
The Calamity Club
Kathryn Stockett(Author)
Fig Tree (Publisher)
Published on 21. May 2026
Book
Hardback
656 pages
978-0-241-79690-0 (ISBN)
Description
'Smart, funny, and driven by unforgettable characters ... a must-read' Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry
'A rip-roaring adventure of found family, complex sisterhood and tested moral compasses' Sunday Times
'Pure hell-raising entertainment' New York Times
'The biggest publishing event of the year' Mirror
'Exquisite storytelling ... a joyful, heartbreaking, heartwarming read. I loved it so much' Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things
"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.
'As witty, bold, and transportive as it is heartbreaking and compassionate' Shelley Read, author of Go as a River
'A gorgeous novel with a lot of heart' Prima
'It's such a joy to immerse yourself in this world and with these characters ... a really special book that's been well worth the wait' Good Housekeeping
'So immersive, exciting, and downright fabulous, you never want it to end' Oprah Daily
_
PRAISE FOR THE HELP
'Daring, vitally important and very courageous, I loved and admired The Help. Fantastic' MARIAN KEYES
'Outstanding, immensely funny, very compelling, brilliant' Daily Telegraph
'A laugh-out-loud, vociferously angry must-read' Marie Claire
'Touching, disgraceful, funny. Highly recommended' Daily Mail
'A rip-roaring adventure of found family, complex sisterhood and tested moral compasses' Sunday Times
'Pure hell-raising entertainment' New York Times
'The biggest publishing event of the year' Mirror
'Exquisite storytelling ... a joyful, heartbreaking, heartwarming read. I loved it so much' Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things
"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.
'As witty, bold, and transportive as it is heartbreaking and compassionate' Shelley Read, author of Go as a River
'A gorgeous novel with a lot of heart' Prima
'It's such a joy to immerse yourself in this world and with these characters ... a really special book that's been well worth the wait' Good Housekeeping
'So immersive, exciting, and downright fabulous, you never want it to end' Oprah Daily
_
PRAISE FOR THE HELP
'Daring, vitally important and very courageous, I loved and admired The Help. Fantastic' MARIAN KEYES
'Outstanding, immensely funny, very compelling, brilliant' Daily Telegraph
'A laugh-out-loud, vociferously angry must-read' Marie Claire
'Touching, disgraceful, funny. Highly recommended' Daily Mail
Reviews / Votes
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 * Its character-driven story zips along [in] a rip-roaring adventure of found family, complex sisterhood and tested moral compasses. A plot-driven yarn that keeps the reader on tenterhooks until the end. Stockett is a born storyteller * Sunday Times * 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 *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 238 mm
Width: 158 mm
Thickness: 46 mm
Weight
850 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-79690-0 (9780241796900)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Kathryn Stockett
The Calamity Club
The highly-anticipated novel from the globally bestselling author of The Help
E-Book
05/2026
Penguin Books Ltd
€14.99
Available for download

Person
Kathryn Stockett was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Help. She lives in Mississippi and New York City.