I didn't really want to read this, but my husband chose it for a class and I decided to try it, too.
I was totally pleasantly surprised. The book just RACED by. I closed it when I was done, thinking "What a book!" and I was definitely sad that it was over.
It's set in Jackson, Miss. in 1962, and centers around two black maids working for white families, and one white woman who decides she wants these maids' voices to be heard in print--kind of in response to Gone With The Wind. The women work at the book in secret, always afraid of getting caught. I really liked the changing points of view...every few chapters, the perspective switched, and it really kept me on my toes. It meant quite a few cliffhangers, too, but the momentum of the book never kept me waiting.
I looked up some reviews after I was finished, and while the majority of what I found was glowing, I found PLENTY that were not. They were largely by African-American readers, offended by Stockett's presumptuousness and giving them a voice when she wasn't black herself. I was completely disappointed at this, and felt guilty for having enjoyed the book so much. I'm going to suggest it to my book club tonight, and hope to get more thoughts on this issue.
464 pages.
I was totally pleasantly surprised. The book just RACED by. I closed it when I was done, thinking "What a book!" and I was definitely sad that it was over.
It's set in Jackson, Miss. in 1962, and centers around two black maids working for white families, and one white woman who decides she wants these maids' voices to be heard in print--kind of in response to Gone With The Wind. The women work at the book in secret, always afraid of getting caught. I really liked the changing points of view...every few chapters, the perspective switched, and it really kept me on my toes. It meant quite a few cliffhangers, too, but the momentum of the book never kept me waiting.
I looked up some reviews after I was finished, and while the majority of what I found was glowing, I found PLENTY that were not. They were largely by African-American readers, offended by Stockett's presumptuousness and giving them a voice when she wasn't black herself. I was completely disappointed at this, and felt guilty for having enjoyed the book so much. I'm going to suggest it to my book club tonight, and hope to get more thoughts on this issue.
464 pages.
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