Book Review: The Help

What can I say?  I love this book.  For those of you who know me well, you may think that I'm biased because of the time period in which this book is set.  I am.  I admit it freely and openly.  I love the Civil Rights era of the 1960s, but beyond that, this book is actually wonderful.

One of my favorite things about it was the character development - I absolutely loved the characters in this book, by the end, they were basically my best friends.  Yes, apparently I have fictional imaginary friends.  But they're not figments of my imagination, they are figments of Kathryn Stockett's imagination.  I loved how they grew, developed, and I loved how well I came to know them.  One of the reasons I loved these characters so much was because of their innate contradictions - just like real people.  They had depth and weren't always consistent, and were sometimes good and sometimes not.  Just like me.

Besides the fact that this is a very well written and fascinating story, I loved the ending.  Here's why: I can't stand really sad endings, and I can't stand perfectly-tied-with-a-pretty-pink-bow endings either.  That's why this book was perfect for me - the end left me . . . satisfied - a little happy, a little sad, and better for having read it.

P.S. I read this book several months ago and have been quite delinquent in this book review.