Kathryn Stockter, a contemporary American female novelist, was born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1969, received a degree in literature and creative writing from the University of Alabama, moved to New York after graduation, worked in magazine publishing and marketing, and currently lives with her husband and daughter in Atlanta. "The Help" was Katherine's debut novel, which took five years to complete. It was initially rejected by 45 booksellers, but it became an instant bestseller upon publication. It has sold more than one million copies worldwide, topped the US bestseller list for 51 consecutive weeks, and was ranked No.
Catherine Stockter was brought up by a black maid, and the inspiration for this book comes from the writer's nostalgia for her own black maid, Dmitry, when she was a child. In the afterword to The Help, the author states: "I'm sure no one in my family ever asked Dmitri what it was like to be a black man in Mississippi working for a white family. Q. It's just part of our normal life and no one thinks it's necessary to study it. For years I wished I was mature enough to ask Dmitri some questions. But when she died, I was only sixteen. I often wonder how she would answer, which is why I wrote this book."
The Help tells the story of three ordinary women in Mississippi in 1962. A feature of this book is that each of the three protagonists tells their own experiences and the stories that happened to each other in the first person.
Skeeter, a 22-year-old white lady who had just returned home from the University of Mississippi, was so tall and thin that she looked like a mosquito, so much so that the nickname "skeeter" replaced her real name. Although Skeeter had a degree, in America, white men reigned supreme and women's most respectable jobs were housewives. So her mother won't be happy until she puts a wedding ring on her finger. When things like this happen, Skeeter always finds comfort in her dear black maid, Constantine, who brought her up. However, the Constantine family suddenly moves away, and no one tells Skeeter what the hell is going on. what's wrong.
Abilene is a black maid, kind and intelligent, who raised 17 children of white employers. His only son was killed in a work accident, but the boss turned his face and refused to admit it. Although she knew that the white child she had worked so hard to bring up might alienate her and break her heart, she went to great lengths to care for the 18th little white girl.
Minnie, Abilene's best friend, was short, stout, and arguably the most dynamic woman in Mississippi. She is a good cook, but because she is so outspoken that she offends the town's social queen, the white wife Celie, she loses her job again. She has to find a job at Mrs. Celia's house who has just moved to town, and her new employer It also has its own secrets.
These three seemingly disparate women are linked together by a dark and dangerous plan. Miss Skeeter, bent on becoming a writer, plans to secretly meet local black maids to write an anonymous book about their real lives. Gradually, Abilene and Skeeter became friends who talked about everything. At a time when Mississippi was still under the shadow of segregation, Skeeter's approach was dangerous. Celie is an old-fashioned racist who sees the black people in her town as inferior citizens, and when she sees Skeeter's audacity, she wants to get rid of it. The trigger for all this was that Xili, the president of the Youth League, initiated a proposal to require white families to provide separate bathrooms for black domestic servants. Black maids look after children and do housework for whites, but whites don't want them to use the same bathroom as they do. So, the three of them fought wits and bravery with Mrs. Xili and started a fight.
"The Help" reflects a shameful undercurrent of racism that has recurred in America's development, but it also reveals the hopes and dreams of Luther King and Rosa Parker. This novel full of poignancy, humor and hope deeply touched the love, trust and help among people of different races.
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