Help!
The story is set in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1963. Aibileen Clark is an African-American maid who works for Elizabeth Leefolt, a white woman suffering from postpartum depression. Aibileen's best friend is Minny Jackson, a plain-spoken African-American maid known for her culinary skills who works for Hilly Holbrook's senile mother, Mrs. Walters. Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, a young white woman, returns home after graduating from the University of Mississippi to discover that her mother, Charlotte, has fired Constantine, Skeeter's childhood nanny.
Much to her mother's chagrin, Skeeter aspires to be a writer. After spending time with Aibileen, Skeeter becomes increasingly disgusted with the shameful way her white socialite friends treat their "help", especially when Hilly forwards a letter to the Home Help Sanitation Initiative to install separate bathrooms for the help, and decides to write about the housekeepers' experiences. The maids are initially reluctant to comply, afraid of retribution from their employers, but Aibileen eventually agrees, becoming emotionally attached to the project as it allows her to find closure after the death of her son four years earlier. Minny also complies after Hilly fires her for refusing to go outside in inclement weather to use the help's toilet and subsequently makes false claims that Minny was fired for stealing, making it nearly impossible for her to find another job.
Minny eventually finds work with Celia Foote, wife of wealthy socialite Johnny Foote, Hilly's former beau. Celia is starved for friendship due to Hilly's efforts to ensure she remains a social pariah. Celia befriends Minny during cooking lessons and informs Minny that she is pregnant. Their relationship deepens after Celia miscarries.
Skeeter submits a draft of her book to Harper & Row. Her editor, Elaine Stein, advises her that more maids' stories need to be included. Following the assassination of Medgar Evers and the arrest of Yule May, the maid hired by Hilly to replace Minny, more maids decide to offer Skeeter their insights.
As the writing continues, Skeeter, Aibileen, and Minny worry that some maids and their families will be recognized in the book. Minny, as a form of insurance, reveals the "terrible awful thing” she did to Hilly. In a fit of pique over being fired and having her reputation damaged by Hilly's lies, Minny baked her own excrement into a chocolate pie for Hilly, who ate two slices before being informed by Minny of the pie's ingredients. Minny predicts the story will keep the maids safe from retribution, as Hilly will wield her influence to convince her social circle that the story did not take place. With the book almost finished, Skeeter confronts her mother about Constantine's firing. Charlotte reveals that during a lunch with the local chapter of the Daughters of America, Constantine's daughter Rachel arrived and embarrassed Charlotte by disobeying her order to enter through the kitchen. To save face, Charlotte fired Constantine and ordered her and Rachel to leave immediately. Rachel subsequently took Constantine to live with her in Chicago. Charlotte had every intention to bring Constantine back to Jackson, but Constantine died before she could do so.
The book, published anonymously, is a success. Hilly does everything in her power to protect her reputation after reading about Minny's “terrible awful thing”. She becomes unhinged when a check from Celia for one of Hilly's charitable works is made out to "Two Slice Hilly." She then drives intoxicated to the Phelan plantation to confront Skeeter and inform Charlotte about her daughter's "hippie ways". Charlotte implies she knows that Hilly is the subject of the pie anecdote and orders her off the property. Charlotte and Skeeter reconcile, and Charlotte offers to help her prepare to move to Manhattan, where Skeeter has been offered a job with Harper & Row.
Due to the friendship between Minny and Celia, Johnny tells Minny she has a job with them for as long as she wants. This kindness gives Minny the courage to leave her abusive husband and take her children to live with the Footes.
Because Hilly cannot expose herself as the recipient of Minny's excrement-filled pie, she attempts to frame Aibileen for theft and, after pressuring weak-willed Elizabeth into silence, fires her. Aibileen condemns Hilly as a godless, vindictive woman. Defeated and humiliated, Hilly breaks down in tears and leaves. After saying farewell to Mae Mobley, Elizabeth Leefolt's physically and verbally abused daughter, Aibileen leaves Jackson with the hope of becoming a writer.
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