Name: The Calamity Club
Rating: 5.0 (8 reviews)
Author: Kathryn Stockett

About this book

Summary
Book Club Questions
Discuss

Book Summary

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.

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 to claim what's rightfully theirs. 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.

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

Circumstances bring together Meg and Birdie, an orphaned child in Oxford and an unmarried woman from the Delta whose paths would likely not have crossed otherwise, and yet they very quickly find kinship. What is the basis of Meg and Birdie's friendship? What is it about Meg that moves Birdie to care about her, and what is it about Birdie that allows the normally wary Meg to trust her?
"My mama left me on purpose and mamas do not come back." Ava, Meg's friend at the orphanage, makes Meg repeat these lines until she lets go of the fantasy that her mother will return for her one day. Accepting her desperate situation becomes a tool of survival for Ava, but Meg continues to hold out hope that her mama will find her. What allows Meg ...

Please be aware that this discussion may contain spoilers!

See what our members are saying about this book in our Community Forum.

What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (6/4/2026)
I'm reading Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett and really enjoying it. Her characters are as memorable as those in The Help. I finished rereading Wild, Dark Shore for book club. It was even better the second time around. Thanks to BookBrowse for the Beyond the Book info about seed banks.
-Holly_K

What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (5/14/2026)
I just finished listening to The Widow by John Grisham and enjoyed it. Just started the Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett and it's 28 hours so could take awhile. For an ebook reading Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid and finding it just okay, reads fast.
-Melinda_J

What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (5/7/2026)
...ng as The Woman They Could Not Silence (non fiction but read like historical fiction ). Would definitely recommend to all women to read! I've started The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett…her first book since The Help..big book but enjoying so far
-Deanna_H

What are you reading this week? And what did you think of last week’s books? (4/30/2026)
I just finished BUCKEYE by Patrick Ryan. I submitted a review to Bookbrowse the other day. Now I just started an ARC of THE CALAMITY CLUB by Kathryn Stockett. Only 20 pages in.
-Techeditor

Upcoming Book Releases
Whistler by Ann Patchett (6/2) The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett (5/5) The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout (5/5)
-Evonne_Benedict

Membership Advantages

Reviews
"Beyond the Book" articles
Free books to read and review (US only)
Find books by time period, setting & theme
Read-alike suggestions by book and author
Book club discussions
and much more!
Just $60 for 12 months or $20 for 3 months.
More about membership!

Media Reviews

"Compulsively readable ... A satisfyingly twisty tale ... Fans of Stockett's bestselling debut will love this engaging follow-up." —Kirkus Reviews

"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... By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, this offers a memorable view into the impossible choices faced by women in the Great Depression." —Publishers Weekly

"The enormous success of The Help as a novel and as the source for the Academy Award–winning film has left readers longing for Stockett's second novel.... As she did in The Help, Stockett again satirizes the hypocrisy underpinning much of the early-twentieth-century South in a saga populated with memorable characters who rely on stock-in-trade pluck and sass to right all wrongs."—Booklist

"Smart, funny, and driven by unforgettable characters whose opinions and actions leap off the page, this is a must-read." —Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry

"As witty, bold, and transportive as it is heartbreaking and compassionate, The Calamity Club is storytelling at its finest. Stockett's masterfully drawn characters are simply unforgettable. Bravo to Meg, Birdie, and Charlie for reminding us to never underestimate the bottomless resilience of smart, spirited women in revolt against circumstance and injustice." —Shelley Read, author of the international bestseller Go as a River

This information about The Calamity Club was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

Write your own review

techeditor

You will wish this long book was longer
If you are put off by the length of THE CALAMITY CLUB, just start reading it. You won't be put off for long. You may, as a matter of fact, wish it were longer by the time you get to the end. I am hoping for a sequel. It's that good.

The reviews of THE CALAMITY CLUB that I read before its publication said that it is about a group of women. While that is true and it can explain the title, the book is way more than that. A more accurate description would say that THE CALAMITY CLUB is about an 11-year-old orphan, Meg, a bleeding-heart spinster, Birdie, and Meg's mother, Charlie; and getting the orphan back together with her mother with the help of the Calamity Club.

Characters are so well developed in this book, including every woman in the Calamity Club, with Charlie as their lead. But THE CALAMITY CLUB concentrates mostly on Birdie and Meg. The whole story is told from each of their perspectives in alternate chapters. These are the two characters you will care about most.

Something that not all readers will care about but some, like me, will: Meg's chapters do not use quotation marks. Italics indicate quotations. But why? And why not in Birdie's chapters? I think that must mean something but what?

Thank you, thank you to LibraryThing. I won this great book through their Early Reviewers program.

Bonnie Goldberg

Extraordinary
It has been decades since I had such an enjoyable and immersive reading experience, which tracks, given that it has been almost that long since Kathryn Stockett dazzled us with her debut novel The Help. What can I say except Calamity Club was well worth the wait. I already miss Birdie, Mrs Tartt, Francine, Charlie and Meg. Stockett has a knack for telling important stories about misogyny and racism couched in the lives of every day unassuming and underappreciated women. I accept that a 600 novel set over one summer in 1933 in Mississippi may not be for everyone, but I also urge all lovers of exceptional historical fiction to dig in and enjoy this one because it is very special. Highly highly recommend.

labmom55

Entertaining
It’s been 15 years since The Help was published. Stockett’s sophomore effort was worth the wait. The Calamity Club takes place in 1933 Mississippi. The book focuses on two characters. Meg is an 11 year old orphan currently housed at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum. Birdie is a 24 year old spinster who’s come to town to ask for money from her sister who married up. I immediately became invested with Meg and Birdie. Both are so smart, with a common sense approach to life. Despite the age difference, they’re kindred spirits.

Stockett does a great job of putting the reader smack dab in the time and place. The hypocrisy of the upper classes, the misogyny, the racial prejudice, the poverty. The eugenics laws of the time feature prominently. It was a shock to learn in the Author’s Note what the IQ test was developed and used for.

My one complaint is that all the supposed twists were so obvious. But the characters were so wonderful and the writing so spot on, I forgave that issue. The book is long but it moved well. There’s a true sense of suspense and tension throughout. It veers much more towards entertainment than serious literature. Still, it would make for a good book club selection.

There’s a lot of humor here. The kind that makes you moan because it’s of the sad variety. “When I get in bed, I repeat my prayer a couple more times. I figure if it is already in the till, it can’t hurt to say it again. Plus Mama always said men are slow learners, so you got to repeat it until it sticks.”

My thanks to NetGalley and Spiegel & Grau for an advance copy of this book.

Membership Advantages