The Help a novel by Kathryn Stockett

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.
Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter, a new graduate of Ole Miss, who returns home to find that her beloved maid has disappeared; Abileen, a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child; and Minny, Abileen's best friend, perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi.

Seemingly as different as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. Why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

This great novel is set in the deep south, Mississippi, and told by Aibileen, Minnie and Skeeter, three unforgettable women whose lives and points of view intersect vividly against a landscape of hopeful change in America, during the civil rights movement. Minnie and Aibileen are two black maids and Miss Skeeter is a young, white woman newly graduated from college. The characters are wonderfully developed, as are the historical background and setting. Each character was so real that they seemed like friends. It was hard to believe they were fictional characters. Throughout this book the characters endure love, suffering, hatred, faith, fear, and courage. It is very realistic in every detail. I highly recommend this great book to every one!

Thanks so much to Mothertalk for this great reading opportunity!