Good help is like true love — you only get one in a life time. (Quote from The Help<\/em>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I just finished reading the book, The Help<\/em> by Kathryn Stockett via the AudioBook version. I usually like to have the book in my hands but this was a perfect road trip audio book\u00a0for my recent\u00a0drive\u00a0from Seattle, WA\u00a0to Missoula, MT.
\nThe Help <\/em>covers the timeframe of the early sixties when racial\u00a0tensions were challenging in the south as the civil rights movement unfolded.
\nThe story is written in the voice of three different characters. Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. I learned to love each of these women.\u00a0
\nThe main character is a young woman (Skeeter) raised on a cotton plantation with the help of her loving maid, Constantine. Skeeter is a writer so I immediately related to her character.
\nAbilene is the maid for\u00a0Skeeter’s best friend Elizabeth. She is sweet and loves the children she cares for. Minny is the feisty maid\u00a0who has been fired numerous time for mouthing off but is most loved for her cooking.
\nBoth maids are strong women with wisdom and love for the many children they have helped raise.
\nSkeeter determines to tell the stories of twelve maids and the white women they work for. Some of the stories are of kindness and generosity but most are of prejudice and mistreatment of these caring women.
\nOne character in the book I didn’t particularly care for was Hilly. She was a snooty woman who treated the help with contempt.
\nOne line from the book makes me think of Hilly. “Disgust was saved up special for her.” Boy, I sure didn’t like that woman. The author did a fabulous job in helping me get a bad taste in my mouth every time her name was mentioned.
\nI hope every reader\u00a0learns a little bit about loving kindness as they read this book.\u00a0 And I pray you are nothing like Hilly.
\nBecause I listened to it on audio,\u00a0the actors voices brought\u00a0the story to life with the dialect of the south. I sure hope the actors in the movie sound like these voices.
\nI’m anxious to see if the movie will do the book justice. It is scheduled to release on August 10, 2010. I already entered a drawing for two tickets to the early release showing on August 9, 2010.
\nI recommend\u00a0The Help<\/em>\u00a0for a great summer read. And I’m sure the movie will be entertaining too.
\nI hope you read it before the movie releases. Here’s a link for you to check it out at Amazon.
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