The Help
Three women in 1960s Mississippi. Two of them raised the city's children. None of them were treated as people.
Stories That Cannot Be Told
Kathryn Stockett's 2009 debut is set in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962 and follows three women whose voices alternate through the novel. Skeeter Phelan, a young white aspiring writer, convinces the Black housemaids Aibileen Clark and Minny Jackson to share their experiences for a book that could destroy everyone involved if discovered. The novel is a portrait of the absurd and violent logic of racial segregation as seen through domestic relationships carefully maintained to hide the injustice underneath.
Reading The Help
Tension
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Chapter
"You is kind. You is smart. You is important.
"Kathryn Stockett
Stockett was rejected 60 times before The Help was published. She grew up in Jackson, Mississippi, and based Aibileen on Demetrie McLorn, the housekeeper who raised her, to whom she dedicated the novel.
The 2011 film starring Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, and Emma Stone was a major commercial and critical success. Octavia Spencer won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Minny.