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The Help by Kathryn Stockett
When three people recommend a book to you, read it! I decided to begin this book about a week prior to our family spring break ski trip in March 2011. Mistake. In the midst of this funny yet truthfully painful account of the maids’ perspective of the 1960’s, I found myself whooshing down the green slopes of Beaver Creek, CO completely caught up in the story and wanting nothing more than to get back to the condo, slip into my pj’s and curl up by the fire with my digital version of The Help. Growing up, my mother cleaned homes for a living and she took great pride as a female entrepreneur. In the summers, I would often accompany her to earn money and learn the craft. Although we lived our version of this story, we were not underprivileged, black women raised to believe that this line of work was our only option. My mom was treated with respect by her clients, paid well, and shared facilities without scrutiny. This book is well written and captivated me all the way through. More important was its reminder that we are all created equal and, a mere 50 years later, the underprivileged in our midst continue to fight for this God given right.