Synopsis
Paris July 1942 - Sarah, a ten-year-old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door to door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard - their secret hiding place- and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released.

Sixty Years Later- Sarah's story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, a journalist investigating the round-up. Sarah's Key is an emotionally gripping story of two families, forever linked to and haunted by one of the darkest days in France's past.

Review by Michelle Lucas
I am ashamed to say that before reading this book I had never heard of the atrocities that took place at the Velodrome d'Hiver in Paris 16th July 1942.

The book is based around the events of this terrible night when the French Gendarme rounded up men women and children and marched them though the streets to gather at the Velodrome, where lack of food, water and proper sanitation gave rise to many deaths before the Jews were herded onto trains to take them Auschwitz where none of the French Jews survived.

This was a most compelling story, with amazing characterisation and a true sense of injustice. I loved the way that each chapter jumped from the past; the actual events surrounding the round up and capture of the Jews to the present day; where Julia an American journalist who has married a Frenchman and lives in Paris uncovers her husband's family devastating secrets.

It was a most harrowing read, but a book that should be widely distributed as it was an incredible story as well as being extremely educational.

I was very sorry to finish it, but thought the ending was very apt.

Review by Adele Barbanel
A wonderful written, moving story, that I could not put down, and thought about constantly when I was doing other things. I knew very little about how the French collaborated with the Nazis at this time.

Review by Susan Lazarus
I thought it was wonderful, beautifully written in a way which makes you emotionally involved with every character. I could not sleep the night they were taken from the flat worrying about the little boy.

Synopsis
Seven years before the Great War, a little boy stays overnight with his family on an uncle's Shropshire farm. He awakes that next morning to an empty house - his mother, father and siblings have packed up and gone. He has been left behind, in what turns out to be a heartbreaking betrayal. This child was Geoffrey - Richard Madeley's grandfather.

The shock waves would ripple down through generations of Madeley boys, each one destined to become a father to a son. Christopher, Geoffrey's son, was starved of paternal affection; his father, deprived of parenting role models, had emotionally withdrawn. Christopher swore to himself that if he had a son, things would be different. But were they? And when Richard was born, did the scars of the past make their mark on the present? What kind of a father did Richard himself become?

Review by Adele Barbanel
Initially, I thought from the title, that this was not a 'womens book', however Madeley is a brilliant writer, who has the power to graphically describe emotions of rejection, love, forgiveness, sadness and happiness. A great read.

Review by Michelle Lucas
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book, but was pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed it.

Spanning 4 generations of Madeley men, the book tells of his ancestors struggles; in life and with relationships. He manages to impart very personal and poignant episodes with dignity. He is a master of description and has the ability to make you laugh and cry at his anecdotes.

He has a very tactful and insightful way when relating certain situations and circumstances. He comes across as a very fair and forgiving man, which is very endearing.

Synopsis
Elizabeth is in her thirties, settled in a large house with a husband who wants to start a family.  But she doesn't want any of it.  A bitter divorce and a rebound fling later, Elizabeth emerges battered yet determined to find what she's been missing. So begins her quest.  In Rome, she indulges herself and gains nearly two stone.  In India, she finds enlightenment through scrubbing temple floors.  Finally, in Bali, a toothless medicine man reveals a new path to peace, leaving her ready to love again.

Review by Gayle Klein
I really didn't enjoy this book.  Rather than enjoying Elizabeth's journey of self discovery I found it irritating and self indulgent.  This is not an inspirational story - how many people can afford to drop all their responsibilities in search of themselves? Absolutely not aimed at the British reader, probably better suited to the American market.

Review by Michelle Lucas
I started this book with trepidation, as it is far removed from the genre of book I usually like, but I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.  I found it very amusing in parts and when I finished it, I had a serene smile on my face.  Her search for enlightenment certainly took her to very diverse places which she describes beautifully.   If her story is true and it is supposed to be based on fact, she is certainly a very lucky woman, having many contacts to call upon in the variety of places she visits, along with a hefty income to support herself.  The book is really a diary of her adventures; albeit quite far fetched in places.  My tongue in cheek by line would read, “That If running away is the answer to finding yourself, perhaps everyone should take a sabbatical”!

Synopsis
Adam Chase spent years in New York, trying to forget.  Until a phone call from his best friend summoned him home. Within hours of returning, Adam is beaten up, accosted and has to face the hostility of old friends, enemies and the woman he cannot forget.

