Hail to Hilly

It’s been months since I’ve finished reading Kathryn Stockett’s best selling book, The Help. I borrowed it from my friend, Amy, who gave me her copy and with a gleam in her eye she said, “You are really going to enjoy this book.” (That copy has now traveled countless miles around Ohio. Each woman that borrows it has been writing her name on the inside jacket cover - very cool!)

About 50 pages into the novel, I realized that in order to get through this book, there were going to have to be some changes - after all, a woman's gotta prioritize. First, dinner had to be quick. Normally, I love making well-balanced, tasty dinners, but I had to suspend my kitchen operation for a few days.  I ran to the store and grabbed a few boxes of mac-n-cheese to sustain the troops while I was locked away laughing hysterically at the encounter between Minny, Miss Celia and the naked burglar.  Second, the family was going to have to turn their underwear inside out because Momma didn't have time for laundry...just kidding -  I really didn't make them do that. Calm down, Mom.

No matter the obstacles, I had to press on through this book because there were so many things I didn't know. Did Skeeter find a solution for her frizzy hair?  What in the world was Miss Celia up to in that upstairs bedroom? Would Elizabeth Leeloft eventually realize that her child loved Aibileen more than her? But most of all I kept reading to find out one thing:

Would Hilly Holbrook ever get hers?

Every good story in life has a villain and when the villain is a stylish Southern woman with a mean streak and a name that alliterates, well that makes for an even better story. Perhaps the “perfect” Southern Satan, it was Hilly’s sly, scheming behavior that kept me turning the pages until well after midnight for several days. Her Southern bred manners combined with two cups of pure 'ole mean catalyzed the action in the story. 

For those of us who have read the book, we all experienced “the moment” that was worth all of the tearful moments we had as we navigated the devastating lows each woman experience in the book.

Once upon a time, my grandmother was The Help. It wasn't in the South, but in my hometown about two hours away from Toledo in a little community called Medina. She used to tell me about the fine families in our community that she would keep house for - the meals she would serve in fine homes or the laundry that she would wash - children that she would make snacks for. It's a shame that The Help didn't come out 10 years ago because I would have loved to ask her if she knew a Minny, Aibileen or any one of the other ladies portrayed in the story. Personally, I think my grandmother was probably a mix of Minny and Aibileen - maybe a little more Minny than Aibileen, though...

I would have asked Grandma if she ever encountered a Hilly Holbrook. Since it was the 50's and 60's, I'm sure she did. However, I also know that Grandma would have told me that she never paid the Hillys of my hometown any mind  - but, she probably wouldn't have told me if she's ever made any "Hilly pies"...

The Help” movie comes out on August 10. I checked the early movie review websites and previewers have promised that fans of the book won’t be disappoint.

I better not be. Anyone else going to see the movie?

If you haven't seen the movie trailer, check this out: "The Help" Movie Trailer