Help Wanted

Sorry for the long absence. It has been one crazy winter. First, the Saints won the Superbowl!!!!!!!!!!!! We travelled to the playoff games, and I can honestly say it was the most amazing experience to be in the Superdome to see the kick that sent us to the big game sail through the uprights! Then we headed home for Mardi Gras. The parade I rode in was delayed by one night due to weather, but it was an amazing success. Somewhere in between all of the madness, I managed to squeeze in our book club book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett.

Has anyone else read The Help? It is truly one of the most wonderful books I have ever read. I could not believe that Ms. Stockett was a first time writer. She developed characters so perfectly rich, inspiring, flawed, and lovable that I wanted them to be real. I find myself opening the book and re-reading its passages just to hear the voices of these characters again in my head. There were the women whose courage and spirit you admired and respected, and there were the women so unfortunately shaped by their surroundings in the 1960s South that you wanted to close the book and hide in shame. In the end Stockett makes you question the lines that existed in the 1960s, and she makes you question whether or not they are still present.

I have not looked forward to book club this much in a long time. I am wondering if anyone out there who has read the book has any suggestions for discussion points we could use tomorrow. I would love to hear them. Also, do any of you have a favorite book club suggestion that you think we should consider for our next selection?

Lola