The Help Meeting

A week ago we had our book club meeting for The Help. SO far I haven't come across anyone who didn't like it in our little group of readers. Everyone I talked to has enjoyed the book and looks forward to seeing what they do with the movie later this year. We had a great discussion about the times and what things really were like back in the 60's in the South. It was interesting as we had woman at the meeting who remembered that time period and lived in different parts of the country so they had a different perspective of the news. It was encouraging to find out from some that they felt the author stayed very true life for this period. It's always interesting to find out that one of our reader's had really lived life like what the author was describing. I don't know why but I am such a lover for older and wiser people's stories and life experiences.

Our group used the reading group guide found on the books website for some jumping off points of discussion. You can find it on the author's site here. One of the questions that the book definitely leaves you wondering about is the last one on the list, "What did you think about Minny's pie for Miss Hilly? Would you have gone as far as Minny did for revenge?" Our group discussed and wondered whether she actually did the "terrible awful" or did she just say she did which equally did the trick to Miss Hilly. I guess we will just wonder.

This is a book that I would read again and I recommend listening to it on CD as well. The actresses that perform the reading are great and at least one or two of them is in the movie as well. This was the author's first book and I hope she doesn't stop here. I personally would like to see more from Kathryn Stockett. Happy Reading!