Seventeen years after her bestselling debut novel, The Help, Kathryn Stockett is back with The Calamity Club, another Southern-set story. This time, readers are transported to 1930s Oxford, Mississippi, where you’ll not only meet a cast of utterly unforgettable characters, but feel your heart swell as a ragtag bunch of women defy the odds during the Great Depression.
What’s The Calamity Club about?
The Calamity Club is told from two points of view—and trust me when I tell you that both are equally as compelling. After being abandoned by her mother on Christmas Eve, 11-year-old Meg Lefleur has become one of the unadoptable “big girls” at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum. She tries to keep a positive attitude despite her fears that she’s going to be sent to work in a factory on the Mississippi coast once she ages out of the orphanage.
Meanwhile, Birdie Calhoun, an unmarried bookkeeper living in the Mississippi Delta, has been tasked with traveling to Oxford to ask her sister, now married to the son of one of the town’s most prominent families, for money so they can save their house. Once there, Birdie is surprised to learn that her sister’s seemingly-perfect life is actually crumbling.
When Birdie meets Charlie, a woman with nothing left to lose, their fates converge with Meg’s, forcing Charlie to come up with a wild plan that’ll allow them all to finally take control of their own lives amid the Great Depression—and in a Mississippi dominated by men.
Why you should read The Calamity Club
The characters are so easy to root for.
During her book tour stop in Oxford earlier this month, Stockett said that she’s drawn to writing books about strong Southern women who aren’t afraid to break the status quo. Much of this interest comes from her mother, who Stockett says was not only one of the first women to get a divorce in Jackson, Mississippi, but later taught herself to code and ended up writing an immunization program for Mississippi children.
Throughout The Calamity Club, we see so much of Stockett’s fondness for Southern women who aren’t afraid to stand up for themselves—whether it’s Meg’s dogged pursuit to get adopted or Birdie’s determination to not only improve the lives of the children at the orphanage, but also her unconventional rise as a businesswoman to keep the lights on at home.
It’s rooted in Mississippi history.
Of course, Stockett is a Mississippi native (not only was she born and raised in Jackson, but she now calls Church Hill, a rural community located just north of Natchez, home), which means that her ties to the state are deeply reflected in her work.
Although I certainly have a vested interest in Oxford, Mississippi as an Ole Miss graduate, the immersive details about life in a small town are sure to charm even those who have never stepped foot in the South. While writing, Stockett said she spent years researching and even tapped Oxford locals to help paint an accurate picture of life in a college town during the 1930s.
Case in point: William Lewis, Jr., co-owner of Neilson’s Department Store and lifelong Oxford resident, provided Stockett with tons of detail regarding what the town—and its cast of colorful characters—was like in the 1930s. That includes tales about everything from William Faulkner’s famously unpaid Neilson’s tab (he said that someday, his autograph would be worth far more than his delinquent bill) to the University of Mississippi’s impact on Oxford. There’s a memorable department store scene in the novel during which a well-to-do character is faced with the realities of the Great Depression.
It will make you want to see what Oxford is like 90 years later.
Oxford has turned into one of the South’s most charming towns. Into literary history? Tour Rowan Oak, William Faulkner’s home before heading downtown to the historic Square to pick up one of his novels from Square Books. If you’re a foodie, Oxford has morphed into a major Southern culinary hub, complete with James Beard Award-winning chefs and Michelin Guide recognition at spots like Snackbar, City Grocery, and Saint Leo. And of course, sports fans will surely want to check a visit to the Grove (often dubbed one of college football’s best tailgating destinations) off of their bucket list.
It’s a modern Southern epic.
Don’t let the page count (nearly 700 pages!) scare you. Every page of The Calamity Club is engrossing and full of heart. Not to mention, there are plenty of twists that will keep you up long past your bedtime. The 1933 setting—the last year of Prohibition—as well as the “secret” business Birdie and crew create (no spoilers here!) lend the novel a touch of scandal and intrigue that’s equal parts shocking and just plain fun.
But perhaps the most important thing of all is the level of heart Stockett packed into this novel. The reader deeply feels Meg’s anguish after being passed over by families looking to adopt and cheers for Birdie’s determination to enact change in her newfound community. That emotion, coupled with Stockett’s breadth of knowledge and care in handling topics like women’s rights and poverty in 1930s Mississippi cements The Calamity Club as a true Southern epic that’s well worth the read.
Madison McGee is a shopping editor at Hearst Magazines, primarily reporting on home, tech, fashion, and books across titles like Cosmopolitan, Esquire, House Beautiful, Country Living, ELLE, Town & Country, and more. Prior to joining Hearst, she covered pop culture and trending news at BuzzFeed and worked in book publishing. Madison is a graduate of both the University of Mississippi and New York University, where she received her Master’s in book publishing and magazine media. When she’s not writing gift guides, product reviews, and sales and deals content, she’s probably exploring New York City’s independent bookstores or cheering on the Baltimore Ravens.
