The Help by Kathryn Stockket

When I started this book, I thought it was going to be a boring one as the early chapters were in thick negro English of the 60s and it took some getting used to... But by the time I got to the first third of the book, I began to enjoy it immensely as it provided me a perspective to our current day situation.

Set in one of the southern states, Mississippi, when America was at her crossroad where racial relations were concerned, I was glued to the book... which I read on my Touch incidentally..... The blacks were free people but America was still very much segregated; there was liberty but the restrained kind... liberty with hypocrisy, double standards, etc... aren't we in Malaysia familiar with those?

Hypocrisy cos that's how they manipulated their religion too.. yet it was faith too that enabled many of the blacks to remain sane (and perhaps forgiving). In one chapter, how one character commented that coloured people attended too much church.... yet they tried to raise funds to help poor starving African children. Double standards cos they had printed laws such as whites must marry whites.... Here, in our present, these still exist, sometimes our politicians announce their intent and contents of their minds through keris wielding show, sometimes through unwritten laws which state that a person born into certain faith has no choice to choose.... we force, too.

Anyway, the one thing that caught my interest was how 'helpless' the white women were... they had the 'nigras' to help them with the domestic tasks. Privileged white women had domestic help for their every whims and fancy, right down to the care of the young ones. Sounds kinda familiar too???

That was the 60s. Kinda like us now in Malaysia.... we have domestic help for everything. A whole generation of kids are being raised by hired domestic help... used to the the Indonesians but now we are getting those from Vietnam, China, Bangladesh, etc... Kids in the book grew up attached to their maids... calling them mama, crying out for them, having fond memories of them, sharing their secrets... Don't they have a familiar ring to our situation now too? Bibit equals to mama..... toddler has a colic, who do you think he'll run to? Mom, dad or the maid??? Your guess is as good as mine!

The stories of the maids in the book... I guess things have not changed so much also. There were good employers and bitchy ones... same now too. Who can forget the abuse cases highlighted by the media? Minimum wage, exploitation - makes me wonder if we in Malaysia are a little similar to what is portrayed in The Help. 1960 vs 2010... how much has changed? More sophisticated lifestyle but same crap!

But it's also nice to read about relationships which transcend skin colour.. it's such relationships that make progress in human rights possible.

Well, this is Book No 8. With two weeks left, I've some doubts that I can finish the 10 books I set for myself before school reopens unless I read like crazy. But I still have a few more books in my Touch.

Anyway, I like this book enough not to put it down cos I finished it in 3 days - in between entertaining family members and moving around a bit. The wonders of a Touch... I read while sitting in the bank, at the traffic lights, while waiting for my turns at the bill payment centres, having my hair done, in between games, while pedaling on the exercyle machine at the gym, at the car service centre... the only place I don't bring my Touch that I can think of right now is into the swimming pool. 8) See why I am still in love with my little Touch??? LOL!!!!

Incidentally, this is another best-seller. Not too bad considering this is the writer's first novel. It stayed for more than 30 weeks on the New York Times' best-seller list. Still there, the last I checked!