Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Stockett's novel (her first) tells the engaging story of a young white woman in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi who convinces two black maids to share secretly their stories about raising white children. Narrated by these three distinctive voices, The Help alternates between humor, outrage and pathos as it explores the complex dynamics between white women in the Mad Men-era South and the black women who raised their children. The characters are well-rounded and believable without becoming cliched. I listened to the Penguin Audiobooks version, whose vocal characterizations of the three narrators were very well done indeed.