Imperfect Birds
In a quaint and coastal California village, Rosie Ferguson lives with her mother, Elizabeth, and stepfather, James. As author Anne Lamott begins her story, their small community is preparing to enjoy another California summer -
the one preceding Rosie's senior year in high school.
Her budding independence is expected and though Elizabeth inwardly squirms with each step her daughter takes away from her, she has no reason to truly doubt her. Rosie is smart, beautiful, works with children in a small local church and Elizabeth frequently wonders if her concerns for her are because of her own past rather than Rosie's. But there are so many opportunities for Rosie to take a misstep and the nagging feeling of discomfort won't go away. As the author writes: "Look, I'm a high school teacher. And rule one is, any idea which comes from the parents must be resisted Ö Oh, sure. My parents used to send me helpful things from Reader's Digest like 'I Am Joe's Lung.' That alone added seven years to my smoking." Perhaps it is all just the normal progression of things, she concedes.
And then the small inconsistencies in stories and the tiny catches of mistruths begin between Elizabeth and Rosie, and Lamott aptly guides us from the miniscule cracks in a life story to the widening chasms that can bring it all down to rubble. As Rosie's tiny confessions, when caught, lead to undeniable addictions and true danger, Elizabeth and James have to accept the fact that Rosie has been lying to them all along and that her choices have the capability of devastating them all. Their choices at this point have to be as drastic as their daughter's plight.
Lamott clearly depicts how terrifying it is to be a parent, how terrifying it is to be a child -
and how it takes the power and love of family and friends to survive.
A northern California resident, Anne Lamott writes stunningly of the beauty of the California coast as well as of the fast and furious culture that it provides. As in her other novels, her characters are vulnerable, honest, humorous and enlightening -
and worth meeting.
The Help
Kathryn Stockett's first novel brings us to 1962 Mississippi, where life still drips of Southern tradition -
including the standard practice of separate and nowhere-near-equal accommodations for blacks and whites.
Twenty-three year old Skeeter has just graduated from college and returns home to find that her beloved maid, the woman who lovingly raised her, is gone -
and is offered no explanation from her rigid mother, whose seemingly only purpose in life is to marry Skeeter into a lifestyle similar to her own. Angry and baffled, and determined to get a job as a writer, Skeeter reconnects with her high school friends, even though aspects of their lives leave her uncomfortable. She lands a job as a Heloise-type adviser to those who submit questions to the local paper regarding home cleaning issues, even though she's never washed a dish in her life. In search of answers to the numerous inquiries sent in, she comes to depend upon Aibileen, the black maid of a friend.
As her association with Aibileen grows, Skeeter becomes increasingly disturbed and embarrassed by her treatment -
fueled in large part by a separate bathroom that is roughly built in the garage to keep Aibileen from using the family's facilities. As they grow closer Aibileen reveals the circumstances of her only son's death and the fact that he, at one point, had aspired to writing a book on the experiences of blacks as they worked in the homes of Mississippi whites.
With that seed planted in Skeeter's discontent, she secretly pursues the cautious and reluctant Aibileen to help her compile the material for a book. Neither she nor any of her maid friends dare to tell their stories.
But when a young black man is beaten for accidentally using a white bathroom, an assault that leaves him blind, the group goes from being silent to terrified, but daring. They agree to secretly meet with Skeeter but are haunted by the threat of reprisal.
As Skeeter and Aibileen take on the clandestine and risky task of compiling the stories, a line is crossed that opens, though by a tiny crack, a door that throws light onto a subject well past its time for exposure. And with that light comes the possibilities of change.
Author Kathryn Stockett provides a rewarding story, rich with the language and traditions of a disparate group of people -
full of humility, humor and emotion -
and one not to be missed.