The Help by Kathryn Stockett

What a great book!!  I know many people who have read it and loved it and was so glad to finally get my hands on it.  The story is about the maids to the white people in Mississippi.  You know that it is fiction, but also know that much of what is said is not far from the truth.  A woman in the story wants to tell maids stories, in their own words.  At first the maids were very reluctant, but then there tunes changed, in part because of some of the things that were happening.  Stockett wove this novel just beautifully.  I had a hard time putting it down.  I was pulled in and felt for all of the characters.  I laughed out loud and shook my head, not only at funny things but at how things were done and perceived.  I grew up in the north in a very white state.  It is so far outside my realm of comprehension of some of the things that have occurred in the south.  Living in North Carolina opened my eyes a bit, but this was fascinating and frustrating for me at the same time.  I can't say enough about this book.  I do know that a movie has been made, but I am not sure I want to see it.  I like what I have in my mind and am not sure I want to see someone elses interpretation. (NOOK)