The Help

I have heard many good things about this book, and was very anxious to begin reading it. Since I like to read for detail and not for speed, I am a quite slow reader. I usually have to check out a book from the library twice just so that I can finish it! This time, I went ahead and made the purchase, figuring I could pass it on to someone else to enjoy when I am finished!
The first 2 chapters is all I have completed thus far. It begins being told by "the help" named Aibileen. She is an older black lady who works for a small southern family. The family consists of one child (toddler years), and parents of whom are in their early twenties. Aibileen's responsibilities are endless. She is a second mother to the child, and still has all of the household duties. The mother stays home all day, but does not do anything except make plans to be with her friends. The main topic being addressed in these chapters is introduced in chapter one; the bathroom. Brunch was being held at the house one day, and Aibileen overheard the ladies discussing where the help uses the bathroom. When it was discovered that she used the guest bathroom, the other ladies were disgusted- knowing that they shared a bathroom with a black lady was completely unacceptable. They convinced the lady, who was supposed to convince her husband to have an extra bathroom built away from the house in the garage- that it would raise the value of their home. The next day the work began on the new bathroom. Since Aibileen was raised to know how to react to being insulted, she didn't bat an eye when she was told to use the outside bathroom from now on.
Aibileen lives outside of town and rides the bus to get home every night. She has a particular friend, Minnie, who is fairly outspoken, and does not take anything from her boss (granted her boss is deaf- so its ok). Her bosses children put her into a home, and that left Minnie out of a job. The children bragged that they had fired her for stealing silver from the house, when she had done no such thing, so finding a new job was near impossible. Aibileen was able to talk with one of her bosses white friends, and told her all about Minnies wonderful skills around the house, especially cooking. Since the lady did not know much about anything, she immediately wanted to hire Minnie.
The next chapter I believe is going to be told by Minnie, so I cant wait to see what happens next!