April Book of the Month – The Help by Kathryn Stockett





From the book

Enter a vanished world: Jackson, Mississippi 1962.
Where black maids raise white children, but aren’t trusted not to steal the silver.
There’s Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own son’s tragic death; Minnie whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; and white Miss Skeeter, home from college, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared.
Skeeter, Aibileen and Minnie, No-one would believe they’d be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend and rely upon one another. Each is in search of a truth. And together they have an extraordinary story to tell.

Amazon Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/Putnam (February 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399155341
• ISBN-13: 978-0399155345

Author Website



Book will open for discussion 27th April 2011.

Look forward to a lively discussion – Happy Reading.

The Help is a wonderful novel. I hope everyone enjoys reading it.

I have very fond memories of it because it indirectly led me to Outlander. I was having lunch with a cousin I seldom see, and I mentioned I had just finished reading The Help, and I thought she might like it. She, in turn, suggested that I pick up Outlander.

Originally, I put in for both the print and audio version and was very happy that the audio came out first. Each character was read by a different reader so it seemed to mesh with the whole interview theme of the book. Wonderful story.

My neighborhood book club read The Help for the meeting we had just this past February, and everyone loved it! The fact that the author uses three different people to express their points of view REALLY made for an interesting story!

One disturbing note: One of the book club members brought an article to our gathering from the Wall Street Journal stating that one of the maids is suing the author for misrepresentation of her quotes and her character in the book. Read the book and then guess which one it is!

My book group discussed this last March. I read it but missed the discussion because I was out of town. I'm glad to have another opportunity to discuss it because I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I don't remember a lot of the details, but I'm sure what others post will remind me.

I didn't realize that this was a true story. I can imagine which one you're talking about and can't wait for the forum to open because I have some questions in my mind about that.

I loved The Help and had a feeling that the author based a large portion of it on her own personal experience. I will have to check on the WSJ article. More to follow when the book discussion ensues.

What a wonderful book. I read it a while ago because the social studies teacher where I work could not stop talking about it. Well worth it.

Great book! a good friend of mine is a sociology professor, and we read it at our book club last year. Highly recommended!

I loved this book and didn't expect I'd react so emotionally! I literally cheered in parts-out loud! This author did a terrific job with dialect and dialogue. Dialogue is challenging- so when I see good dialogue it makes me really happy.

I didn't realize The Help has been made into a movie. I loved the book, and the movie looks really good too. I can't wait to discuss the book with all of you later this month.

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0dWCXCjX9o

I didn't realize it was a movie either. Thanks for the link, Dallis.

Thanks for the trailer link, Dallis. I hope the movie lives up to the book. We can bring up this discussion again when the movie is released this summer.

I hadn't realised that The Help was a movie either ....looking forward to the discussion

SPOILER WARNING

BOOK IS OPEN FOR DISCUSSION


APRIL -BOOK OF THE MONTH -THE HELP BY KATHRYN STOCKETT





From the Book


Enter a vanished world: Jackson, Mississippi 1962.
Where black maids raise white children, but aren’t trusted not to steal the silver.
There’s Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own son’s tragic death; Minnie whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; and white Miss Skeeter, home from college, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared.
Skeeter, Aibileen and Minnie, No-one would believe they’d be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend and rely upon one another. Each is in search of a truth. And together they have an extraordinary story to tell.


Book Group Questions

*Who was your favourite character? Why?
*How much of a person’s character do you think is shaped by the times in which they live?
*Did you learn something you didn’t know before?
*What major emotion did the story evoke in you as a reader?


If you enjoyed this -you may enjoy :

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay ------Our May BOTM
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen -------Our June BOTM choice chosen by you
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Now that some of us have had the chance to read this month's selection, it would be interesting to see what we all made of it. Please post your thoughts, hopefully we'll all have different interpretations of the story.Don't be afraid to discuss, disagree and generally pull the book to pieces.The questions are just a guide -don't feel you have to answer any, or all of them - your opinions are what matters most....