The Calamity Club
A Novel
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4.7 • 1.5K Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
“So immersive, exciting, and downright fabulous, you never want it to end.”—Oprah Daily
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The multimillion-copy-selling author of The Help returns with a bold, big-hearted novel about a group of unbreakable women, fighting for what’s rightfully theirs—and the power of friendship to change everything.
“Pure, hell-raising entertainment.”—The New York Times Book Review
Oxford, Mississippi, 1933.
Abandoned by her mother one Christmas Eve, eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one. Now one of the unadoptable "big girls" at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, she fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed.
Birdie Calhoun, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford to ask her socialite sister to help the struggling family she’s left behind. But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie discovers her sister’s seemingly charmed life is a tapestry of lies.
Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman running low on luck with little left to lose. When their fates—and Meg’s—converge, Charlie comes up with an audacious plan for them to take control of their lives. But in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife and women’s freedom is fragile, even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences.
The Calamity Club will make you laugh, cry, and cheer—an epic testament to underestimated women who know that calamity can be the spark of new beginnings. This is Kathryn Stockett at her most confident, heartfelt, and hilarious—the triumphant return of one of the most beloved storytellers of our time.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This sweeping novel from Kathryn Stockett reflects all the bravery, ingenuity, and undeniable good that women are capable of, even under the hardest circumstances. The Great Depression is raging as 24-year-old “spinster” Birdie arrives in Oxford, Mississippi, to ask her well-married sister Frances for help with the family farm. Birdie accompanies Frances to the orphanage where she volunteers, where she meets 11-year-old Meg, whose indomitable spirit is being tested by terrible abuse. As the two of them bond, a sprawling story unfolds, brimming with unforgettable characters who end up as part of the pair’s clever, inspiring, and unapologetically shocking plan to improve their lives on their own terms. Dealing with dark realities through an optimistic and often humorous lens, Stockett has crafted a feel-good Southern epic that reads like William Faulkner crossed with Fannie Flagg. The Calamity Club is her first novel since 2009’s The Help, and this expansive, heartfelt tale is well worth the wait.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Stockett's vibrant follow-up to her bestselling 2009 novel, The Help, traces the intersecting lives of an exasperated older sister, a precocious orphan, and an enterprising woman in 1933 Mississippi. Eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur endures a miserable existence at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum for Girls in Oxford. Singled out by the cruel director, Meg is forced to toil in the institution's offices rather than attend school. Too old to be adopted, she counts down the days until her 12th birthday, when she'll be sent to work in a Biloxi cannery—though she still clings to hope that the mother who abandoned her might return. Meanwhile, Birdie Calhoun, 24, is forced into action when back taxes threaten the rural home she shares with her mother and grandmother in the Delta. She travels to Oxford to ask her younger sister, Frances, for help, only to discover that Frances's supposedly charmed life is far less so than it seems. There, Birdie crosses paths with Meg and Charlie, a down-on-her-luck woman with a wild idea for making a fortune and reclaiming control of her life. The pace slackens at times, but Stockett holds the reader's attention with her colorful characters. By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, this offers a memorable view into the impossible choices faced by women in the Great Depression.
Customer Reviews
Awesome book!
Best book I've read in a long while. Maybe even better that The Help. Great characters and story line. Loved it and didn't want it to end.
Loved this book!!!!
I absolutely loved this book and the women in it. The characters are so compelling and the story is an original and delightful ride. This book rates in my top 10!
Great read.
I loved this story and the glorious characters.