Review by Michelle Lucas
This book was awful.  It was full of characters that I couldn’t have cared less about.  There was no depth to them and every member of the family was a stereotype.  How this ever made the Richard and Judy book club list is beyond me!

Synopsis
Wales, 1944.  Captain Rotherham, a Jewish refugee working for British Intelligence, arrives to interrogate the infamous captive, Rudolf Hess.  In a prison camp near a remote Snowdonian village, a young German soldier wrestles with the shame of his surrender.  And among the curious locals is seventeen-year-old Esther Evans, who longs to experience the wider world.  When their paths connect, all three will come to question their deepest loyalties, as the war irrevocably alters the course of their lives.

Review by Michelle Lucas
I am sorry to say that I did not finish this book.  I found it difficult to concentrate on the page before me, and found myself backtracking frequently to keep abreast of any plot.  The author’s characters whittled on and on about The English versus The Welsh and when I had reached the halfway mark and was still waiting for something interesting to happen, I am afraid I gave up. 

Synopsis
Claudia Rubin is in her heyday.  Wife, mother, rabbi and sometime moral voice of the nation, everyone wants to be with her at her older son's glorious February wedding.  Until Leo becomes a bolter and the heyday of the Rubin family begins to unravel....

Review by Gayle Klein
The book was quite disappointing.  I was expecting a Jewish 'My big fat Greek wedding' but many of the obvious funny scenes played out in the book were lacking humour.

Synopsis
Supporters will hail this New Age self-help book on the law of attraction as a groundbreaking and life-changing work, finding validation in its thesis that one's positive thoughts are powerful magnets that attract wealth, health and happiness. Detractors will be appalled by this as well as when the book argues that fleeting negative thoughts are powerful enough to create terminal illness, poverty and even widespread disasters.

Review By Michelle Lucas

This small illustrated book which has created a cult following in America, has been hailed on the Oprah Winfrey show and turned into a film!

It is not the first nor will it be the last of the many self help books which spout the benefits of positive thinking.  Its general concept relating to the laws of attraction, is that we are all sources of energy and if we emit positive energy out into the universe we will receive positive energy back.

It is the sort of book that you can dip in and out of and being that it is fairly repetitive you can skip chunks of it and still get the message.

I believe that there is something worthy in having a positive outlook on every aspect of one’s life, but I am too cynical to believe that everything in the book would come true just because I repeatedly wished for it!

In places it made me laugh out loud at the preposterous notions that it churns out, but there again if all the testimonies at the back of the book are to be believed, it has certainly worked for some and cannot therefore be all bad.

Give it a try and let me know if miracles really do happen.

Synopsis
1939.  Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath.  Death has never been busier.  Liesel, and nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street.  Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp.  Liesel steals books.  This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street with the bombs begin to fall.

Awaiting Review

Synopsis
A Most Wanted Man' takes place in Hamburg, where an emaciated, illegal Chechen Muslim immigrant, Issa Karpov, persuades a Turkish mother and son to take him in after following the son around for a few days.

Issa bears all the signs of having recently been tortured and he's a wanted man both in Sweden (from where he was smuggled in) and his homeland. Helped by human rights lawyer Annabel Richter, and Tommy Brue, a Scottish private banker who operates in the city, he apparently wishes only to qualify as a doctor to help those back home. He appears to be the son of a deceased Russian gangster, who opened an illegal account (a `Lipizzaner' - like the horse) with Tommy Brue's father back in Vienna before the bank relocated. And now Issa wishes to use that 'bad' money (some $12.5m) for the greater good. The German, British and American secret services are aware of him and in turn, wish to use HIM as bait to capture a bigger prize...

Review by Michelle Lucas
This book was too difficult to focus on for more than a couple of minutes at a time and became a chore to pick up. I was expecting a magnificent read from this author; however, all I got was a muddled plot and uninteresting characters.

Having got half way through I didn't have a clue as to what it was about, nor by that time did I care! It now sits half unread gathering dust!!!!

