The Calamity Club, Kathryn Stockett (Review by Stacey Lorenson)
Rating: 5.0/5 Stars
Seventeen years after her blockbuster novel The Help, Kathryn Stockett returns to the literary scene with her highly anticipated novel, The Calamity Club. Stockett has devised an epic saga that unites wealthy women and women on the fringes of society who live in the same dusty town. What happens when circumstances beyond their control, strip these same women of their life possessions and social status? Set in a rural Mississippi town in 1933, its residents find themselves in various stages of recovery from the Great Depression. Meet the founding members of The Calamity Club:
Meg, an eleven-year-old orphan with a headstrong personality and an inner monologue of a sarcastic 30-year-old! Megs’ situation borders tragic and hilarious as she navigates her journey of survival and revenge.
Birdie is sent by her family to check on her estranged younger sister, Francis, an aspiring socialite determined to erase her poor humble beginnings. Once Birdie is reunited with Francis, she finds herself in the middle of an additional family financial crisis. The solution to everyone’s problem leads Birdie on a transformational journey that she could never have imagined.
Charlie will go to any lengths to reclaim her daughter, Meg, she just needs Birdies’ help to do the impossible!
The Calamity Club examines relationships forged out of desperation and necessity. Meg’s tragic orphan odyssey, Birdie and Francis’s arc of maturity, and Charlies unending perseverance is supported with an amazing cast of spunky, unforgettable characters that will touch your heart and make you laugh out loud!
Stockett has created, what could be, a tryptic mini-series that captures a compendium of obstacles unique to women. The multiple storylines and plot twists employ situations that negate class and gender, forcing unconventional situations that exemplify woman’s ongoing struggle for equality. The Calamity Club is filled with entertaining characters that exemplify the finest and most vile of humanity. The dramatic chain of events that motivate these courageous women in the name of love and belonging, will have readers discussing memorable characters and consequences long after they finish this treasure of a novel.