Kathryn Stockett

Kathryn Stockett is an American novelist. She is known for her 2009 debut novel, The Help, which is about African-American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi, during the 1960s.

Kathryn Stockett
Kathryn Stockett speaks at the University of Alabama in 2014
Born	1969 (age 55–56) Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Occupation	Author
Alma mater	University of Alabama
Genre	Adult fiction
Notable works	The Help
Spouse	Keith Rogers (div. 2011)
Children	1

Career

Stockett worked in magazine publishing while living in New York City before publishing her first novel,^[1] which she began writing after the September 11 attacks.^[2] The Help took her five years to complete, and the book was rejected by 60 literary agents before agent Susan Ramer agreed to represent Stockett.^[1][3] The Help has since been published in 3 languages.^[4] As of August 2012, it has sold ten million copies and spent more than 100 weeks on The New York Times Best Seller list.^[5][6] The Help climbed best seller charts a few months after it was released.^[7][8]

Personal life

Stockett grew up in Jackson, Mississippi.^[9] After graduating from the University of Alabama with a degree in English and Creative Writing, she moved to New York City. She lived there for 16 years and worked in magazine publishing and marketing. She is divorced and has a daughter.^[8][10]

Reflective of her first novel, Stockett was very close to an African American domestic worker.^[11]

A lawsuit was filed in a Mississippi court by Ablene Cooper, a housekeeper who used to work for Stockett's brother. It claimed that Stockett used her likeness in the book.^[12] A Hinds County, Mississippi judge threw the case out of court, citing the statute of limitations.^[13] Stockett denies her claim of stealing her likeness and says she only met her briefly.^[13]