The Help by Kathryn Stockett

In 1962, Skeeter has just returned home to Jackson, Mississippi after graduating from college. At loose ends, she's under pressure to marry, yet yearns for a career as a writer. She's also missing Constantine, the African-American maid who raised her (and who has left town under mysterious circumstances). Aibileen is another maid in Jackson who has raised seventeen children. She suffers from the sorrow of losing her son, Treelore in an accident. Minny is Aibileen's best friend. She is also a maid who has had lots of employers because she sometimes voices her opinions. When Skeeter gets the idea to write about the lives of maids in Jackson, both Aibileen and Minny agree to tell her their stories. All three women endanger their own lives for the project, since the races are not supposed to intermix and maids are not meant to be heard. The Help lives up to all the hype surrounding it and deserves its bestseller status. It transports the reader back to the height of the civil rights movement and creates a very memorable setting and characters. Unputdownable...