Book Club Report

Right now we have a regular number of 9 to 10, or sometimes 12.  Our meetings are quite interesting and lively, and we really do discuss topics that can be heated sometimes.  We believe that is what a good book club should do – encourage thinking and acceptance of ideas from one another.

The book we discussed this month was titled “The Help”.  It was written by American writer Kathryn Stockett.

It centers around a young 22 year old returning home to Mississippi from college.  Skeeter goes through a personal transformation as she questions the status of the black “help” and their white employers.  Bear in mind that the book takes place in a southern US state in the 1960’s – a time when the majority of whites continue to cling to the old days of a clear delineation of the black and white races.  Skeeter is not like the rest and she sets out to write a book depicting the conditions of “the Help”.  She does this with the co-operation and encouragement of 12 black maids, and in fact the book Skeeter writes is done through the eyes of “the Help”.

The book is a very thought-provoking one and we encourage our PILC members to read it.  It touches on the sensitive subjects of racial prejudice, friendships, love, goodness and along with that, evil.  It was a great read.

Connie Kwok