By Isobel Cosford

As summer falls to an abrupt end with the sun becoming lower it can be difficult to carry on with reading season, however Kathryn StockettÔÇÖs best-selling fictional novel ÔÇÿThe HelpÔÇÖ is a perfect place to start as the nights begin to last longer, with a long read of 524 pages of truly enlightening historical fiction.

The Help focuses on a group of women set in the era of the 60s in Mississippi. The featured women are found to be interconnected through various relationships and roles, whether Aibileen, a black member of ÔÇÿthe helpÔÇÖ whose friend, Minny Jackson, works for the horrible housewife Hilly Holbrook, who hates newcomer Celia Foote, a soft-hearted sweetheart trying to make it into the WomenÔÇÖs League in Mississippi, which is sympathised by rebellious writer Skeeter Phelan who risks it all to document stories of the women who work for the white yummy-mummyÔÇÖs in the segregated community of southern North America, determined to tell the tales of the black women of Mississippi.

Not only is StockettÔÇÖs original novel a journey through racial struggles, but a struggle of sexism experienced in the 60ÔÇÖs in the backward town of Jackson, Mississippi. Whether itÔÇÖs CeliaÔÇÖs battle in becoming pregnant to hold the title of ‘the perfect housewife’, or MinnyÔÇÖs fearful attitude towards her severely abusive husband, the winner of the AudiesÔÇÖ Fiction Award is able to piece together individual struggles into a carefully fragmented but fully complete, unforgettable novel.

Kathryn Stockett beautifully ties together the characterÔÇÖs autonomous anecdotes through using different narratives, where she explores the diverse lifestyles in 1960ÔÇÖs Jackson, from SkeeterÔÇÖs determination to go against the rules of segregation to MinnyÔÇÖs revengeful actions towards her ex-mistress, Hilly. ÔÇÿThe HelpÔÇÖ is an absolute fictional masterpiece, as you follow the journey of these women (black or white, upper or working class) through this delicate but ambitious novel.