The Help. By Kathryn Stockett. First Edition, First Printing. Amy Einhorn Books. New York, 2009.

Kathryn Stockett is an American novelist whose debut novel, The Help, was a major bestseller. The novel took Stockett many years to complete and publish, but once it was released, it proved a potent distillation of white sympathies for certain race-based archetypes. Set in the South during the 1960s, The Help describes the relationships between a rich white family and their Black housekeeper. It touches on themes of race, class privilege, and coming-of-age awareness of one’s own status in the world. General readership adored the work, but critics have pointed out its tropes: the white savior and the mammy. Yet despite its reliance on these tired archetypes, most American readers found favor in Stockett’s novel. In 2011, the novel was also adapted to film which received numerous Academy Award nominations. It remains a popular work, and to date, Stockett’s only novel.

This first edition, first printing is in fine condition. In the original quarter cloth, fine. Text block fine. In the original dust jacket, fine.

A fine first edition of The Help.