This book is one of the most stunning I have read in a long while ? moving and inspiring, imbued with a sense of hope and determination.

Kathryn Stockett's debut novel 'The Help' tells the story of maids in Mississippi in the 1960s. At a time where the civil right movement was starting to gain momentum and racist tensions, especially in the South, were high.

Dangerous consequences

The story unfolds in three voices ? from the eyes of Aibeleen, an older woman who has raised seventeen white children; Minny, a no-nonsense motor-mouth who has a secret, and Skeeter, a white woman whose relationship with her own maid has led her to try to tell the stories of the usually invisible 'help'.

These three unlikely characters band together to tell the stories of the maids and the families they work for? with dangerous consequences.

The idea behind the novel is wonderful. While there have been countless books, movies and documentaries about the civil rights movement in America in the 1960s, they usually take on an entirely different perspective. Instead of the women in the novel being active protestors or political figures, they are working-class and trained to fade into the background. Stockett's novel provides a voice for the typically voiceless, and I think the discussion she has started is hugely important.

Reading the novel from a South African perspective made it all the more powerful. As I read I was reminded of the maid who helped to raise me, and was saddened that I do not know what happened to her. I was shocked at the injustices and ashamed that I, in my middle-class childhood, never considered what it was like for Rosie who raised me.

There has been criticism of Stockett's ability, as a white woman, to give a voice to the two black characters, but I think she has performed admirably. Yes, the voice of Aibeleen is heavily peppered with Southern slang such as "Law", and "a" instead of "of", but once you allow yourself to get absorbed by it, this voice becomes comforting and washes you on through the story.

By no means perfect

In her debut novel, Stockett has managed to handle the multiple voices quite clearly. While none of the characters besides Skeeter really develop, it is not so much their growth as characters than their viewpoint on the world that provides value to the novel.

Although I loved this book intensely, 'The Help' is by no means perfect. I can understand how it may verge on the overly sentimental and could be seen as trite, but I am willing to look past that. Why? Because this book has got people talking about issues of race. Does it matter if Stockett perhaps exaggerates the characters' Southern twang, if it gets people to examine the way that they treat their domestic workers? And who cares if she takes liberties with historical fact, if it reveals the suffering that many people experienced in silence?

The story is extremely moving. I laughed out loud, I cried, and I couldn't wait to see what happened next. The characters were believable, and in fact quite tangible. I fell in love with the main characters and rejoiced in their small triumphs. I held my breath through some of the tense moments and mirrored their anger and frustration. I felt my heart break time and time again as these women were reminded that despite all their efforts to make the change, to the white women in their lives, they were nothing more than the help.

A wonderful book to read and discuss, and the beginning of what I hope will be a stunning career for Stockett.