Thank you Spiegel and Grau, #partner for the advanced copy of The Calamity Club in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Spiegel and Grau
Published: May 5, 2026
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.
“A must-read.”—Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry
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.
My thoughts:
I loved The Help when I read it so many years ago and I have been eagerly waiting for what was next from this author…and let me just say, the wait was so worth it! She has done it again and I just know this is going to be one of my top reads of the year and an absolute favorite forever!!
This book has the perfect combination of heart, heartbreak and personality. Oh my goodness does it have personality!! The characters are so vivid and larger than life, I know I won’t be forgetting any of them — the main characters or secondary ones — anytime soon.
This book is about a group of women who come together to fight for what’s theirs. You might not think they would “work well together” but this group of misfits pull together in ways that made my heart sing. It was a true testament to the power of resilience, found family and what love really is.
There are some difficult topics that are tackled here, but I felt the author handles them with her signature care, grace and humor. It was clear she had done her research, yet she never let anything get too heavy.
This book would make an excellent book club pick as there is so much to discuss and unpack. It’s the type of book that I felt all the emotions and then some. I cried, I laughed, I got angry and when I finished the book, I just sat there hugging it. As you can see from my photo…there are so many gems I found to highlight…I loved it and will be talking about this one to everyone!!
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