"The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


One of the most exhilirating books I've ever read!

The NPR blurb on the cover compares it to "To Kill a Mockingbird", and even the book itself mentions it by name several times throughout, so you already know where this one is reaching. These, are not the same books, of course, and although both are about the unjust, and oftentimes violent line drawn between whites and blacks in the Old South, neither of them will ever provide any new information to the African Americans who suffered from slavery to Jim Crow, but they will always be an eye opener to everyone else. If the initial message of "To Kill a Mockingbird" has long since been taken for granted by scores of teenagers and college students who enjoy it as required reading, sitting safe within the confines of "this is a time no longer with us", "The Help" certainly has a chance to grab them by the wrist and pull them off the beach chair they're lounging in. It is one of those books that screams "wake up call", and successfully does so without falling into the trap of gratuitous violence, cartoonish stereotypes, and race-baiting.

The novel centers on the lives of three women in 1960's Jackson, Mississippi, two Housekeepers-Aibilene and Minny, and on Skeeter Phelan, the gangly socialite, fresh from college and itching to make her mark on the literary world rather than submit to her mother's dreams of husband hunting and babies. Aibilene and Minny are written as three dimensional women, they are tired, and not always long suffering, working for white families their entire lives and about at the breaking point with the cold dismissal, and sometimes outright cruelty they've endured from employers.

Aibilene's specialty is raising white children, babies she calls her own, babies that invariably break her heart when they realize and accept the line between white and black, but she can never stop herself from loving them.

Minny is a vibrant, fierce woman, she has noisy children and an abusive alcoholic husband waiting for her at home, and a chronic inability to keep her temper when aggravated by any one of the white employers she's been fired from.

Aibilene and Minny have a mutual enemy, Skeeter Phelan's best friend, an obsessively controlling tyrant named Hilly Holbrook.

The entire novel is a galaxy circling Hilly Holbrook, a woman so controlling, racist, and vile that the fact she's a genuinely loving, and nurturing mother is obscenely disarming. Hilly is the social leader, she runs card clubs, ladies clubs, and collects money for starving children in Africa while gleefully tormenting the lives of the "nigra maids" of Jackson, Mississippi. She is so obviously brutal, but yet, one recognizes in her so clearly the voice, and person of that ONE member of every group that everyone inexplicably tolerates.

Why do we put up with, and crave the approval of people like Hilly Holbrook? The novel's white lead, Skeeter Phelan is very, very slow to come to any realization of this question, so much so, that it does become frustating she would persist in calling this woman her best friend.

The backdrop weaves in references to Martin Luther King, The Freedom Riders, the Kennedy Administration, and throughout the entire story lies the ever present threat of what would happen to the three main characters should their ultimate collaboration on an explosive tell-all about white and black relations in Jackson, Mississippi become exposed.

You will find yourself worrying alongside these women, jumping when they do at suspicious knocks on the doors and cars in the driveway, laughing alongside them whenever the little things in life like baking a caramel cake or potty training a toddler go well, or even pumping your fist at times.

Highly engrossing, well written, fast paced and without even one page of lag, "The Help" is definately one of THE books of the year.



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Lunching in Graveyards is hee-larious!

Lunch Sacks and Tombstones

Lucy Hathaway should probably think long and hard about the boy of her dreams and their lunch dates at the cemetary.

With Painted Words is a charming, and creative web-zine with a new picture prompt each month.

In ur undergrounds, lurking in ur anthologeez!

Literary Lab's second anothology, Notes from the Underground is up for sale right now, and I am fortunate enough to be included. The contest for this anthology was pretty cunning. They first had to accept your five page application, which was a sample of your writing, any kind of writing. After that, you were given 10 pages to write whatever the hell you pleased.

It was a strange experience. I had the story I wanted in my mind, I ran over it, nipped at it, tugged it around, and stared at it, completely in awe of the fact that it was accepted no matter what. It really forced me to come up with what I hoped was the best story I could tell. The story "Little Shark, Little Shark" is only available in this anthology.

There are quite a few awesome stories in it though. It really is an amazing collection. It gives you a snapshot of the true personality of each writer, of the rawness that makes em tick. Do yourself a favor a buy a copy of this gorgeous book, or if you prefer, you can buy it on Kindle.

All proceeds from this book go to theWriter's Assistance Emergency Fund Writer's Assistance Emergency Fund.

Amazon Print Edition

Kindle Edition

Createspace Edition <----preferred by Literary Lab as more money will go to charity here.

A Long List of Short Deadlies

I am very fortunate to have three of my stories, "The Field", "The Hanged Man", and "Alone in December" appear in Short, Fast, and Deadly's best of 2010 Anthology "Deadlier Than Thou".

