The Help
by Kathryn Stockett.
Most people enjoyed this book enormously.
Those that did not tended to blame themselves rather than any shortcomings of the book.
Some people struggled with the dialect in which much of the narrative is written and found the skipping from one narrator to another irritating.
But for most of us the voices of the three narrators had great authenticity drawing the reader into a gripping and thought-provoking story.
Of course, given the subject matter, there were some harrowing and disturbing incidents but they were dealt with in quite a restrained manner and maintained the full attention and sympathy of the reader.
There are many amusing incidents and poignant scenes which provide a good insight into the lives of the people of the period.
For many of us the background events to the story provided the backdrop to our formative years and we wondered whether and how much the situation has improved for the down-trodden and exploited.
NS November 2010
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