I don’t normally post reviews on secular books (I’m a Christian genre writer and like to promote my Christian genre author friends) but I have just finished reading a book I think aspiring writers should read.
It’s entitled The Help and it’s written by Kathryn Stockett. It’s about a writer living in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1950s who secretly interviews and writes about the African-American women who serve in white homes as maids and nannies.
She writes about the cruelty, the racism, and shameful line drawn between black and white during that time.
The story is good. Stockett was herself raised by an African-American nanny, and I have a feeling she writes from deep experience. But that’s not what’s impressive about this book.
What’s impressive is the different POVs (points of view) that Stockett is able to write not only believably, but fluidly. I’m not sure that anyone who hadn’t been brought up in Mississippi could pull it off. But Stockett does. And the writing is brilliant. If you are curious about how to write in different POVs, this is a good book to study.
I admit to staying up late a few nights in a row reading this book.
It’s a keeper.
