Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers
If you've enjoyed the southern charm of Fannie Flagg or The Secret Life of Bees, you'll find The Help a delight. Miss Eugenia Phelan ("Skeeter" to her friends) is a young woman of privilege who enjoys her fellow Junior Leaguers but sometimes finds their ways at odds with her own principles. She plays the part of her station in 1960s Mississippi but can't help feeling dissatisfied with keeping house and acting as recording secretary at league meetings, and yearns for something more.
Minny, Miss Celia, Aibileen, and Yule May are maids employed by Skeeter's friends. Each woman cooks, cleans, and cares for her boss's children, suffering slights and insults silently and sharing household
secrets only among themselves. In the wake of the Junior League push to create separate bathrooms for the domestic help within private homes, Skeeter contacts a New York book editor with an idea. Soon she's conducting clandestine meetings
with "the help" to capture their stories for publication. It is a daring and foolhardy plan, one certain to endanger not only the positions but the lives of the very women whose stories she transcribes -- as well as her own.
Stockett is a wonderful novelist, and The Help is a charming, thoughtful novel about women finding their voices, and the truths we see when we have the courage to look unflinchingly into the mirror.
(Spring 2009 Selection)
Thousands and thousands of books are published every year. They are authored by literary giants, former presidents, YouTube celebrities, bestselling powerhouses. In the tumult, it can be hard for a first-time writer to break through and find the audience he or she deserves. That’s why the Discover Great New Writers program is so important. Its […]
This year Barnes & Noble is honoring four booksellers with the 2015 Above & Beyond Award, Barnes & Noble’s way to recognize booksellers for excellence in delivering extraordinary customer service, team spirit, going the extra mile, increasing business knowledge and personal growth. This week we’ll be getting to know the winners, and today we’re talking to Donna Williams. […]
It’s time to talk about our collective Castle problem. The TV show Castle has been on the air for years now, and the titular character, played with great finesse by Nathan Fillion, is the problem. He’s an immensely popular writer, and the show steps hard on every possible misconception and cliché about being a writer […]
Typically, holidays are all about assembling a bunch of relatives for one grand meal—whether you like it or not. But no, not this time. This year, rather than turning to the family email list for our invites, we’ve cracked open some of our favorite reads to plan our dinner party. The Paperless Post went out […]
This year Barnes & Noble is honoring four booksellers with the 2015 Above & Beyond Award, Barnes & Noble’s way to recognize booksellers for excellence in delivering extraordinary customer service, team spirit, going the extra mile, increasing business knowledge and personal growth. Let’s get to know the winners! Mike Fleming Store: Yonkers, NY Exemplifies: Going the Extra Mile Café […]