Synopsis

Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry by Leanne Shapton

Auction catalogs can tell you a lot about a person--their passions and vanities, peccadilloes and aesthetics; their flush years and lean. Think of the collections of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Truman Capote, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

In Leanne Shapton's marvelously inventive and invented auction catalog, the 325 lots up for auction are what remain from the relationship between Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris (who aren't real people, but might as well be). Through photographs of the couple's personal effects--the usual auction items (jewelry, fine art, and rare furniture) and the seemingly worthless (pajamas, Post-it notes, worn paperbacks)--the story of a failed love affair vividly (and cleverly) emerges. From first meeting to final separation, the progress and rituals of intimacy are revealed through the couple's accumulated relics and memorabilia. And a love story, in all its tenderness and struggle, emerges from the evidence that has been left behind, laid out for us to appraise and appreciate.

Review by Michelle Lucas
At first glance this book looks just like a catalogue of jumble for sale, but on closer inspection it reveals the intricacies of a relationship.

The book depicts a couple who are most certainly affluent, but who nonetheless have had their fair share of problems; his drinking, her miscarriage.

It was most unusual to be able to pour over the contents of a strangers home and sift through their belongings but at the same time it was tender and touching to review their lives together in this way.

I liked the creative jobs they both had and loved the names of the recipes that Lenore concocted for her column that reinforced her predicaments at time of going to press. I thought this was very clever. I was also struck by how sensitive Harold was in the way that he had held on to certain items.

Not being a conventional reading book, I finished it in one sitting, but you could quite easily dip in and out of it.

It allows the reader to fill in the blanks and determine exactly what caused the demise of their relationship and why.

It was a melancholy and nostalgic view of someone else's life that I found very moving.

Synopsis
Mackenzie Allen Philips' youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his great sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend.Against his better judgement he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack's world forever.In a world where religion seems to grow increasingly irrelevant THE SHACK wrestles with the timeless question, 'Where is God in a world so filled with unspeakable pain?' The answers Mack gets will astound you and perhaps transform you as much as it did him. You'll want everyone you know to read this book!

Review by Gayle Klein
An unusual book but a fascinating concept. As a total religious cynic I found it hard to buy into the writers ideas but finished the book hoping he was right!

Review by Michelle Lucas
The first part of the book reads like a normal thriller, a tale of abduction, and detectives on the trail, together with the emotions of Missy's family members. This was page turning stuff; not in the James Patterson sense, but once I knew the background story, I wanted to gain access to the second part of the book which relates to Missy's Father's conversations with G-d. He like many of us wanted to understand why G-d allows such abhorrent events to happen. He struggles to find answers and during his time spent with G-d, who turns out not to be at all what he was expecting, he explores his learned religious beliefs and listens to the truth of what G-d is from G-d himself.

Having reached these pages, we the readers are taken on a magical and mystical journey where the author asks us to re evaluate what we have been taught about G-d and we have our religious education turned on its head. What we expect of G-d. plays a huge role in the book, as does forgiveness.

I found it very difficult to accept the author's philosophy. He is truly a man a great faith. But I was left with the same thought that I started with; that G-d must be crying at the results of his creation.

Synopsis
15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows?
Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY. From the author of the massive bestseller STARTER FOR TEN.

Review by Michelle Lucas
This was a very quick read for me, I finished it in two days, I couldn't put it down! Funny, whimsical, sad and blue, each page fills you with another emotion. By the time I had finished the book the true life characters were like my best friends and I missed them; especially Emma, she was so real and in so much pain during her formative years, I think everyone knew an Emma when they were younger! Unrequited love is so cruel and yet most of us can relate to it. Her fantastic sense of humour propelled the book along at a fast pace, I couldn't wait to read what she would say next!

David Nicholls has terrific insight when dealing with grief and loss, he writes just the way people think and act even though most people find it difficult to discuss.

This is a wonderful book to take on holiday or just sit down and relax with as it leaves you with an enormous smile on your face!

Synopsis
Enter a vanished and unjust world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted not to steal the silver... There's Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own son's tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; and white Miss Skeeter, home from College, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared. Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. No one would believe they'd be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend and rely upon one another. Each is in a search of a truth. And together they have an extraordinary story to tell...

Review by Michelle Lucas
I absolutely loved this book! It was an epic soulful journey into the lives of black maids waiting hand and foot on their white employees, what an eye-opener! I loved the fact that it is written by the daughter of a white employee, who has managed to tell the story from the black perspective, no rose tinted glasses here! I highly recommend it!

