The Calamity Club

by Kathryn Stockett ★★★★★

It's 1933, and 24-year-old Birdie Calhoun has been dispatched by her mother (Mama) and grandmother (Meemaw) on a mission: travel from their home in Footley in the Mississippi Delta to see Birdie's sister, Frances, in Oxford. In the wake of the Great Depression, times are tough and money is tight in Mississippi. However, Frances extracted herself and managed to climb the societal ladder, turning finishing school into a swift romance and marriage to the vice president of a bank in Oxford. With the family near broke, Birdie is headed to Oxford to do the unthinkable: ask her younger sister for money.

While her family was informed about the wedding, Birdie, Mama, and Meemaw were most certainly not invited. "Just sent us a little printed cream-colored card: We are pleased to announce the marriage of Frances Begonia Calhoun to Roderick Beauregard Tartt. In my opinion, she might as well've sent us a middle finger in an envelope..." narrates Birdie. Frances hadn't responded to telegrams or returned calls in weeks, and so the women decide Birdie should just show up. When Birdie arrives at Frances's "big fancy house called Idlewilde", it becomes immediately apparent that Frances has omitted or embellished more than a few details about her humble upbringing. The Tartts believe she is high society, like them, and she's terrified that Birdie will expose her lies

The sisters reach a grudging agreement—Birdie won't spoil the ruse, and Frances will see if she can help with the Calhoun's financial dilemma. Before long, we come to find out that the Tartts aren't as flush with cash as outward appearances might suggest, and they may be in even more dire straits than the Calhouns. Birdie and her bookkeeping brain must figure out a way to generate a significant amount of money in a short period of time.

In parallel, we meet Meg, an 11-year-old orphan staying at the local Oxford orphanage. Meg has drawn the ire of the orphanage's chairlady, Garnett Pittman, and is put in increasingly isolated and detrimental situations. The narration bounces between Birdie's and Meg's points of view and seemingly unrelated predicaments until their two paths eventually cross.

From that launch point, author Kathryn Stockett uses her female-driven cast to dig into a number of customs, beliefs, and laws of the time that, by today's standards, seem unthinkable. From the Anti-Vice League to a male-dominated misogynistic society to the Jim Crow South, Stockett shines a light on a different time. The novel is long, clocking in at 640 pages, and it is deliberately paced. Stockett heavily foreshadows the majority of the events in the novel so there are few surprises. Despite the length, the end of the novel came fairly abruptly, but Stockett ties up loose ends effectively in a story that will leave most readers satisfied.

Birdie's quick wit is a joy, and the interactions between her responsible loyalty and Frances's self-centered innocent obliviousness create more than a few laugh-out-loud moments. Birdie is easy to root for, and readers will cheer her on as she strives to find financial freedom and love. Meg's sassy sweetness will have readers cheering even harder for her to find a way out of her dismal situation. For those that prefer listening to books, the audiobook is especially well done for this one, although listening at something faster than 1x speed is a must. The slow southern drawl of both Birdie and Meg turns the 640 pages into a nearly thirty-hour performance.

It seems shocking that it's been seventeen years since Stockett won readers' hearts with her 2009 novel The Help, and I predict The Calamity Club will have a similar effect. It's one that everyone will be talking about, and it's worth a read (or listen) before the inevitable movie is made.

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Quick Facts

• Title: The Calamity Club

• Author: Kathryn Stockett

• Publisher: Spiegel & Grau

• Release Date: May 5, 2026

• Format: Audiobook

• ISBN-13: 978-1954118829

• Pages: 640