The Help

This is THE best book I've read in a looonnnng time, even better than Guernsey, and you all remember how taken with that book I was.

It takes place in the early sixties in a small town in Mississippi.
It tells the story of a young, but oh so courageous, white woman, who decides to tell the stories of the black housekeepers, who are often horribly mistreated by their 'mistresses', yet love and care for their children as if they were their own, but also suffer daily humiliation, sometimes in the form of sharp commands, or just having their presence ignored.
The story is gripping, I couldn't put it down for days, yet, hated to see it end.
It's a subject I've never given any thought to, though I remember well how beholden my own mother was to our black maid, Lillian. She spoke of her often. I don't remember her, except mostly through stories, but I do attribute my desire to always having the radio on to her. That's a faint memory in my life. I can almost see her ironing to music or feel my little self being comforted in her bounteous lap with the radio playing in the background.

Mrs. Stockett's writing was superb and, while the subject didn't call for humor, she found some places to inject some intense scenes that made me laugh out loud.

So, Willie, now to the Lucy Pants, the water aerobics, I now get to add the Help!
Fair trade for Chief's?