The Help {Book Club Read}

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I am on a roll with AMAZING books!  I read this book for our December Book Club and I couldn't put it down!!!  I truthfully wasn't really excited to read the book at first but that's what book clubs are for, branching out your reading list, right?  Anyway, I bought the book, took it home, read the first chapter and it was all over from that point.  I was hooked big time with the writing, again for me, most of the time, it is about OUT OF THIS WORLD writing, and this book has it as well as a wonderful story.  This debut novel by Kathryn Stockett held me captive with the amazing dialect she used with each character.  She really new how to develop her characters and it made the book so enjoyable.  Each chapter of the book was written in one of the characters points of view, and that kept the story fresh and exciting with every turn of the page.

The story takes place in Jackson Mississippi during the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.  The Society ladies run the town of Jackson, and their houses are ran by their "colored" hired help.  The ladies trust the raising of their children to their maids but they don't trust them to polish their silver (a line from the book jacket that has stuck with me).  It is a horrible time of segregation, racism, and cruelty in Jackson and three women take it upon themselves to try and change things.  The story follows these three women Skeeter (a society lady that thinks things need to change), Aibileen (a black lady that works as a maid for one of Skeeters best friends), and Minny (Aibileen's best friend and also a maid for another crazy rich lady in town).  Skeeter is troubled by the way her friends treat their maids and decides that she is going to write a book about the relationships between the maids and the ladies that employ them, from the maids point of view.  This is a dangerous project that could end up getting Aibileen and Minny killed, as severe beatings are common in Jackson at this point in time for people that speak out against segregation and civil rights.  When the book becomes a best seller things get out of control in Jackson as accusations fly, friends ships are broken, and the maids are terrified of loosing their jobs (or their lives).

While I read this book I felt a profound sense of sadness.  I can't believe that there was ever a time of such hatred and cruelty.  And then after that I felt ashamed with the realization that a lot of people still think this way.  I give great applause to Kathryn Stockett for treading a thin line to write this story.  There is a lesson in her words and I am a better person for reading The Help.  I have already started recommending this book to anyone that will listen, so if you haven't go out and buy this book ASAP!!

Book vs. Movie: I would absolutely watch a movie based on The Help.  The writing is so well done that I could actually see this story unfolding before my eyes, so to really see it on the screen would be amazing.  I am sure that a screenplay will be in the works real soon.

The Help
by Kathryn Stockett


If you like this book than read: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Peony in Love

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I enjoyed Snow Flower and the Secret Fan so much I picked up another Lisa See novel a few weeks ago and again I was not disappointed. I devoured this novel in one sitting and was sad when it ended. I think I loved this book, where Snow Flower I just liked a lot. The culture of bound feet, quite women, and structure of ancient Chinese families had me entranced once again and I was on the edge of my seat to see what would happen next.

In Peony in Love we meet Peony, a very ambitious young girl that has a passion for an opera called The Peony Pavilion. She has read The Peony Pavilion several times and owns many different editions (which was down right scandalous in those days) and she becomes obsessed with the love affair of the main characters. She wants a love just as deep and passionate as the people in the play. Her obsession ends up killing her, but her doctors diagnose her with "love sickness", and she ends up in the after world. Peony in Love is the story of her "after life".

I don't want to go into any more details (though I am dying to tell you the whole story)! The book is full of twists and turns and will have keep you guessing as to what might happen next.  Like Snow Flower this book had me running to Wikipedia to learn new things about ancient Chinese culture and what they believe about their after lives. I hope you all enjoy this book as much as I did and as much as you liked Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. I would recomend Peony in Love to anyone that has a hankering for a great love story with a twist.

Peony in Love
by Lisa See
If you liked this book please read: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Golden Lilies

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One thing I am super passionate about is learning. I want to know about everything. I am known in my family to have a little nugget of information about whatever topic happens to be in discussion. So, when a story has me scurrying to Wikapedia or the library to research a new topic, that story gets a gold star in my book. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan was one of those stories that made me get out my trusty notebook and dive into some research about the women in 16th century China. I was immersed in a strange world of foot binding (they call their bound feet Golden Lilies), embroidery, secret languages, and homemaking. I was stunned at the things I was learning as I finished chapter after chapter of this book.

In this story you will meet a young girl named Snow Flower and her friend Lily. These girls were paired up by a match maker as special friends (loatong - translating to "old sames") during their "foot binding years" and the story follows their lives as female soul mates from children through their marriages and finally until death separates them. Because the two girls live in neighboring villages they can only see each other a few times a year but they correspond to each other by writing in a secret language called Nu Shu that is only known to women. Snow Flower and Lily write their little notes on the back of a fan that they send back and forth to each other during their times apart. Eventually, as girl friends often do, they have a tiff and they realize during their period of giving eachother the "silent treatment" how much they truly mean to one another.

My mother-in-law recommended this book to me after she read it for her book club. Since then she has decided that Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is her favorite book and I can certainly see why. If you want a beautifully written heartwarming story you are going to get it with this one. And while it isn't in my top faves I very much appreciate this book and would highly recommend it to anyone that wants to curl up with a good book.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
by Lisa See


If you liked this book also read: The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory