** spoiler alert ** I quite enjoyed this book. That being said I recognize that there is a lot wrong with it. However, before I jump into the issues, lets start with the things that I liked.

Stockett brings attention to issues that were not only present during the time in which this book takes place, but some of which that are still present in today’s society. The theme of this book (prejudice and racism) is compelling and relevant even in todays society and while it is a topic that is being brought up more often within the last ten years, it is not something that is discussed enough. (I’m including prejudice because there are a few places in the book where Stockett mentions the way homosexuals are treated and while I am white and cannot pretend to truly understand the effect that the horrors that have happened throughout the centuries of racism in this country, I can acknowledge them. I am certainly not straight however and am faced with prejudice regularly due to my openness and while acceptance (in regards to lgtbq+) over the past few decades has increased we are no where near where we need to be and it isn’t often that I find even a mention of the abuse gay men and women where faced with back then. It never pulls the story too far away from the focus of racism but I did enjoy the added comments, so I felt I needed to add it here.) (That being said I’m getting away from the point)

Stockett’s descriptors are beautiful. More than once during my read I found myself smiling at the way she described this or that. She adds small details in the way a child’s laughter sounds, or the way that someone waddles rather than walks. I vividly remember how she describes one of the women, patting the back of her hair to puff it higher making it look even more like her head got stuck in a beehive. It really gives character to the world and makes me smile.

The grammatic structure of the book is also something to note. To be clear, this is not tone of the book (i.e. the dialect in which it was written), but rather her sentence structures and the way the book shifts from perspective to perspective. The transitions are done well, clean and to the point. Each character has a unique voice making it difficult to forget who is who. Sloppy transitions and poor character voice is something that has ruined books for me in the past (namely Hidden Figures which was a book I had extremely high hopes for).

Now on to the numerous issues regarding this book:

Tone is the biggest issue with The Help. While I am a bit supporter of using AAVE (African American Vernacular English) in literature it is very poorly used throughout this book. Granted, I am a southern woman who doesn’t sound anywhere near AAVE so I maybe wrong, but this is my opinion and I open to being corrected. However, I do hold a minor in linguistics and have studied AAVE intensively. It is obvious that Stockett was attempting to give an authentic voice to these women and I can respect that. However, I feel as if it could have been better executed if she limited AAVE to dialog rather than the full POV sections. It would have been far more effective when viewed by individuals that have grown up hearing AAVE in their household and communities (again I may be wrong). On the other side however, it may have brought more attention to the flaws in the version of AAVE Stockett attempts to write. This also would mean that the majority of the story would need to be rewritten in third person which could also have diluted the character voices. There is no way of knowing just how much the story would have changed if this had been done. So over all while I felt that the AAVE wasn’t perfectly executed I can understand the reasons for choosing to write the story the way she did.

Another issue with the book is Stockett’s tendency to tell and not show certain aspects of the story. Skeeter’s friendship with the other women in her bridge club for instance. We never really see their friendships (minus a tiny tiny scene with Elizabeth after Skeeter pulls her first stunt with Hilly) we are just told about it. We are told of a number of things that happen, and what is said and done, but very rarely are we pulled into the issue through the character’s emotional response. One of the women are beaten but her husband and yet we only get told of the bruises until late late chapters when Stockett talks about how she asks why he does it. With a little more emotional response this book could be a moving and tear jerking masterpiece rather than just a good book. The most emotion scenes we get out of it is the last scene between AB and the child she cares for.

The last two issues worth mention regarding the novel is just that it has a few pointless characters, and it was fairly predictable even without having seen the movie. Its one incident after another, each lighting the way to twists and turns you can see coming from a mile away. The story wouldn’t loose anything if the boyfriend character were completely removed or even the dad character (who could just be mentioned to be the owner of the truck Skeeter drives). I understand that they were used to soften the character’s persona, but honestly I wouldn’t mind if there were there or not.
Still, overall I really enjoyed the read. I highly recommend the book for anyone if you’re just looking for your next book. I wouldn’t claim that its an authentic look into the racism of Mississippi during the civil rights movement, but it does highlight some serious issues that shouldn’t be ignored.