FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Page & Palette, 32 S. Section St. in Fairhope, will host novelist Kathryn Stockett on Tuesday, March 3.

The event is slated to begin at 6 p.m. at the Fairhope bookstore, and Stockett will speak about her debut novel, “The Help.”

Her book is the lead fiction title and first publication of a new division of Putnam Publishing, Amy Einhorn Books.

Page & Palette is very proud to be included in the author’s national tour alongside cities such as Atlanta, Charlotte, New Orleans and Los Angeles.

In another connection to this novel, store manager Jennifer Calhoun Myrick submitted a review to the publisher after reading an advance copy and was quoted in the national advertising campaign, including a full page ad that appeared recently in USA Today.

Inspired by her own experience growing up with a black family maid, this novel is set in the author’s hometown of Jackson, Miss. in the early 1960s.

The novel centers around three women:  Skeeter, a young college graduate and aspiring writer from a prominent white family; Aibileen, an African-American  maid who is raising her 17th white child yet not trusted to polish silver by herself; and her best friend, Minny — short, fat and the sassiest woman in Mississippi.

“The Help” evokes the bonds and burdens of friendship, the complex relationships between mothers and daughters and the challenges of coming of age in a tumultuous era.

Throughout, Stockett offers piquant reminders of a time and place when an ad for a secretary might read “Trim, young secretary wanted. Typing not nec,” and an eager woman jumps to answer the phone “like a dog on a coon.”

But above all, “The Help” is an enthralling, eye-opening story about women of different races who, amidst the turbulence of the civil rights movement, start a movement of their own forever changing a town, and the way women — mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends — view one another.

After graduating from the University of Alabama with a degree in English and creative writing, Stockett moved to New York City where she worked in magazine publishing and marketing for nine years. She currently lives in Atlanta with her husband and daughter.

The author will exclusively sign all books purchased from Page & Palette.

For more information about this author signing and other happenings at Page & Palette Bookstore, call (251) 928-5295, or visit www.pageandpalette.com.