Book Report Monday: The Help

Title: The Help

Author: Kathryn Stockett

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed. (from Goodreads)

Why did I pick it up?: I've had this on my bookshelf for four years. I had heard mixed reviews and wasn't sure if I would like it, but I vowed to read books I had before buying too many more.

My Review: I was surprised by how much I liked The Help since I'd been avoiding it for so long. The story was interesting and accessible. Each of the narrators had a unique voice and struggle. While I wanted Skeeter to interview the maids, I was scared for all of them and understood why they were hesitant. Perhaps the scariest thing is that the novel is set in 1962 and one of Skeeter's friends is pushing for segregated bathrooms inside white homes that employ colored help. 1962 does not feel very long ago, but it should seem impossible that maids could have been forced to use a separate bathroom than their white employers in our recent history. Unfortunately, it's not unrealistic.

Aside from the obvious racial tensions in the story, The Help is about three women struggling with their identities and independence.

Skeeter begins waking up when she returns from college and finds a new maid has replaced the one who helped raise her. It's a profound loss and brings a new focus to the community and friends she's always known. Something is wrong with life in Jackson and Skeeter wonders why she's the only one who notices. Until she realizes she isn't the only one, though she may be the only white one to care about the relationship between whites and blacks.

Aibileen has spent her life raising white children who love her until they reach a particular age and start to treat her like the help. Her own son, died and left her questioning why she continues to work hard for people who will never be friends or family. Skeeter's return is the nudge Aibileen needs to take charge and try to make a difference. Along the way she realizes she has talents other than cleaning and child-rearing.

Minny has always kept a barricade between her and her employers, convinced that none of the white folks will ever be her friend. When she gets her new job, cooking and cleaning for a childless couple who don't even host parties, she finds herself bored. Eventually she grows curious about the woman who hired her and who, against all the odds, Minny cares about. Her employer however has bizarre habits that have Minny ready to quit no matter how much she needs the money.

Now I just need to watch the movie and compare.

My Recommendation: It's a bestseller for a reason, I think most readers will enjoy this. Of course, it's targeted toward women.

For Next Time: The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

Book Report Monday: The Enchantress of Florence

Title: The Enchantress of Florence

Author: Salman Rushdie

Genre: Literary Adult Fiction/Magical Realism

Synopsis: A tall, yellow-haired young European traveller calling himself 'Mogor dell'Amore', the Mughal of Love, arrives at the court of the real Grand Mughal, the Emperor Akbar, with a tale to tell that begins to obsess the whole imperial capital.

The stranger claims to be the child of a lost Mughal princess, the youngest sister of Akbar's grandfather Babar: Qara Koz, 'Lady Black Eyes', a great beauty believed to possess powers of enchantment and sorcery, who is taken captive first by an Uzbek warlord, then by the Shah of Persia, and finally becomes the lover of a certain Argalia, a Florentine soldier of fortune, commander of the armies of the Ottoman Sultan.

When Argalia returns home with his Mughal mistress the city is mesmerized by her presence, and much trouble ensues.

"The Enchantress of Florence" is the story of a woman attempting to command her own destiny in a man's world. It brings together two cities that barely know each other - the hedonistic Mughal capital, in which the brilliant emperor wrestles daily with questions of belief, desire and the treachery of sons, and the equally sensual Florentine world of powerful courtesans, humanist philosophy and inhuman torture, where Argalia's boyhood friend "il Machia" - Niccolo' Machiavelli - is learning, the hard way, about the true brutality of power.

These two worlds, so far apart, turn out to be uncannily alike, and the enchantments of women hold sway over them both. But is Mogor's story true? And if so, then what happened to the lost princess? And if he's a liar, must he die?

(from Goodreads)

Why did I pick it up?: A staff suggested read while I was at Tattered Cover, where I visited last June. And yes, sometimes I take a year to read a book on my shelves.

Favorite Line: "Seems that even the plague was no match for Mamma's sweet polenta."

My Review: It's difficult to write a non-spoiler filled review for this one. It's more than a story within a story. The Enchantress of Florence has stories within stories within stories being told to characters and the reader simultaneously. Rushdie keeps the pages turning by having unanswered questions in the present tale of the yellow-haired traveler who narrates the inner story to the Emperor of India. The past story of Qara Koz, the lost princess, and three childhood friends in Florence provides the meat of the middle of the book.



Vlad III



Of course, I loved the bits set in Italy the most but I also loved the historical figures mentioned. The Medici family, Vlad the Impaler also known as Dracula, and Ghengis Khan.

Historic fact blends with fantastical myth and a dash of magical realism to create a patchwork tale or rather a collection of tales. I think, if you know a little of Europe's history-particularly 15th century-you will be pulled in to the story easier than if you do not.

There's a lot of magic used, even if much of it is the sleight of hand variety. Some of it can be explained as skill and the right application of perfumes but other events cannot and that magical ambiguity pleased this fantasy-loving-writer-girl immensely.

In the beginning, I thought the yellow-haired visitor, Mogor, was a charlatan but it turns out there is some enchantment about him. Whether it is enough to save his life once his story is finished is the question that kept me reading.

