Book Review - The Help

So I finished "The Help" last night and I can't say enough amazing things about it.  It was definitely controversial and thought provoking, although I didn't really realize it until the very end.  I knew the whole time that people growing up in that era of maids and also people from more conservative families in the South would probably have a problem with it.  What I didn't know was the way the author felt about her book when she finished writing it.  Now, before I go on I want to make sure I preface this entry with the fact that I'm not trying to offend anyone or stir up issues, this is just my opinion.  On second thought, maybe it'll make more people read my blog people love to read about controversial topics, right?  Anyway, first of all, Kathryn Stockett is an amazing writer.  I loved the angles she took, her African American vocabulary was so interesting and what I would imagine was accurate - it was so fun to picture the ladies saying those exact words.  That's the best part about a book anyway, being able to use your imagination!  Anyway, back to where I was...what bothered me was first of all, how awful our country treated African Americans back in the day.  I knew it was bad, but until this book I never imagined it was THAT horrible.  It was so sad to hear how most caucasian women didn't even take care of their own children - but somehow we kept breeding generations of women and men that continued the awful treatment of African Americans despite their black upbringing.  It was disgusting to hear about how literature was published describing the different "diseases" they carried and how "transmittable" they were.  Then, at the very end where I read Ms. Stockett's recollection of her own maid and listened to her own understanding of how she misrepresented the deep love the white and black women shared, I became very upset.  I don't understand how she could somehow justify the way we treated African Americans by talking about a deep love they shared.  I have a hard time imagining the maids had anything but resentment, sometimes perhaps jealousy, annoyance and disgust.  It sounds like it was more rare than normal to have a decent white lady that went out of her way to do things for her maid and help her when things got rough.  I could have read it all wrong, but I was a little shocked.  I'm still glad I read it and will still seek out the movie.  Somehow, I don't think the movie will give the book justice, because you can't really beat a good novel.

On a positive note - one book down on My Summer Reading List