The Help by Kathryn Stockett

By now, what has not been said about this number one, top selling novel? That’s more of a statement than a question. I doubt I can say anything that hasn’t been said before. My hope is that if you haven’t read The Help you’ll beg it off your friend, get in the hold line at your library or break down and purchase it because why? Because it is worth it. I know some people have a few complaints that run along the lines of: the ending was anti-climatic or the dialect bothered them. Some more serious complaints are that it’s just one more bash on Mississippi. Even if you finish and wonder what all the fuss is about I promise you won’t be disappointed that you read it.

I wasn’t sure what this book was about when I decided to buy it. I knew it was set in the Southern U.S. during the 1960s and there was something about a lot of women afraid to follow after whatever it was they wanted. And that there would be racial issues thrown in there. This is a terrible summary. However, not knowing what I was in for left me deliciously and delightfully surprised. I didn’t expect to become engrossed by a maid’s daily life. I didn’t expect to laugh out loud on several occasions. I didn’t expect to learn and this novel enlightened me about how complicated the civil rights movement was for many different (but not so different) people.

This book was a pleasure to read. As a rule, I don’t mind dialect but I find it slows my pace down. Truly though, I savored every page. The story alternates between three women’s point of view: one young white woman, one middle-aged black maid and one not-quite-old black maid. I adored all the voices but Aibileen’s (the eldest’s) was my favorite. There is so much tension, anxiety and fear in these women’s lives because of their desire to tell the truth. I felt nervous for them and kept hoping they’d find a way to iron out the wrinkles (hehe. Aibileen hates ironing pleats). I feel this book is a must read for those living in the U.S., perhaps especially my 20-something generation who have grown up in a different era and have little understanding of what daily life was like in the South during the 1960s.

So, I have this great thing called a public library. And mine hosted the author, Kathryn Stockett, who stopped by on her way to the Windy City to speak, read and sign our books! Hearing her speak was a blast. If you have the opportunity to see her, do it! She spoke a bit about her anxieties being a white woman writing in the voice of black women. Stockett had a black maid growing up and this book is her way of expressing many of the things she has learned about what life was like for the help. In case you’re curious, she said two of her favorite authors are Lee Smith and Kaye Gibbons (among many others). She has an awesome southern accent! And in response to a question said that no, she is not Skeeter (the young white protagonist), that she was never as brave as Skeeter or able to ask those kinds of difficult questions when she was a child. I think she was rather brave to write this story, though. Ms. Stockett was gracious enough to let me take my picture with her so, there we are. Now, go get yourself a copy of The Help and settle in for a good read.

Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books, 2009     Pages: 451
Rating: 5 Stars                                             Source: Purchased on Amazon

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

Shanghai Girls follows the lives of two sisters, Pearl and May, from glamorous 1930s Shanghai to post-WWII United States. There are a lot of downs and very few ups in this book. The sisters encounter one tragedy after another clear to the end which didn’t encourage me to keep turning pages. On the contrary, I had to force myself to sit down to read and finish the story. Honestly, I kept thinking I could be reading Amy Tan right now instead. Although historically accurate, the novel wasn’t very powerful, just depressing. I never felt attached to or invested in any of the characters. The sisters, especially May, seemed incredibly spoiled and I never really liked her and Pearl was self-defeating for the entire novel. In many ways the characters were static and boring.

As for the prose and narrative structure, they were annoying. See writes in first person with Pearl’s voice. At first, Pearl seemed like a normal narrator. Then the prose took on a dear-diary feel that I didn’t like. And a few times Pearl addresses the reader, saying things like, you might think that…, which felt like narrator/author intrusion and didn’t work well. This shifting in narrator style ruined the effectiveness of the first person voice for me. Often, Pearl knew too much and was obviously See telling us what to think about circumstances or other characters (author intrusion again). At other times, Pearl was completely blind which didn’t coincide with her supposedly being the smart sister. The novel is written in present tense with no flashbacks which could have broken up the monotonous flow of bad events. The writing is not terrible but is just not effective or enticing.
Publisher: Random House, 2009     Source: IC Public Library
Rating: 2 Stars                                   Pages: 309

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow

I was drawn to this novel after reading the description: a girl with a white, Danish mother and an African-American father, struggles with her cultural identity in the U.S. At once, it reminded me of Harlem Renaissance writer Nella Larsen’s Quicksand published in 1928. The story background is nearly identical. So, I was curious to see how Durrow would build on Larsen’s classic. Fast-forward sixty years and the basic plot of Quicksand is as culturally relevant (and personally relevant for Durrow) as it was when Larsen wrote her novel.

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky is set in the 1980s and broken into two parts. The first lingers on the childhood of Rachel, the bi-racial protagonist with beautiful blue eyes and creamy dark skin that sets her apart from everyone she knows. Each chapter is written from the view point of a different character. Fitting together several first person narratives made the story much more personal than a traditional third person narrator. Part two brings all the characters full-circle. We watch Rachel try on her “whiteness” and “blackness” until she comes to terms with her heritage and her family.

If you’re familiar with Quicksand you may remember that Helga Crane’s story is similar to Rachel’s. However, Helga’s story ends with an observation – that the time for women of color to be free hasn’t quite come. And it wasn’t until the 1960s that black women’s suffrage rights were upheld throughout the country. The Girl Who Fell ends on a note of hope – people who love Rachel are always telling her she can be what she wants to be, do what she wants to do. And in this way at least we can trust that Rachel's story is true – that things have changed enough to give us hope. This is a coming-of-age story that shows the struggle of growing up outside of preconceived conventions about race. We see this story from every angle: the white mother, the black father, the neighbor boy, the boss and the aunt – which adds an important dimension to this narrative.

Heidi Durrow’s first novel, The Girl Who Fell from the Sky, is an impressive accomplishment. I was skeptical at first, being familiar with Larsen’s novel, but Durrow did not disappoint. I enjoyed the narrative structure and the prose captured the atmosphere perfectly. If you're wondering what the title and cover picture have to do with the book well, they’re part of the mystery and tension that surround Rachel's life. Follow along as Rachel pieces her life together to make sense of it all.
Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2010      Recommended Age: 16+
Source: IC Public Library                                                   Pages: 264
Rating: 4.5 Stars                                                                  More on this author at: http://heidiwdurrow.com/

Flight by Sherman Alexie

Put on your seatbelts, you’re in for a ride. Flight takes the reader through time and space on a journey of reflection. Prepare to be transported, living brief moments in the bodies of other people. Encounter the famous and forgotten of the past. Struggle with the choices you are faced with as the character is. While body-swapping, you’ll experience the memories and emotions of white men and Indian men – feeling their rage, grief, fears and loves. When thrown in the middle of a battle, how do you decide who the good guys are? What would you kill for? Flight offers pause in a world of Hollywood violence. None of this reflection, however, slows down the plot. It moves along swiftly with the humor I’ve come to expect from this author. Once again, Alexie makes me laugh and cry on the same page. I think you will too.
Rating: 4 stars                                        Recommended Age: 17 and up for language and sexual references
Publisher: Black Cat, copyright 2007     Pages: 181
Source: Iowa City Public Library            More on this author at: http://www.fallsapart.com/