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The Help, The New York Times best-selling phenomenon, is a provocative and inspiring look at what happens when a southern town’s unspoken code of rules and behaviour is shattered by three courageous women who strike up an unlikely friendship.

The film has now opened at cinemas across the UK… So Magic’s Book Club has reviewed the book and the film. And, to celebrate the release we're giving you the chance to win £1,000, click here to find out more.

It tells a story of three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. From their improbable alliance a remarkable sisterhood emerges, instilling all of them with the courage to transcend the lines that define them, and the realization that sometimes those lines are made to be crossed – even if it means bringing everyone in town face-to-face with the changing times.

Deeply moving, filled with poignancy, humour and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the ability to create change. The film release staring Emma Stone is one of the most anticipated of the year showing in cinemas from October 26th.
REVIEWS

The Help Review by Magic 105.4… Angie Greaves.

Very rarely does a film present itself as a complete carbon copy of a book, it’s virtually impossible; a book – depending on its length – could take days to read. A film on the other hand could range from minutes to hours. Kathryn Stockett’s book “The Help” was turned down by 60, yes six zero, publishers but is now a best seller.

The underlying “message” of this book is there in the movie, and Kathryn is able to bring that energy across as she herself was raised by a black Maid as her mother was absent. The two main “Help” characters from the book are there in the film, Minny and Abileen.

Minny – outspoken and larger than life; Abileen – humble and continuously living in the pain of losing her own child, whilst looking after the children of her employers. Skeeter who was raised by a Helper, refuses to become the stereotypical society girl like her friends.

Her mission is to be a Journalist and her project of passion is to give The Help a voice – a voice that they are afraid to exercise. Skeeter, however, needs stories, true stories, of the hell and negative experiences that The Help go through in order to compile her book, but the Help are too afraid to speak.

An incident takes away their fears and they give Skeeter the stories and information that she requires, and her book starts to take shape. Hilly, the town ring leader is the main manipulator who puts fear into the Help, however, the feisty Minny ensures that her “special” culinary skill, which is documented in the book, will keep Hilly quiet, and it does.

The Help book = A must read!
The Help movie = A must see!

Natalie Hyde from Bethnal Green reviews the book… Having been one of the few to have not previously heard of the book, I began reading it with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised. I found the story well written and extremely engaging, I felt that the characters were explored very well, especially that of the maid Aibileen who is haunted by the death of her son. You are taken on a ride with these characters through their experiences throughout the book and you really get a sense of feel for their emotions at times.

For those who are unfamiliar with the story, it looks at the division between white and black people in Mississippi in 1962, the black women are working for white families and received appalling treatment whilst they raise their white children as if they were their own. The main character Skeeter returns from college and distraught at the disappearance of her childhood maid she decides to expose the truth and tell the world about the maid’s side of the story.

I really enjoyed Stockett’s style of writing, I felt at times I couldn’t put the book down as I was eager to find out what happens next. Some parts of the book were harder to read, in particular the sections describing the treatment received by Aibileen by her employers and Minny at the hands of her husband however I think that book kept you hopeful throughout that the something would change and that there would be something positive ahead for the main characters.

I particularly enjoyed Stockett’s style of writing; It helped the reader become more involved. I loved the ending also as it left it open to the reader’s interpretation as to what Aibileen does next. I felt when I finished the book that I have really gotten to know the characters and felt it left the reader with a warm positive feeling. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone. Louise Wong from Islington reviews the new movie…

Louise Wong from Islington reviews the new movie…

If you’ve seen The Help once, you’ll want to see it again!

Despite being slightly longer than most films, The Help never seemed to drag, but kept you interested and involved throughout.

Skeeter (Emma Stone) is writing a book based on the lives of ‘the help’, black, downtrodden, unappreciated servants in Mississippi. She enlists the help of Aibileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (Octavia Spencer) and the three become friends.

Excellent performances from all, but I felt that Octavia Spencer as Minny stole the show. Brilliant supporting performance from Sissy Spacek as Missy Walters – she was too funny for words – and Bryce Dallas Howard (Hilly) was such a super bitch of her daughter. Although I shed a few tears through the film, it was that emotional and touching, there were many funny moments to balance things… one brought tears of laughter. You’ll know which one I mean when you watch it!

The film does justice to the book. 10 out of 10 from me. I’ll be watching it again.

The Help Review by Gemma Wood from Herne Hill You can’t step onto a train or bus at the moment without coming across a passenger engrossed in The Help, and once you’ve read it you’ll understand why.

The author, Katherine Stockett, writes about a subject close to her heart: black women raising white children in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s.

Having grown up in Mississippi with a beloved black maid who substituted an absentee mother, Stockett writes with humour, affection and compassion as she relates the tale of a group of childhood friends and their relationships with the maids who a decade earlier were raising them.  

Stockett tells the story through three vibrant female characters:

Skeeter, the young aspiring writer moved by the racist treatment of the maids to write a book telling their story Minny, the feisty, larger-than life maid sacked from one job after another due to her refusal to bite her lip in the face of abuse from employers Aibileen, the weary, down-trodden maid raising her seventeenth white child with love and affection, aghast at the parents’ treatment of their child, having lost her own son.

One of the real triumphs of the story, and what lifts the characters off the page so successfully, is the fact that Stockett has mastered the vernacular and diction of the maids.

Their conversations and their support and love for each other are the real heart of the novel- you end up pitying the white women who, despite their comfortable, work-free existences, lack genuine warm relationships with their friends.

Domineered by the town bully, Hilly, their lives may be easy but they lack the humour and support seen between the maids who, at the urging of Skeeter and in response to worsening racism in the town, put their lives in danger to gather in clandestine meetings to record their stories.

Consistently engrossing and at times tragic, funny, sentimental and tense, The Help is a must-read.