Written in 2009 by Kathryn Stockett, The Help follows three women living in Jackson, MS, during the early 1960s. Aibileen is a black maid who, after over a decade of holding her tongue and keeping her head down, begins to find the courage to stand up for herself. Her friend, Minny Jackson, who is also a maid, has the opposite problem; she speaks her mind too freely and has been fired from nearly 20 jobs. Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan is a young, aspiring writer who, unlike Aibileen and Minny, is white, wealthy, and oblivious to the racial injustices that surround her.
When Skeeter returns home from college and discovers that the black woman who raised her has gone missing, she takes it upon herself to learn the truth and sees the reality of race relations in America for the first time. With the help of Abilene and Minny, Skeeter defies society's gender and race expectations and writes a book that exposes the mistreatment and injustices of working-class black women in the segregated South.
In 2011, the novel was adapted to a film of the same name, starring award-winning actresses Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Jessica Chastain, and more.
