I'm pretty sure my friend Diqui loaned me this book, so it isn't one that I chose myself. However, it was a good read, and I'd recommend it to someone looking for a thoughtful ChickLit selection--perfect for the beach or airplane in particular. The cover of the book quotes Booklist as saying, "A novel about friendship and sisterhood for readers who like Fannie Flagg and Adriana Tragiani," and I'd say that's quite accurate.
The book is set in the early 1970s, when two childhood friends are reunited. Despite the different directions they have taken--hometown, responsible girl versus free-spirited hippie--in the nine years since they last saw each other, Button and Winnalee instantly rekindle a deep friendship. With a cast of other strong women models, and a few men in the background, they forge a partnership to redefine who they are and where they are headed. There are the expected ups and down, with ups winning overall, making this is a slightly sentimental but well-written summer book.
Stieg Larsson's trilogy was all the rage several years ago--fueled by the release of movies in both Swedish and English--and somehow in all the media frenzy I became convinced that I had read them. While killing time in an airport bookstore this summer, however, I took the time to read the back cover of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and found that I hadn't, indeed, read it. I hopped on my iPad, downloaded the digital version, and soon became engrossed in the story and characters.
Prior to starting the novel, I mentioned it to my mother, a connoisseur of mystery novels, and she told me that she read Dragon Tattoo but didn't continue with the trilogy because it was too "dark." With my reading tastes, that was a bit of an endorsement. I also found that the pacing, storyline, and character development were engaging, and the cultural differences in the book made me less sure of what was going to happen next. Indeed, the relationships between characters, the description of political and social institutions, and the few bits of trivia I picked up about Larsson's Sweden were the things I most liked about the book.
In addition to exposing/discussing violence against women in an unsettling manner (the darkness my mother referred to), Larsson also does a very good job of making a societal misfit--the Girl of the titles--empathetic. The clash between the standard opinion of her and the view that a few others develop once they know her is startling, and it caused me to reflect on how this might be true in daily life. I did like the first book a bit more than the second, but that won't stop me from going on to read the third in the trilogy.
I've heard mention of a few other Swedish authors I should check out if I liked these books, but I don't recall their names. If anyone has recommendations, please comment below.
A lot of people I know have read Stockett's novel about race relations within a Mississippi community during the Civil Rights Movement, and everyone said good things about it. It also got quite a bit of attention in popular media, which is one of the reasons I drug my feet when it came to getting it myself (I'm always resistant to jumping on the latest literary bandwagon.)--and why it ended up on my Kindle when I finally did purchase it. Since I only use my Kindle when traveling, the books I load are usually pop-fiction books I don't feel strongly about owning physically. Having started it at the end of my trip to the Balkans last summer, I put the Kindle aside on my return and didn't get back to The Help until my trips to Orlando in November and the Pacific NW coast this month.
What I'm pointing out is that it took me a long time to gain interest in Stockett's novel, and even longer to finish it. That, however, is completely counter to my actual enjoyment of the book, which tells a remarkable story and is very well written. Indeed, Stockett provides an exceptional view into a time and a place, and she does so by depicting the world of women--a vantage point not often shared in historic texts.
The novel is set in Jackson, Mississippi, and it alternates between three narrators: Eugenia, a single, white woman of privilege who has returned to her family home after college; Aibileen, a widowed, complacent African-American maid whose only son died in an accident; and Minny, a willful African-American maid married to an abusive drunk, with whom she has several children. Aibileen and Minny work in the homes of two of Eugenia's best friends, and they tell their stories of servitude and second-class citizenry in matter-of-fact narratives. In an effort to pursue her aspirations as a writer, Eugenia decides to write a book about what it's like to be a black woman caring for the homes and the children of white women in the Jim Crow south. She convinces Aibileen to assist her in recruiting a dozen maids to tell their stories--both the good and the bad.
The trust and the stories don't come easily. The women face serious threats from all sides and must work in secrecy, and even then jobs and friends are lost--on both sides of the race line. The resulting narrative, however, is powerful, sad, and joyful. in these pages, Stockett explores the fears and misconceptions that drove segregation, as well as the hope and courage that brought about its end. I can see why so many people enjoyed the book, and I am happy that I finally read it. My only complaint is that I was a bit dissatisfied with the ending, but I can't really go into that without ruining it for those of you who haven't read it yet. Which I strongly encourage you to do.
