 children who aren't her own, Minny, who can't keep a job because she can't keep herself from talking back, Hilly, the bossy head of the Junior League, Elizabeth who can't show affection to her own daughter, Celia, who can't understand why the other white women look down on her, and of course Skeeter, perpetually single and needing to find a life for herself. I really enjoyed this, even though there were places where it made me really uncomfortable. It is of course horrific that this level of racism was perpetuated into the 1960s, when as Stockett points out we have sent a man into space and the birth control pill is available 'for married women', (but a friend was telling me only yesterday about someone from the Deep South telling him a horrifically racist joke recently, and I suspect that things there haven't changed as much as we would like to think). The boundaries in the society portrayed are strong, between black and white, between men and women, and between social classes. Skeeter, stuck at home with her parents, must find a way out and the way she finds is writing - but she says herself, the book must come first, and she puts the women who help her hugely at risk to get her own freedom, without really ever bothering to find out or understand what the risks to them are. Nevertheless we start to see the first few boundaries start to crack as Skeeter realises that people are more the same than she was taught to believe.
It's very well written and Stockett's descriptions of the people are brilliant. Hilly reminds me very strongly of someone I know. Of course there are issues, not least the court case brought by Stockett's own family Help, but I can forgive Stockett a lot for the note at the end where she writes about how afraid she was to write in the voice of a black person, how she was afraid both to have said too much and to have said too little.

On its way to grovalskii, next in the ray.

Thanks greenbadger!
I actually read the book 11 years ago and really enjoyed it then. In 2011 I wrote in my journal entry that it was one of my all time favorite books. :)
On to the next reader!

The book is with me, thank you grovalskii.

I have read half of the book - and continue with another copy, which I picked from the book swap shelf at my local library a year ago. I'll journal my reading after I have read the whole book, but will send this on to the next reader.

Sending off to Fifna next.

Arrived safely, thanks, Paulanni!

I enjoyed this very much. It's very readable and I liked the switching voices. There are some great characters in this book, both likeable and utterly vile. The racism is horrific and the fact there are people on both 'sides' who accept it and don't question the situation because that's just the way things are, is terrible. It takes a lot of bravery to stand up to a system like that. Thanks very much for sharing!

Travelling to estelle1806.

Received, thanks Fifna.

I had never heard of this book before, so I am grateful to have read it thanks to the roundabout. I give it 8 stars as I think is has a good storyline and the three main characters were appealing. I have read numerous reviews and there are really divided. I know this is a very difficult subject to address so all in all I thought it was a good job done, although if you go deeper than the main plot, there are a lot of cringy issues not addressed...
Thanks for sharing dark-draco!

Travelling to the next reader on the roundabout.

Please let us know when you release it again...

This book is now with me! Looking forward to it.

I have not finished this book yet but I'm partway through and enjoying it immensely. I found a copy of it in my house (one that my daughter had left behind when she moved out) and since I am sending another book to Valpete, I thought I'd include this one to save on shipping costs. I will edit this journal entry with my review once I'm finished reading the book.

Note that mcsar is being skipped in the order, since I've not been able to reach her.
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Update on Feb. 7, 2023: I've now finished the copy I have at home. I loved this book! I was happy to learn more about the US's civil rights movement in the 1960's, especially now during Black History Month, which we also observe in Canada. I liked the distinct voices of the three narrators and loved all the humorous and heartwarming moments in the book. I'm looking forward to watching the movie sometime soon.

I received this book today. However, I have read it in the past and also saw the film.
Dark-draco, do you want me to return it to you?

Sending this book into the Wild!