The Help By Kathryn Stockett

The front cover of the books says it’s one of the best pieces of literary fiction since “To Kill A Mockingbird” – and they were absolutely right. I remember reading To Kill A Mocking Bird at another place and time and being drawn into the book slowly. This one had an even more so.

The Help is about society in Jackson, Mississippi. It’s about the black maids and the white society women whom they work for. Its about a mother who loses her son for absurd reasons, its about a wife who accepts a beating from a husband and simultaneously raises his children. Its about a daughter who lives under the twin shadows of an oppressive societal pressured mother and a black housemaid’s beliefs and convictions that made her who she is.

The Help begins with the story of Abeline – an old black maid who has worked across a number of white families for whom she raises children, cooks, cleans and shops.  She has no one in this world and lost her only son in an accident. Ever since that, her black maid training starts to play tricks on her mind. She no longer wants to be submissive, she no longer wants to accept things the way they are and she is willing to take risks.

The other key element is Minny – an outspoken black maid, mother of 5 and wife of a wife-beater. She knows the tenets of being a black maid – she is just too outspoken to follow them. But she is scared too and out of a job. Till she joins what appears to be a crazy house with a white woman who insists on keeping Minny’s presence a secret. 

Then we have Skeeter - white, unmarried beyond marriageable age, ambitious, oppressed and a member of the white women’s league. But Skeeter is more than that. She craves independence, craves her own life and refuses to accept the atrocities that white women inflict on black.  She becomes the game changer. She undertakes a project with a dual agenda – to give herself an opportunity to have the career she dreams of and to talk about things that matter to her the most. 

But she cant do it alone and is aided by Abeline and Minny. Together they embark on a journey where the reality of women – black and white – in Jackson is beautifully and painstakingly laid before us. The honesty of thought, the simplicity of language and a story that makes you weep – sometimes with joy, sometimes in sadness and often in horror. Its reality so real at a time gone past that it seems unreal and surreal all in one.

It’s a story of triumph, courage, hope,  and despair. More than anything, it’s a story about the human spirit and how human beings are just human – colour has little to with the true depth of this book.  

Good In Bed - Jennifer Weiner

I cannot think of any book that has touched my core is such a light-hearted, funny yet deep way. Maybe its because I relate to the core with Cannie – the lead character of this lovable novel. There are few novels I have re-read as often. But this one, cheers me up and gives me strength every time I pick it up. It’s a chick-book so before you pick it up – don’t expect any life changing philosophy – though I know I got a lot of that from this book.

The easy to read book is written in first person and begins with Cannie finding out that her ex has bared his soul in a national magazine. The title of his article – “loving a larger woman” – yes Cannie is a larger woman and knows it – being called that in print is another matter altogether.  That’s when we are loving and laughingly taken on a journey into what it is like to be Cannie – to have a career but not one that is a dream, to have a person love you and understand you but to be unable to understand that love and understanding – except in retrospect when it cant be yours.  

We walk with Cannie through some funny battles with weight. My favourite is the one where she is at a weight loss centre and made to fill out a questionnaire. I wanted to laugh and cry at the reality of her thoughts. Just like her ex’s bare-all made me wonder if ANY man could get it more.

Cannie has some childhood issues, she has family issues she has career issues. Mostly she has human and woman issues. She pines, she whines. She also uses her wit – sometimes to protect herself but mostly to just be herself. She thinks on her feet she fights for her dreams, she gives up she fights again. She finds love, loses it,  finds it again. She never loves herself, but she learns to. She doesn’t know whether or not she can cope with life. But she does. She is a hero for herself but she is very human. She gets some lucky breaks no doubt something that may be difficult in actual life – but she is a character in a novel – the novel has to sell right!

But the story is about more than weight and more than Cannies’ life and its wound up way of creeping up on her. Its about a woman who is strong willed and won’t give into what life throws at her. Instead she chooses to ensure that whether she has a glove or not, she will use whatever it takes to make sure she hits that curve ball called life right towards a homerun.