The Help
by Kathryn Stockett
★ Top 5 book of 2009 · #4 on Best Books of 2009
In 1962 Mississippi, a young graduate and two maids, Aibileen and Minny, form an unlikely alliance for a secret project. Told in distinct voices, it follows women who risk much to cross the lines defining their town.
Best for: Readers who enjoy multiple narrators and stories of women defying social boundaries
The Help is #4 on BookWard's Best Books of 2009, out of 42 2009 books that cleared our data bar.
What The Help is about
Jackson, Mississippi, in the early 1960s is the setting, and three women take turns telling the story. Aibileen Clark is a maid who tends the Leefolts' toddler, Mae Mobley, and who lost her own son, Treelore, in a job accident. Minny Jackson, her friend, has been fired from nineteen jobs for saying exactly what she thinks. Eugenia 'Skeeter' Phelan, raised in a wealthy family that owns the Longleaf plantation, comes home from Ole Miss hoping to become a writer and finds that Constantine, the maid who raised her, has vanished without explanation.
That silence pushes Skeeter toward an idea: a book that tells the truth about what it means to be a Black maid in Mississippi. Getting Aibileen and Minny to speak is not simple, and the risk falls on all of them. Stockett writes with warmth about friendship across racial lines, the cost of speaking out, and the quiet labor that holds a household together. It will appeal to readers who like emotional, character-led historical fiction.
The Help on the Best Books of 2009
The Help came out in 2009. Of the 42 books first published in 2009 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #4 on our Best Books of 2009 list.
Why it made the list: 1,118 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (115 ratings); 54 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Reader favorite.
Nearby on the 2009 list
- Catching Fire Suzanne Collins, #2
- The Maze Runner James Dashner, #3
- Dork Diaries Rachel Renée Russell, #5
- I Will Teach You to Be Rich Ramit Sethi, #6
See all Best Books of 2009 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2008 Best Books of 2010.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 878 want to read it, 54 are reading it now and 186 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.3 out of 5 from 115 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 90 | 55% |
| Reader love | 93 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 86 | 20% |
Questions about The Help
When was The Help published?
The Help by Kathryn Stockett was first published in 2009.
Was The Help one of the best books of 2009?
The Help is #4 on BookWard's Best Books of 2009, out of 42 2009 books that cleared our data bar. 1,118 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (115 ratings); 54 are reading it right now.
Why is The Help on the Best Books of 2009 list?
1,118 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.3 out of 5 (115 ratings); 54 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2009
- The Last Olympian Rick Riordan, #1
- Catching Fire Suzanne Collins, #2
- The Maze Runner James Dashner, #3
- Dork Diaries Rachel Renée Russell, #5
- I Will Teach You to Be Rich Ramit Sethi, #6
- The 4-Hour Workweek Timothy Ferriss, #7
See the full Best Books of 2009, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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