Wow!! This was great - absolutely wonderful. Probably the best novel on racial discrimination that I've read since To Kill A Mockingbird, and The Help may well join it as an all-time classic. Three women - Minny, Aibileen, and Skeeter - tell their stories of the relationship between black maids and their white lady bosses, the maids' relationships with the children of the house, how women control each other, the fear, the tenderness, abuse, violence,threats - it's all there and told with such authenticity. The author explains that she wrote this book as a tribute to the black woman who raised her back in Mississippi - not only to honour her, but to acknowledge her lack of understanding of how the maid was treated.
There were a few things I didn't like - the story of Stuart Whitworth didn't really add to the novel, and it wasn't really resolved when he left either. Actually, there was a sense of unfinished material here, which makes we wonder what's coming next - will these questions be answered? Why were characters like Miss Leefolt, Miss Celia the way they were? Does Aibileen manage to survive without work as a maid?
Anyway, it was a special read, and I'm glad I purchased the book. It's a keeper for sure.
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