I found myself wanting a great read that was meaningful. I didn't feel like battling Victor Hugo. I tried to read him, because of my best friend's encouragement, but sorry, Dida, I am just not ready to fight so hard for my fill of worthy literature. Maybe when my head is itching for something meaty, but not during the school year while taking a master's class. It is just too much. On the other hand, I don't want to waste my time on drivel either. I'm too busy for fluff. Besides, that's what Facebook is for! :) My fluff quota is filled. So, I e-mailed Dan and asked for a recommendation. He gave me two and this one arrived first from my beloved mail-order library. Apparently his wife was a fan and when I posted about it on Facebook, it seems like lots of people have read it and enjoyed it. I am not surprised. It was wonderful.
Set in the south during the changing times of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., the reader is invited to view the story from 3 women's perspectives. 2 of those women are African-American maids and 1 is a society girl, having just graduated from college with dreams of being a journalist. She doesn't quite fit in, is a bit awkward, and hasn't landed her man yet, much to her mother's lament. She is challenged to notice the world around her by a New York editor when she applies for a job she is clearly under-qualified for and it seems that this is when she starts to wonder about the way the "colored" maid must feel...
What does the maid think about having a separate bathroom built for her out in the garage because the family and guests don't want to catch her diseases?
How does she feel about raising the white children, loving them completely and having them grow into adults that treat their caregivers like second class citizens?
The 2 maids that are featured in the book are wonderful characters. It was a delight to get to know them. They were full-bodied and well-developed with faults, flaws and humor, love, anger, and an understandable acceptance of their lot. There doesn't even seem to be a true hope that things will be different, just a swallowing, hard, of the injustice that is...
When our society girl decides to ask for insight because she'd like to write a book about what it is like to be "The Help" in these white families, it is rebuffed out of massive fear because those that speak out in this part of the country don't do so without significant consequences, but there is something about wanting to share the "real" story that just won't go away. And so it begins...
I won't say more about the plot, but I will say that the result is a witty, honest, delight of a story that helps you live in a time and place of importance. It is a worthwhile read and one that will linger with me. I highly recommend it!
