Set in the deep South of the 1960s, The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, tells the interlocking stories of black maids and the white women they work for. The most prominent voice is Aibileen, a veteran maid and nanny whose wisdom is hard-won by years of weary work and personal tragedy. When one of the neighbourhood's young white socialites, aspiring journalist Skeeter, wants to write the stories of maids, Aibileen is reluctant to help at first, but begins to share her story and bring other maids into the project, even as the women of both races struggle with marriages, families, and the effects of prejudice.