The Persia Cafe by Melany Neilson is a book that is set in the exact same time-early sixties, same place-small town Mississippi-dealing with the same issues of rascism-as The Help. But this is, in my opinion, a  better book.

The protagonist is Fannie Leary, cook and owner of  The Persia Cafe in Persia, Mississippi. The tale that unfolds of murder, rascism and trying to understand yourself and your place in a small rural town in the south, amongst people you’ve known your whole life is truly haunting.

This is a beautifully written book that will stay with me for a long time. Highly recommended.