The Help by Katherine Stockett

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

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

- Synopsis from Goodreads

I loved this book. I'd heard people talking about how good it was, and as soon as I saw the trailer for the movie I knew I had to read the book first. I'm so glad I did. I look forward to the movie, but I'm already anticipating the changes. 

The characters were so well developed each with their own voice and own way of thinking. It was beautifully written and so honest. I loved that this was easily a story that could be true. The complexities of life-long friendships with people that don't always agree was perfectly portrayed between Skeeter and her friends. 

I love that the end of the book allows you to imagine the ways in which this book likely continued to shape the lives of the women who wrote it. I don't want to spoil anything for someone who hasn't read it yet, but you will love these women.

Katherine Stockett did a wonderful job with this novel. I give it 5 out of 5 cups.