Synopsis
Balram Halwai, the 'white tiger', is a diminutive, overweight ex-teashop worker who now earns his living as a chauffeur. But this is only one side of his personality; he deals in confidence scams, over-ambitious business promotions and enjoys approaching life with a philosophical turn of mind. But is Balram also a murderer? We learn the answer as we devour these 500 odd pages. Born into an impoverished family, Balram is removed from school by his parents in order to earn money in a thankless job: shop employee. He is forced into banal, mind-numbing work. But Balram dreams of escaping -- and a chance arises when a well-heeled village landlord takes him on as a chauffeur for his son (although the duties involve transporting the latter's wife and two Pomeranian dogs). From the rich new perspective offered to him in this more interesting job, Balram discovers New Delhi, and a vision of the city changes his life forever. His learning curve is very steep, and he quickly comes to believe that the way to the top is by the most expedient means. And if that involves committing the odd crime of violence, he persuades himself that this is what successful people must do.

Review by Michelle Lucas
Humorous in places and dark in others, it is a well written story in the old fashioned sense.

The first few pages were baffling and I had to re read them several times to understand what the author was trying to achieve, but once into it, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It is not the sort of book that I would normally read, but it is a very clever book that describes the two very distinctive sides of India beautifully and the struggle of the main populous.

Synopsis
When Judd's dad dies his dying request is that his family sit Shiva (the Jewish week-long period of mourning). Judd has just found out his wife has been having an affair and the last place he wants to be is in the bosom of his dysfunctional family but as the week progresses perhaps that is the best place he could have gone. Jonathan Tropper writes with great humour and pathos creating vivid and colourful characters that make this a real page turner that will have you laughing out loud frequently.

Review by Michelle Lucas

I was looking forward to reading this book but unfortunately it didn’t live up to my expectations. 

Although I enjoyed it; it was an easy read, and quite amusing in places, I didn’t form any emotional attachments to any of the characters.  For a family who have become estranged over the years, brought together by bereavement, so much more depth could have been given to the subject, especially as this family had enough issues between them to keep a psychotherapist going for years!!

In conclusion, I was disappointed!

Synopsis
At only eighteen years of age, Poppy and Serena were the only witnesses to a tragic event. Amid heated public debate and scrutiny, the two glamorous teens were dubbed 'The Ice Cream Girls' by the press and forced to go their separate ways and to lead very different lives. Twenty years later, Poppy is keen to set the record straight about what really happened, while married mother-of-two Serena wants no one in her present to find out about her past. But some secrets will not stay buried - and if theirs is revealed, their lives will start to unravel all over again.

...Gripping, thought-provoking and heart-warming, The Ice Cream Girls will make you wonder if you can ever truly know the people you love.

Review by Michelle Lucas

I absolutely loved this book, I found it riveting. The way in which the author switches the narrative between the two main characters chapter by chapter unravels a very well told story.

Two young girls, one man; a teacher, featuring betrayal of trust, innocence, obsessive love, emotional and physical violence and secrets.

I found it hard to put down and have no hesitation in recommending it. A very powerful book.

Awaiting Synopsis
Elizabeth is in her thirties, settled in a large house with a husband who wants to start a family.  But she doesn't want any of it.  A bitter divorce and a rebound fling later, Elizabeth emerges battered yet determined to find what she's been missing. So begins her quest.  In Rome, she indulges herself and gains nearly two stone.  In India, she finds enlightenment through scrubbing temple floors.  Finally, in Bali, a toothless medicine man reveals a new path to peace, leaving her ready to love again.

Review by Gayle Klein
I really didn't enjoy this book.  Rather than enjoying Elizabeth's journey of self discovery I found it irritating and self indulgent.  This is not an inspirational story - how many people can afford to drop all their responsibilities in search of themselves? Absolutely not aimed at the British reader, probably better suited to the American market.

Review by Michelle Lucas
I started this book with trepidation, as it is far removed from the genre of book I usually like, but I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.  I found it very amusing in parts and when I finished it, I had a serene smile on my face.  Her search for enlightenment certainly took her to very diverse places which she describes beautifully.   If her story is true and it is supposed to be based on fact, she is certainly a very lucky woman, having many contacts to call upon in the variety of places she visits, along with a hefty income to support herself.  The book is really a diary of her adventures; albeit quite far fetched in places.  My tongue in cheek by line would read, “That If running away is the answer to finding yourself, perhaps everyone should take a sabbatical”!