You can purchase it here.

There are dozens of stories included in it that are so sharp and pointy you'll need to wear protective glasses. Have a go! Take a chance! Buy it! (There is also a free downloadable edition of it available as well if you must have things for free.)

Although "The Field" and "The Hanged Man" are reprints from issues 39 and 49 of the e-zine, "Alone in December" can only be found in the anthology.

Go on, treat yourself, do me proud! :D


My last three stories to apper on Short, Fast, and Deadly are:

The Hanged Man

A story told through painted canvases.

Short, Fast, and Deadly--Issue 49--(Word) Art & Lies


My Year on a Postcard

Like "Snakes on a Plane" the title pretty much says it.


Short, Fast, and Deadly--Issue 53--The Year in Review


Suicide Programming

Nightmares and reality mix in this story about fighting higher powers.

Short, Fast, and Deadly--Issue 55--Revolution Revelation

Bloggy Book Club Meetup!!!!! Between the Bridge and the River

Oh, so late! Forgive me. What started out as a few mercy delays, for everyone to finish up reading turned into me catching the nastiest flu in the history of ever and having to delay the meetup and review even longer. On the plus side, I hope those who wouldn't have otherwise been able to finish the book were able to finish the book!

So to the review!

One of the things I love the most about this novel is the novelty of seeing America through a foreignor's eyes. Mr. Craig Ferguson since the writing of the novel has become an American citizen and is currently in that new-American state of patriotic fervor that makes me a natural born American feel a bit unappreciative of my homeland. What amuses me very much is the way he takes a good hard look at some of the strangest things about America and Americans, and he doesn't come down acidly and condescending upon it, but instead, he sees something unique and worthwhile about it.

His characters all fascinate me. They are so horribly flawed, and there is a fussy selfishness about a few of them at the least, and a horrifying decay about the worst of them. He doesn't shy away from anything about them.

Did anyone have a favorite character or storyline? Was there a storyline or character who couldn't be stomached? Seeing as Mr. Ferguson is a highschool dropout who has pretty much completed his education by filling in his knowledge gaps by sitting in a library or experiencing things himself, how did his writing style and story structure seem to you? (I kind of root for him there because I am also a school dropout who feverishly tries to compensate for my gaps in knowledge by learning about anything I can on my own.) Was there a storyline that just busted reality a bit tooo much for you or did you find yourself just going along with it. (Believe me, in some parts of America, church chanting and snake twirling is alive and well. Heh.)

Well, I hope everyone had fun and I can't wait to read comments!

How did everyone's holidays go? :D

New Stories and Link tweaks!

Iced Trees

Haiku! There's nature and frost and stuff.

7x20 is a charming tweet-zine that posts micro fiction and haiku. The editor has a good eye and the postings are worth a follow. She is looking for submissions that are winter related so give it a go.


Share Her with the Ocean

A story about a man's encounter with a strange girl on the beach.

The format of the magazine does not allow me to do a straight link to the story, but you can find it by clicking "current issue" and my name Cee Martinez on the author list.

Ghost Ocean Magazine is a new literary magazine devoted to flash fiction and poetry that is highly geared to stimulating your senses and sticking with you long after you've left it.


The Mermaid

A boy and his father find a mute, beautiful young woman washed ashore. When they take her into their home the boy's life will never be the same.

With Painted Words posts stories and poetry based upon a new art or photograph prompt each month. Each issue is engaging and surprising. Don't be afraid to submit to them.

Link updates:

The link to my story "The Umbrella" does not work anymore. It was posted in Issue 1 of Ghost Ocean Magazine and they have since changed their website. In order to read it just go to the site, click on the "archives" tab and find Cee Martinez in Issue 1.

The link to my story "Promised Land Ice Cream" no longer exists. It appeared in Issue 1 of Technicolor Magazine and they have no online archives. They are putting together a print edition and I think it will soon be possible to order an archived print issue of it. I will keep you posted on that.

Here is the new link to my story "The Scapegoat" which appeared in Issue 10 of Up the Staircase Quarterly

Be a HERO alert!!!!!!!

Ghost Ocean Magazine has the opportunity to go to the AWP Writer's Conferance in Washington, D.C. where they will have a booth, chapbooks, buttons, goodies, etc... to get the word out about their awesome site. In order to do that, however, they are at the mercy of literary fans with a little change to spare. They have opened a Kickstart Pledge Drive page and they only need 125 dollars to reach the 700 dollar goal that would get them to DC.

