was it good or wasn't it? - Rated 
recommended by [] this one covers Mississippi at the time Martin Luther King was beginning to be listened to.
Telling the stories of black women, white (mainly female) employers it gies understanding of a sort into attitudes of the time. Far gentler than I had expected but still hard hitting because of that fact.
An insight into a small amount of the ostrasization of a white daring to have a counter opinion to most of her contemporaries and the effects on the blacks around her.
The only detraction from the story for me was the fact that sometimes it seemed to end up working out too smoothly. This was counteracted by some of the endings of individuals stories throughout the book which could not be called cutesy at all.
One I had to hunt down as the only copy in a Waterstones, pay full price for and that I expect to see in their doorway in it's masses very shortly on special offer.
The author deserves the cover price, the book deserves the recognition.
excuse me....I'm back over to bookbrowse to see what's next.
I loved this book - Rated 
I have just finished reading this book and I really enjoyed it. I became completely engrossed in the lives of the 3 main characters who tell the story and I was sorry when the story came to an end.
The book offers a great insight into the lives of white women and their black housekeepers in 1960s Mississippi.
I would highly recommend this book.
What a page-turner! - Rated
I really enjoyed this book. It was choosen for our book group and when I saw 450 pages I wondered would I have it read on time. But from the moment I started it I just couldn't put it down. All the more real when you realise that the author herself has experienced a bit of one side of this story. As I read it I kept thinking - this would make an brilliant movie. It's a must read!
Magnificent and MUST be read by all - Rated
This is the story of three women, Minny and Aibileen and Miss Skeeter. All three women are fighting their own battles and come together to fight one particular battle that of changing opinion in the mid 1960s. However there is a difference between Miss Skeeter and Minny and Aibileen. Miss Skeeter is white and the other two women are Black maids, employed to look after children and keep houses clean and tidy - but these women are not to be trusted and they could quite easily be stealing the silver and they could also be using the same sanitation facilities as the white women that they look after.
Miss Skeeter crosses into their world when she tries to discover what happened to her family maid Constantine, by putting to paper all the stories of the black maids in the area, and how they are really treated by their white employers. However Miss Skeeter has her own problems, her height has been a disability to finding a suitable husband much to her mother's vexation and without the suitable man on the arm, she finds it difficult to slip back into the life that her friends are all living. Married, husbands, children, weekly bridge meetings, League Meetings (similar to the WI, I imagine) and making sure that everyone follows the correct rules and obeys them to the letter.
Aibileen provides the initial story to Miss Skeeter and to us the reader of the sort of life she has led being a help. The current family The Leefolts have one daughter, Mae Mobley who spends more time with Aibileen then with her mother, who just sees her as a nuisance but a necessity to fit into a particular type of world. Mae Mobley and the subsequent brother which is born during the story rely on Aibileen for everything, and Mae Mobley does not see the difference between colour and does not understand why everyone is set on changing her mind about someone who she obviously treats more as a mother than her own biological one. Children are the innocent ones and can see no wrong in the world; it is the adults which are teaching them their ways be them right and wrong. This comes across very strongly in the book and is definitely the underlying theme throughout. Aibileen gives us an insight into the other maids in the area as she convinces them to tell their stories to Miss Skeeter, putting her own job and livelihood on the line.
Minny is the maid that says too much, think it but do not say it. Minny says it how it is, and despite being kept as a second class citizen this has lost her many jobs. In particular the job she had with Miss Hilly, a friend of Miss Skeeter's. Her new job with Miss Celia sees another world which these Black Maids are working in. What happened when she left Miss Hilly's is hinted upon and becomes finally the core of making sure that all the maids who have given their stories despite their names being changed keep their jobs. Do you want the world to know really what your maid did to you?
There is so much to this book that I could go on quite happily and end up telling you exactly what happens. Needless to say this is a book which must be read, it will make you laugh, it will make you cry as you realise that such prejudice existed less than 60 years previously and that some of the so called 'rules' actually make no sense whatsoever. You may find difficulty in the reading of the book, as Kathryn Stockett's uses very colloquial language in Minny and Aibileen's stories, do not let this put you off, persevere it is so worth it in the end. A must read, in fact an education wrapped up into a wonderful and daring novel. A fantastic debut for Stockett worthy of 5 stars plus.
Wonderful audio book - Rated
This is a truely wonderful, exciting, thought provoking and delightful book. I had the advantage of listening to it in audio format and the 'southern' voices took me to a different time and place. It has been a joy to listen to and I did not want it to end and hope there is a sequel. I am so very impressed that I will be buying a paper copy and recommending it to friends.
I think this will become a classic and should be recommended reading for schools. We have come a long way in 50 years but not quite far enough.
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