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.

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 42 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]

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]