Next Week: American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It's my first e-book from the library!

Book Report Monday: The Goddess Test

Title: The Goddess Test

Author: Aimee Carter

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Synopsis:  EVERY GIRL WHO HAS TAKEN THE TEST HAS DIED.

NOW IT'S KATE'S TURN.

It's always been just Kate and her mom--and her mother is dying. Her last wish? To move back to her childhood home. So Kate's going to start at a new school with no friends, no other family and the fear that her mother won't live past the fall.

Then she meets Henry. Dark. Tortured. And mesmerizing. He claims to be Hades, god of the Underworld--and if she accepts his bargain, he'll keep her mother alive while Kate tries to pass seven tests.

Kate is sure he's crazy--until she sees him bring a girl back from the dead. Now saving her mother seems crazily possible. If she succeeds, she'll become Henry's future bride and a goddess.

IF SHE FAILS...

(from Goodreads)

Why did I pick it up?: I heard a lot of buzz about Goddess Interrupted the sequel to The Goddess Test and as a fan of re-workings of Greek myths I had to check it out.

My Review: The Goddess Test is not a retelling but a continuation of a myth. All the Gods and Goddesses have taken new names, something Carter says they do every so often. I guess after so many millennia they want to switch it up. It will make the story easier for younger teens who won't have to stumble over Greek pronunciations, but I found myself translating Henry to Hades when reading.

In the original myth Hades, god of the Underworld,  kidnapped Persephone and took her as his wife. The other gods intervened but she was forced to return to the Underworld for 6 months a year. The Goddess Test begins after Persephone escaped the Underworld for good and Hades, now called Henry, needs to find a replacement. Fast.

With the clock ticking down to Spring Kate is tested  during the 6 months of fall and winter she spends with Henry. Of course, someone in Henry's mansion wants to kill Kate, but overall she doesn't seem to consider that a serious threat and in turn I wasn't very concerned for her life. For me the best part of the story was the relationship that grows between Henry and Kate. It comes off as genuine and kind of adorable.

In the end, I was hoping for more about the other gods and goddesses. But the sequel, which I will definitely pick up soon, sounds like it will be more mythologically focused.

Recommendation: Quick summer read for anyone who loves Young Adult and is interested in Greek mythology.

Next Week: Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin

Mermaids

 

Dreaming about life on land

 The newest trend in Young Adult is mermaids and I couldn't be more excited. Does this help my manuscript? No, no one even goes swimming in my book, even though there is a beach.

My excitement stems from how much I loved The Little Mermaid. I had Ariel sheets, sleeping bag, pajamas, underwear-yes, it was that serious. Actually, it was so serious I once had a meltdown over it. Allow me to explain...

It was at the height of my Little Mermaid obsession. We went to a seafood restaurant called Neptune's. The inside was decorated like a ship. Porthole windows and all. They gave me and my sisters golden paper crowns, which made me think of King Triton. Basically, I was in heaven. When I perused the children's menu, however, a dark cloud descended. They had themed meals for kids. Mickey Mouse, was pasta with three meatballs. And. . . it was too horrible. I threw my crown and started to cry. My mother tried to appease me. I told her the menu upset me. "Oh, but they have a Little Mermaid meal," she said. As if that could cheer me up. I cried louder and screamed, "It's fried Flounder. How could they do that? He was her best friend! He was her best friend."

I have always had strong feelings for fiction. I wonder if this incident has anything to do with the fact that I always call the god of the sea, Poseidon. And I never do eat flounder, despite my love of fish.

As you can imagine, I am eager to bring mermaids back into my life and summer is the perfect time. Here are some of the books on my Mermaid Summer Reading List:

Ripple by Mandy Hubbard (Out July 21st)

 By day, a normal teenager. By night, a siren-a deadly mermaid who lures men to watery deaths. Lexi must swim every night or suffer unbearable pain. 

That's enough for me. But it gets better.

Lexi has to choose between a new boy at school who melts her icy exterior and a sexy water spirit who can break the curse and give her the life she always wanted.

  I love this cover too. Is she moving toward him or away? I like to think both, mermaids are complex like that.

Is it July yet?

Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale By Carolyn Turgeon

A dark retelling of The Little Mermaid.

Two women, one prince, there is bound to be drama. The mermaid, Lenia, rescues Prince Christopher from the sea, ala Ariel & Eric. Lenia falls in love with him and gives up more than her voice for legs and a chance to be with the prince. Her health is also on the line.

Margrethe, a princess from a rival kingdom, wants to marry the prince to unite their kingdoms, which are at war.

Prince Christopher is oblivious to the fact that Lenia is the mermaid who saved him, but Margarethe witnessed the rescue and recognizes Lenia. Margarethe intends to send the mermaid back to the sea and save her kingdom.

The Mermaid's Mirror by L.K. Madigan

Lena is forbidden from surfing, despite living on the coast of Northern California. Something draws her to the ocean and after she sees what she thinks is a mermaid she betrays her father, who nearly died in a surfing accident, and goes out into the water.

When she wipes out and almost drowns the mermaid saves her and gives her a gold key. She must find what the key is for and unlock the mystery of her own past.