There are goodies for donating at the 5, 10, 25, 50, and 100 dollar level. If you have even a dollar to spare (or a pound for any British/Irish/Scottish readers), can you please find it in your heart to share? There is less than 25 days to go on this drive and they are SO CLOSE! If you cannot donate, could you please find the twitter link on the page and retweet it. Spread the word and help a fledgling literary magazine make a splash!

Between the Bridge and the River by Craig Ferguson

Every single character in this novel pretty much wanders barefoot through a field of burning coals. Some of them are too stupid to realize it, others feel it is their just desserts, others see it and turn it into something they can profit from.

George and Fraser are two Scotsmen, childhood friends who drifted apart after a fateful meeting with a pedophile. Both of them find themselves now in a position where their chosen paths in life have brought them nothing but stagnation. Fraser is a popular host of a religious show shilling for a God he barely believes in while wearing knitted jumpers sent from elderly fans, and sexually exploiting his staff. George is a man married to a wife he never really loved (the feeling is mutual with the missus) and long past hope in his mind of connecting with his teenaged daughter. Something has to give.

Saul and Leon are brothers from the American South, essentially orphans after their washed up Las Vegas showgirl mother is locked away due to her crippling case of Munchausen Byproxy. These brothers find they cannot live apart from each other, one blessed with the singing voice, looks and charm of his famous father, and the other blessed with the smarts, cunning, and heartlessness of a boxing promoter. Clearly they have a higher calling.

Claudette's curse is more than the irritating habit her lovers have of dying on her, sometimes in the act of love itself--her curse is being French. As such, she is a woman doomed to walk through life gorgeous, tragic, willing to love and drown in every pleasure imaginable, and still be acutely aware of her role on Earth as an erotic Virgin Mary for the dying. She could want a different path but the Jesus she so desperately loved as a child has personally given her the command.

The first novel from the rather jack-of-all-trades celebrity Craig Ferguson is a doozy. A highschool dropout, a boozing, drug addled stand-up comedian in Glasgow, a sometime scriptwriter, a man who was turned down at his "Braveheart" audition for "not sounding authentically Scottish" and finally a man who broke through in America on the popular "Drew Carey Show" to become the profane yet endearing host of "The Late Late Show", certainly had inspiration to draw from. He could have misfired wildy, but here, I don't think he does.

The storylines in this novel are all delicately hung on improbable premises that when shaken could easily shatter. Do it yourself religion, miracles, visitations from Jesus, visitations from Jung, walks through the afterlife, fairy tales, unexplained connections with serial killers that have no weight on the rest of the story, all take place here. Destiny pulls these characters, the fight against it, also drives them. The prose and stories very much show the influence of Ferguson's heroes, Douglas Adams and Monty Python, colliding with an acid riddled session on an overpaid psychiatrist's couch. We are asked to accept these stories early on with the reminder that there is no scientific reason for a bumblebee's ability to fly, if we can accept that, we can accept this.

Another driving force of this novel's story is America. Not the shining, saccharine America that is sold in glossy Hollywood movies, nor the smarmy dripping with unredeemable evil America that the rest of the world shakes their head at. What he has successfully done, is take both of these Americas and combined them into a creature as coppery and weathered as Lady Liberty herself. Ferguson became an American citizen two years ago, spoke at the White House Correspondance dinner and is an unabashed patriot of his adopted country, warts and all. "I once passed by a grocery in Arkansas," he quipped on his show, "And I saw a sign that said beer, fireworks and guns sold here! And I thought to myself, 'Now THIS is my America! This is why I love this country!'"

The characters Saul and Leon are sucked early on into a searingly American clan of Christians who dance with poisonous snakes to prove their faith. This could have easily turned into a satire on "backwards America", a chance to point and laugh at things that even Americans laugh at. Ferguson, however, looks at this part of the country with an amazingly sympathetic eye. The American Hillbilly might be an uneducated, superstitious sort, but they still have a heart and decency that the cynical elite mock. White America, Ferguson writes, longs for the nostalgia of an America that never existed, and for the most part does not understand the irony in a lot of the history they've created, but there is a pull and a power to it that is both dazzling and terrifying.

There are micro-stories within this novel. Characters that pass through and within one or two paragraphs their private lives, habits and tragic ends are scrolled by and we never hear from them again. This is the writing of someone who will sit at a Starbucks and wonder if the girl passing by with the rip in her jeans is really part of something bigger in the fabric of this universe, or if her only connection to him is that they were both once atoms in the same bowl of porridge eaten by Alexander the Great.

I hope you have a fun time reading this novel. It's irreverent, perverted, hilarious, tragic, but through it all it has a heart and a willingness to believe that all of us, even the most damaged and worthless, are still capable of second chances.