Synopsis
Claudia Rubin is in her heyday.  Wife, mother, rabbi and sometime moral voice of the nation, everyone wants to be with her at her older son's glorious February wedding.  Until Leo becomes a bolter and the heyday of the Rubin family begins to unravel....

Review by Gayle Klein
The book was quite disappointing.  I was expecting a Jewish 'My big fat Greek wedding' but many of the obvious funny scenes played out in the book were lacking humour.

Synopsis
Wales, 1944.  Captain Rotherham, a Jewish refugee working for British Intelligence, arrives to interrogate the infamous captive, Rudolf Hess.  In a prison camp near a remote Snowdonian village, a young German soldier wrestles with the shame of his surrender.  And among the curious locals is seventeen-year-old Esther Evans, who longs to experience the wider world.  When their paths connect, all three will come to question their deepest loyalties, as the war irrevocably alters the course of their lives.

Review by Michelle Lucas
I am sorry to say that I did not finish this book.  I found it difficult to concentrate on the page before me, and found myself backtracking frequently to keep abreast of any plot.  The author’s characters whittled on and on about The English versus The Welsh and when I had reached the halfway mark and was still waiting for something interesting to happen, I am afraid I gave up. 

Synopsis
1939.  Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath.  Death has never been busier.  Liesel, and nine-year-old girl, is living with a foster family on Himmel Street.  Her parents have been taken away to a concentration camp.  Liesel steals books.  This is her story and the story of the inhabitants of her street with the bombs begin to fall.

Awaiting Review

Synopsis
1939 June has survived what no mother should face.  Twelve years ago, her husband and young daughter were murdered.  For the sake of her unborn child, she managed to carry on living.  But now she faces losing a second daughter.  Claire has a heart defect, and unless they find a donor soon, she will die.  When a match is offered, it seems like a miracle.  Until June learns that the new heart will come from the man who killed Claire's sister.

Awaiting Review

Awaiting Synopsis

Awaiting Review

Synopsis
The title A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother, doesn't begin to do justice to the utterly unique and moving story contained within. The Color of Water tells the remarkable story of Ruth McBride Jordan, the two good men she married, and the 12 good children she raised. Jordan, born Rachel Shilsky, a Polish Jew, immigrated to America soon after birth; as an adult she moved to New York City, leaving her family and faith behind in Virginia. Jordan met and married a black man, making her isolation even more profound. The book is a success story, a testament to one woman's true heart, solid values and indomitable will. Ruth Jordan battled not only racism but also poverty to raise her children and, despite being sorely tested, never wavered. In telling her story--along with her son's--The Color of Water addresses racial identity with compassion, insight and realism. It is, in a word, inspiring, and you will finish it with unalloyed admiration for a flawed but remarkable individual. And, perhaps, a little more faith in us all.

Review by Gayle Klein
Moving, inspiring and uplifting. I defy anyone not to be utterly gripped by this true story of one women's struggle to bring up her family in the face of poverty and racism. I laughed and I cried.

Synopsis
Forty years ago, Harriet Vanger disappeared from a family gathering on the island owned and inhabited by the powerful Vanger clan. Her body was never found, yet her uncle is convinced it was murder - and that the killer is a member of his own tightly knit but dysfunctional family. He employs disgraced financial journalist Mikael Blomkvist and the tattooed, truculent computer hacker Lisbeth Salander to investigate. When the pair link Harriet's disappearance to a number of grotesque murders from forty years ago, they begin to unravel a dark and appalling family history. But the Vangers are a secretive clan, and Blomkvist and Salander are about to find out just how far they are prepared to go to protect themselves.

Review by Gayle Klein
It took the first 100 pages to get into this first of three book written by Stieg Larsson. Once you were hooked though you were gripped by the exciting plot and unexpected turn of events. The unlikely heroine left you shouting for more. Can't wait to read the next in the series.

Synopsis
When Judd's dad dies his dying request is that his family sit Shiva (the Jewish week-long period of mourning). Judd has just found out his wife has been having an affair and the last place he wants to be is in the bosom of his dysfunctional family but as the week progresses perhaps that is the best place he could have gone. Jonathan Tropper writes with great humour and pathos creating vivid and colourful characters that make this a real page turner that will have you laughing out loud frequently.

