The HelpThe Help
What it's about
Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Aibileen is a Black maid raising her seventeenth white child while grieving her own son. Her friend Minny is the best cook in town but can't hold her tongue, which keeps getting her fired. Skeeter, a young white woman just home from college with dreams of being a writer, begins secretly recording their stories of working for white families, a project that puts all three women at real risk.
Why it's worth reading
It's a hugely popular, emotional and often funny story about courage and friendship across the color line, with three distinct narrators readers love. It sparked countless book-club conversations about race and who gets to tell whose story.
You'll love it if you liked
To Kill a Mockingbird, The Color Purple or The Book Thief
Good to know
It's been criticized for a white author writing in the voices of Black women, and for centering a white savior; many readers find it worth reading with that conversation in mind. About 540 pages but fast.
By the numbers
- Readers98 out of 100 · counts 40%+45
- Critics0 out of 100 · counts 14%+0
- Bestseller88 out of 100 · counts 32% (its stronger lane)+31
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 15%+0
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero.
On the PBS Great American Read list. #1 New York Times bestseller (21 weeks at #1). 4.47★ from 3.1M Goodreads ratings.
Where it ranks
- #10 of the 251 historical novels we rank
- #20 of the 666 modern books we rank
- #43 of the 1,405 books we rank
Bestseller
- #1 New York Times bestseller (21 weeks at #1)
On the lists
- PBS Great American Read
Reads as
Moving
