In Jackson, Mississippi, in 1962, there are lines that are not crossed. With the civil rights movement exploding all around them, three women start a movement of their own, forever changing a town and the way women--black and white, mothers and daughters--view one another.

Reviews

Stockett's (www.kathrynstockett.com) deep and complex debut novel, set in early 1960s Jackson, MS, is about three women drawn together to make a difference. In an unlikely, even dangerous, alliance, an upper-class white woman and two black maids collaborate to write a book about what it's like to be a black maid working for white families, raising white babies. Actresses Octavia Spencer, Bahni Turpin, Jenna Lamia, and Cassandra Campbell immediately pull listeners in, breathing life into this touching novel. Certain to become a book group classic and to be popular among fans of Sue Monk Kidd and Jodi Picoult. [Audio clip available through library.booksontape.com; the Putnam hc received a starred review, LJ 1/09.-Ed.]-Donna Bachowski, Orange Cty. Lib. Syst., Orlando, FL Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

Four peerless actors render an array of sharply defined black and white characters in the nascent years of the civil rights movement. They each handle a variety of Southern accents with aplomb and draw out the daily humiliation and pain the maids are subject to, as well as their abiding affection for their white charges. The actors handle the narration and dialogue so well that no character is ever stereotyped, the humor is always delightful, and the listener is led through the multilayered stories of maids and mistresses. The novel is a superb intertwining of personal and political history in Jackson, Miss., in the early 1960s, but this reading gives it a deeper and fuller power. A Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Dec. 1). (Feb.) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

"A magical novel. Heartbreaking and oh so true, the voices of these characters, their lives and struggles will stay with you long after you reluctantly come to the end."
-Robert Hicks, "New York Times"a bestselling author of "The Widow of the South"

"Stockett's many gifts --keen e ye for character, a wicked sense of humor, the perfect timing of a natural born storyteller-shine. Iam becoming an evangelist for "The Help," Don't miss this wise and astonishing debut.--Joshilyn Jackson, bestselling author of "Gods in Alabama"
"A wonderful book. A compelling and comically poignant tale about three women, and a time and a place that is in many ways very much still with us."
-Beth Henley, Pulitzer Prize winning pla ywright of "Crimes of the Heart"
"Lush, original, and poignant, Kathryn Stockett has written a wondrous novel. You will be swept away as they work, play, and love during a time when possibilities for women were few but their dreams of the future were limitless. A glorious read."
-Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of the Big Stone Gap series and "Lucia, Lucia"