Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council

The Help

By Kathryn Stockett

This novel is set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960s just as the fight for civil rights was beginning to have effect. Miss Skeeter is white, the other two main characters are black maids, Aibilleen and Minny. The maids are trusted to raise the white children or run the house. They are insulted and ignored by their employers. They and their friends begin to tell all to Miss Skeeter and a book is published.

"This is a funny, clever and very readable novel. The minor characters are well drawn and add to the enjoyment. It makes the reader see the wickedness and inhumane system in the South. It counteracts the romantic view of the relationship between the blacks and the whites."
Recommended  ****

" The story centres on the lives of black housekeepers/nursemaids in the 60s - a story that needed to be told. I enjoyed this book very much. There was nothing to dislike in it. It was very funny at times and also sad, but it was always entertaining"
Recommended ****

"A powerful story, not an easy read-  uncomfortable but courageous. Loved the characters both black and white ,not all likeable but wonderfully described"
Recommended *****

"The reader is kept in suspense throughout the book making it hard to put aside. I wished it could have been carried further on- maybe a sequel?"
Recommended *****

"Interesting and enjoyable"
Recommended *****

"I enjoyed reading this novel. I didn't like acknowledging that the black people were treated so cruelly and paid so little for their services but this is a fact."
Recommended *****