The Help

I can't tell you how sad I was to finish this book, from the first half hour I was wishing it wouldn't end. The audio recording of The Help is that perfect combination of stellar performances and fantastic story, the kind where you feel like you have your own personal movie in your head.

Each character is brilliantly thought-out, Stockett creates people you really care about, plus a vindictive and realistic villain. Set in a transitional time in Mississippi that we?re all familiar with from films and school history lessons, The Help brings to life the challenges met by real people in an American state which isn?t modernising as quickly as New York and Washington, where Martin Luther King is making waves.

Uplifting with touches of tragedy, I had tears in my eyes at times at the sheer bravery of people ? whilst these characters may not have lived in real life, you can be sure that there were people facing similar challenges. Kathryn Stockett perfectly weaves a tale combining joy, humour and trials that showed how such an important time in the politics of US history filtered down to the everyday lives of people living through it. I haven?t read the physical book, but I would always recommend this tale as an audio performance as I really felt I gained so much more having the voices in my head than I could imagine reading on a page.

This has been my favourite Audible download yet and has been the cause of a lot a tired days at work due to my having to listen to 'just another 15 minutes', and another, and another! You can read the plot above. I had not heard of this writer before, but she is a natural storyteller, and all of the narrators are excellent. For me it ticked all the boxes. It drew me in from the very start, made me laugh, made me sad, made me angry, made me want more. They are bound to make a film of this, so read it now!

I would like to give this book 10 stars.
'The Help' is the best book I have listened to (or read) in years. It is one of those books that will stay with me, one of a handful that I remember with pleasure and will listen to again.
The characters are so real, I feel like I've met and come to know them. The three heroines of the book are wonderful and multi-facited. The villain is a horror.
It is a book that made me think; 'What would I have done?' 'Would I have been that brave?' It is a book which looks back to a time and place in history so alien that I was both appalled by the behaviour of some of the characters and warmed and inspired by others. Amazingly, given the issues at the core of this story, it is also a witty and humourous book.
This audiobook is so beautifully acted out by the readers, I don't think I would have heard the voices as well in my head if I had read the book, the audiobook brings the accents alive and makes it wonderful to listen to.

I never review things but I loved this audio book, the readers are fabulous, if you only ever get one audio book make it this one!

An immersing story, beautifully narrated. The different voices of the characters develop the narrative incrementally and this works well, providing extra insight. But it's the narration that brings this story to life - it's works so well as an audiobook. My favorite audiobook so far.

Let me start by saying this isn't the usual category of book I read but I keep an open mind and took a chance after reading nothing but glowing praise. Set during the early black civil rights movement in the deep south; the book and the characters hold genuine depth, warmth and interest, thanks to the excellent pen of Kathryn Stockett. However; the audio book deserves a special mention because it's narrated by several people who bring those characters to life; in fact it's more like listening to a play than an audio recording and although the book is amazing the audio version adds extra emotional depth and can't be recommended highly enough.

The narration of this audiobook is outstanding and does full justice to the flowing, easy dialogue. I felt I was inside the heads of the three main characters. And for days after finishing the book I could still hear their voices. It is a beautiful and sensitive story, and as cliched as this compliment may be, it made me laugh out loud and cry out loud too. One of books where you miss the characters and wish you'd never reached the end.

Excellent in every single way. I was glued to my Mp3 player.

I did not really fancy this book, my daughter read it and tried to get me interested, but it sounded a bit twee for me - only when I joined audible and listened to a 'snippet' was I hooked. The characters are beautifully written and developed and the relationships between them are so intwinded. The writer has woven actual historical facts through the story which really given the reader a sense of the timescale both as the story travels forward and how this story is placed within living memory. I cannot recommend this highly enough, a story of change, of community, of freindships and family life. A moment in history told from the perspective of a group of interlinked woman. Beautifully narrated, you really feel empathy with 'some' of the characters, when I finished, I immediately started listening to it again - what more could I ask for - this will be a firm favorite with me that I will recommend to everyone! and am sure I will revisit it again and again.

I came across this quite by accident,and was so so glad i did.I was transfixed and transported by both the narrators and the characters.What a story,totally captivating in a simple yet unputdownable way,i was hooked from the first chapter to the last one and so sorry when it ended.I feel a void as i do when a good book ends,and this comes into that category.Had me laughing in parts (will not spoil the moment,but the Martian (yes,spelt correctly!!)Luther King story as told to the child was one of those simple yet profound moments of genius by the author)and tears of frustration,sadness and happiness in equal proportion in parts.Wonderful,creative,simple yet effective......best book i have read in a long while.Thank you for bringing it to me.