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The Calamity Club

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

“You give a girl a taste of fresh air and then you take it away—she’ll grow fierce and wild to get it back.”

Oxford, Mississippi, 1933.

Eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one.

Ever since her beloved mother failed to come home last Christmas Eve, she’s been one of the “unadoptable” girls at the town’s orphanage, where she fights each day to keep her wits sharp and her spirit unbowed.

When she meets Birdie, a young woman who has come to Oxford determined to remind her socialite sister of the impoverished family she left behind, for the first time in a long while it seems someone else might care about Meg’s future.

But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie begins to suspect her sister’s charmed life may be founded on a tapestry of lies. Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman haunted by loss who has been pushed to the brink with nothing left to lose.

Drawn together by circumstance, they find unexpected kinship among a disreputable, determined band of women. But in a town steeped in hypocrisy, even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences…

Bold, heartwarming, and riotously funny, The Calamity Club is an unforgettable story of resilience and friendship, and a sisterhood of underestimated women who risk everything to take back control of their fates.

© Kathryn Stockett 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026

Critics Review

Smart, funny, and driven by unforgettable characters ... a must-read
Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry
With exquisite storytelling and unforgettable characters, The Calamity Club is a joyful, heartbreaking, heartwarming read. I loved it so much
Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things
A raucous tale of found family ... a rollicking and wrenching story of economic hardship and injustice ... pure hell-raising entertainment
NYT book review
So immersive, exciting, and downright fabulous, you never want it to end
Oprah Daily
As witty, bold, and transportive as it is heartbreaking and compassionate ... 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
An old-fashioned saga, generous in both detail and srawl
NYT profile interview
The much-anticipated second novel from the author of The Help - 17 years in the making - is set in Oxford, Mississippi in 1933 and tells the story of a group of women and an irrepressible 11-year-old orphan whose fates converge
Good Housekeeping – The 12 new books we’re most excited to read in 2026
What a treat to savour – a new novel from the author of The Help, about three women in Depression-era Mississippi
Substack: Book(ish) – Good things, good intentions and good books for 2026
It’s such a joy to immerse yourself in this world and with these characters that the pages fly by ... this is a really special book that’s been well worth the wait
Good Housekeeping
Author Kathryn Stockett
Narrator January LaVoy, Jenna Lamia
Duration 28 hours and 45 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781405985550
Format Audiobook
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Genre Historical fiction, Modern and contemporary fiction, Narrative theme: Love and relationships, Narrative theme: Social issues
Availability AU, GB, IE

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