What readers think of The Help, plus links to write your own review.

I grew up in the time frame described in The Help. I was the white child loved and nurtured by the black maid who ate in the kitchen and used a separate bathroom. I can not explain how amazing and freeing it is to finally read something like this book that captures such a difficult and confusing part of my young life so clearly. My mind will never really be able to come to rest with what my childhood taught me about race. I have an illusion that all black women are loving and a guilt for every bad thing all black people have suffered. I know the truth but my emotions are still stuck back in my young years where the black and white people I loved so much seemed not to notice all the meaness. I have long ago given up trying to resolve my feeling but it is very good to know my experience is understandable and shared by others who lived through this time of social insanity.

This was one of the best novels I have read in a long long time... Thank you Kathryn Stockett for giving it to us to read. Looking forward to the movie. How lucky we are to have someone to open our eyes to the way things were in 1960.

I LOVED this novel! From the moment I picked it up I couldn't put it down. It was suspenseful and felt so real. Thank you Kathryn Stockett!

I read 3 to 5 books a month (age 64) and THE HELP is now in my top three books of all time. I happened to listen to the book on an audio recording and it was fantastic! The authenticity of the character's dialects really added to the deep emotions of the various women. This time period is a match to my age but having grown up in San Diego was not exposed to such prejudice. It has certainly helped me to continue to grow in becoming a more compassionate person toward all humans. I would LOVE to see this made into a movie!

Loved this book. So glad they are making a movie of this book. I can't wait to see it. I only wished for a little more closure at the end of the book.

Despite some of the other reviews, I did not find this book to be quite so ... "flat." In fact, just the opposite! I could relate to many of the relationships and I especially liked how well the lives were woven together. The racial tensions were well written without being too in-depth. Coming from a town with mild racial tension even today, I could relate somewhat to the unease.
Hilly reminded me of some of the girls I went to school with -- seemingly sweet but with an indescribable power over people and mean as a rattlesnake when provoked (whether intentional or not).
The unfolding of the tale of Skeeter's mama brought tears to my eyes as I recalled a nearly identical part of my own life.
In all, the story was well written. I could hardly put it down! Just enough was left to the imagination and just enough artistic license were present to keep the story flowing smoothly to the end. I hope there will be many books to come from this author!

Not since "The Red Tent," have I read a book that I couldn't put down. I run the oral history center at LSU, and oral histories about the south are literally my life. Ms. Stockett has done a remarkable job capturing various voices and weaving a three dimensional story throughout very dangerous territory. And by dangerous territory, I'm not only referring to the violence of the civil rights era. I'm also referring to her ability to represent various dialects without crossing the lines into insulting stereotyping. And I think she does this well.

Having been the awkward and sometimes accidentally naive and paternalistic "white girl" interviewing African-Americans here in the south about Civil Rights, I can relate to Skeeter. And I am thrilled to see that Ms. Stockett acknowledges the field of oral history, in particular Susan Tucker who wrote "Telling Memories Among Southern Women."

I also enjoy reading some of the critiques of Stockett's work, mainly because I haven't seen one really compelling critique yet. Are there some anachronisms? Sure, but hey, it was fiction, and it worked for me anyway... [edited to remove plot spoiler].

Overall, this is an amazing fictional read that contains just enough reality to be inspirational. My mom suggested it to me. And I'm giving it to all my friends. Read this book. Even if you've never worked or lived in the south, it's still such a wonderful adventure into the age-old warning: never to judge a book (or person or group of people) by the cover.

I could not put this book down...Ms. Stockett perfectly captured the era and racial tensions of the 1960's. This is a story which needs telling and re-telling to each generation. The experiences of women in service and their struggle for equality have found a voice in The Help.
I was raised by a Southern father who came to live in the North after WWII. He never passed on any prejudices, but rather commented on the honest and hardworking people of color that he encountered in his Southern community, and later WWII, and in the workplace. Dad was respectful and appreciative of anyone's capabilities, regardless of skin color. This trait was passed to me; I, in turn, have tried to teach my own children and grandchildren about the past. This is a good book for your home library.