The first is The Remedy of Love by Bill Roorbach. The dialogue is fantastic. 2 people locked into a snowstorm together. One being pushed around in a "non-relationship" but remaining meek, and a homeless, possibly psychotic, angry young woman. Listening to these two communicate was astoundingly good. Next is The Iguana Tree by Michel Stone. Wow. Adored. She takes immigrants illegally crossing into the United States from Mexico and gives them names, faces and souls. Some are wonderful people I would be proud to know and help, and one I would like to shake the stupid out of...
Then there is The Well and the Mine from Gin Phillips. The dialogue is fantastic, and the reality of Mine Town life and poverty slaps you in the face. You become absorbed into the story.
Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall continues to fall under "The Help" umbrella only as it involves a black woman and a white girl. This book is extremely intense in spots and goes far beyond the nanny raising the child type of story. I found it to be gripping.
Finally, we have the book cover you cannot see as I was received it in manuscript form. For some reason, this pleases me immensely. The Whipping Club by Deborah Henry. Set in Ireland in the 1960s, it shows the harsh reality of having the government decide what to do with the children. I didn't like many of the adult characters, and I cried over the cruel life the children were forced to endure. There is a good bit of fact in the novel and I found it eye-opening.