Review by Gayle Klein
A really humorous and entertaining book. Thoroughly enjoyed the way in which it was written, sometimes the language was very funny and descriptive, really bringing the characters to life. Anybody that is Jewish, Catholic or Greek could relate to the family dynamics - in a similar way to 'My big fat Greek wedding'. Easy reading at it's best.

Synopsis
Lisbeth Salander is a wanted woman. Two Millennium journalists about to expose the truth about sex trafficking in Sweden are murdered, and Salander's prints are on the weapon. Her history of unpredictable and vengeful behaviour makes her an official danger to society - but no-one can find her. Mikael Blomkvist, editor-in-chief of Millennium, does not believe the police. Using all his magazine staff and resources to prove Salander's innocence, Blomkvist also uncovers her terrible past, spent in criminally corrupt institutions. Yet Salander is more avenging angel than helpless victim. She may be an expert at staying out of sight - but she has ways of tracking down her most elusive enemies.

Review by Gayle Klein
The second book in the Stieg Larsson trilogy was exciting and captivating from page 1. I was already eager to learn more from the first book about the unlikely heroine Lisbeth Salander. The book didn't disappoint, I found it much easier to get into and enjoyed seeing the relationship between Salander and Blomkvist develop. Is there nothing that this girl can't do? Salander turns our 'James Bond' ideas about heroes on their head and comes up triumphant.

Synopsis
Salander is plotting her revenge - against the man who tried to kill her, and against the government institutions that very nearly destroyed her life. But it is not going to be a straightforward campaign. After taking a bullet to the head, Salander is under close supervision in Intensive Care, and is set to face trial for three murders and one attempted murder on her eventual release. With the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist and his researchers at Millennium magazine, Salander must not only prove her innocence, but identify and denounce the corrupt politicians that have allowed the vulnerable to become victims of abuse and violence. Once a victim herself, Salander is now ready to fight back.

Review by Gayle Klein
After about 100 pages or so the book takes off. Your subjected to new characters incredibly fast in an attempt to explain the conspiracy against Lisbeth. The pace never gives up, with a complicated plot that at times is a little predictable. Nevertheless its a great ending to the trilogy, and it will no doubt leave you wishing for that little bit more.

Synopsis
Enter a vanished and unjust world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted not to steal the silver... There's Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own son's tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; and white Miss Skeeter, home from College, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared. Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. No one would believe they'd be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend and rely upon one another. Each is in a search of a truth. And together they have an extraordinary story to tell...

Review by Anonymous
The story is told through three wonderfully real female characters; Minny, Aibileen and Miss Skeeter. The location is Jackson, Mississippi and it's the early 1960s - a turbulent time as the civil rights movement thunders along to the chagrin of many bigoted fools. One visionary in the small town defies her heritage and vows to make a difference and with the aid of the local maids, begins a project which will create havoc for those with lofty positions and appalling attitudes. Within the pages of the book, we are privy to scenes of amazing warmth, great humour and delightful characters with whom you'd love to spend time. Kathryn Stockett has also created one of the most venomous villains since Cruella de Vil and at times I found myself cursing this woman as if I knew her personally. Vital, engrossing and utterly compelling, 'The Help' is a book I'd urge anyone to read.

Synopsis
On her fiftieth birthday, Dorrit Weger is checked into the Second Reserve Bank Unit for biological material: a state-or-the-art facility where she will make new friends, enjoy generous recreational amenities, and live out her remaining days in comfort with people who are just like her. Here, women over the age of fifty and men over sixty - single, childless and without jobs in progressive industries - are saved from a life devoid of value and converted into productive members of society. The price: their body harvested piece by piece for the 'necessary' ones, until their Final Donation completes their purpose, and their life.

Review by Gayle Klein
An original concept to an overpopulated world with limited resources. A cold and ruthless idea conveyed with emotion and warmth for the characters in the book who accept their fate but still live their life to the full, unafraid to build relationships and friendships. Fans of Margaret Attwood's A Handmaids Tale will enjoy this tale as will sci fi enthusiasts. It was an easy read, leaving you sympathetic to the characters and afraid that the book might provide Governments of the world with some new and interesting ideas about who is worthy and who is dispensible!