By Kathryn Stockett
This book is about the civil rights plight of black domestic staff in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960’s. Black maids band together in their own form of protest extolling the misdeeds of their white employers in an anonymous book.
Skeeter is a privileged, white debutante, recently graduated from Ole Miss and searching for her own beloved maid, Constantine, who raised her. She sees the segregation and degradation of the black people in her community and seems to be the only one who is bothered by it. Eventually convincing the maids, slowly, painstakingly, and tragically to confide in her, she submits their stories to a hesitant publisher. By doing this, she gives volume to the voiceless.
It is important to point out that the one sympathetic white character doesn’t save the black women, they save themselves. She is a tool that helps them get there, but it is their bravery and their resilience that ultimately gets them to their goal.
In the South, embodied by Jackson, MS, during this time period racism is rampant and white people are awful. One woman, Miss Hildy, the self-declared queen of the town, rules over all the other white ladies and terrorizes all of the domestic staff in the city. The reader sees how racism could change relationships, politics could end engagements, and intelligence can beat manipulation at its finest.
There are vignettes of humor, desolation, rage, and impotence. A woman wanting to be independent and a writer, also finds herself a proponent of equality. This earns her the disdain of the rest of society, no matter how “good” her family pedigree nor the amount of money she may possess. Everything is beautifully woven together, interlaced, creating a small ripple that keeps gaining the momentum of a tidal wave.
Soundtrack
- Respect by Aretha Franklin
- Stop in the Name of Love by The Supremes
- Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Satisfaction by The Rolling Stones
- Everyday People by Sly & The Family Stone
Pros & Cons & Potential Spoilers
Pros
- Even better than the movie (of course lol)
- No pretense of fixing everything at once or a clear happy ending
- Assumptions and stereotypes often lead to awful outcomes
Cons
- Most of the white people are infuriating – how can there be so little humanity and kindness? (But I know that is accurate)
- No perfect ending for anybody