Book Review For The Help Novels & Stories

It felt strange, how something so small could pull at me like that. We kept walking. Somewhere near the corner shelf, I stopped again — a thin book caught my eye. The First Year: A Guide for New Parents. I reached for it, running my thumb along the spine. Pages soft, edges new. I flipped through — pictures of fathers holding babies, smiling mothers, small notes on feeding and sleep routines. For the first time that day, something in my chest loosened. “You know,” the storekeeper said, glancing at the book, “most fathers come back for that one. They say it helps.”

I'd die of embarrassment before either of them could kill me themselves. "I can't." I told him honestly, looking as downcast as I felt. He sighed, reaching into his desk drawer. He rummaged through it, trying to find something in particular. He pulled out a little book that said How To Ask For Help 101. He held it out for me to take. "This is for you." "Seriously?" I made a face at the title. "Give it a chance, there might be something inside that could help you." He pushed the book into my hand, making me frown.

I don’t have a phone I can use to reach either of them; I haven’t had a phone for days now. I flip the page of the self-help book which I’d grabbed from duty-free earlier, internally hating myself for not picking one of the other enticing fiction books I’d seen, but I thought about sleep, and the fact that I’d have to induce myself on this flight back to actually make it through, and went with it. It’s a book about the power of conversations, which I find ironic because of the situation I’m currently in, and because nothing in the past three pages I’ve read seemed helpful.

"What kind of attitude is that? Anyone's welcome at my launch." She strolled over, voice sugar-coated. "Emma used to be my benefactor. Without her help, I'd have never met Alex." She paused, eyes gleaming. "But Emma, feel free to watch—just don't start screaming plagiarism again like last time." The word hit like a spark. Whispers flared. "Wait, she's the one who accused Dr. Hartway?" "Didn't she get sued?" "No wonder she failed 99 times—probably stealing from others."