Seventeen years after captivating readers with The Help, bestselling author Kathryn Stockett is having another literary moment. Her sophomore novel, The Calamity Club, is currently the No. 1 most-read fiction title on Amazon Charts.
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Released in May, Stockett’s highly anticipated second novel is set in Depression-era Oxford, Mississippi, circa 1933. As in her debut page-turner, this one follows a group of close-knit, strong-willed women who band together to navigate a society marked by misogyny, poverty, racism, and social inequality.
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When Meg Lafleur, an 11-year-old orphan, crosses paths with Birdie Calhoun, an outspoken 24-year-old “spinster,” the two form an unconventional alliance. Along with other marginalized women, they work to take control of their lives.
Blending the grim historical realities of the Depression-era Deep South with fictional yet resonant stories of adversity, Stockett strikes a heartbreaking yet uplifting balance. The result is a deeply emotional drama filled with Southern humor, sharp wit, and fiery grit.
“I wrote this thing for so long,” Stockett said in an interview with The New York Times, addressing why the follow-up took 17 years to come to fruition. “I felt like everything I touched was failing.”
A 2.2-pound beast of a book, The Calamity Club spans 656 pages. Described by The Times as an “old-fashioned saga,” it gives the details and themes room to breathe. After researching the eugenics movement, which gained momentum in the early 20th century, when women were sterilized, she said the story really started to take shape.
“That is when the motor started,” Stockett said. “I was emotionally free, I was intellectually horrified by what I was reading, and that’s when the book really took off.”
She added, “I want people to understand that it’s no joke when we say that history repeats itself. We have seen it time and time again. And so, for women’s rights, for women’s health rights, we’ve got to fight.”
The novel has spent six weeks on Amazon’s most-read list and currently holds a 4.7-star rating from readers. According to critics at Oprah Daily, the story is “so immersive, exciting, and downright fabulous, you never want it to end.” Meanwhile, the New York Times Book Review calls it “pure, hell-raising entertainment.”
The Calamity Club is available at amazon.com.
Related: Best-Selling Author’s 1949 Novel Became Amazon’s Highest-Ranked Classic of All Time