The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett

THE CALAMITY CLUB by Kathryn Stockett (The Help) is set in 1930s Oxford, Mississippi and the beginning is quite disheartening as Stockett describes life in an orphanage for Margot Louise (Meg) LeFleur, an eleven-year-old whose asides to the reader are reminiscent of those from Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce. Meg is intelligent, but scarred by being abandoned by her mother, called Charlie. And Meg struggles to cope with the abusive treatment at the orphanage. Things are a bit brighter (literally) when she meets Birdie Calhoun, poor sister to Francis Tartt, one of the local volunteers. Birdie is in town in hopes of much needed funds from her sister and the wealthier family into which she married. Sadly, it is the Depression Era, and no one is spared the ravages of poverty; that means Birdie eventually meets Charlie and, in an act of desperation, the two form a business venture. A LibraryReads Selection, THE CALAMITY CLUB is a tale of betrayal and also of loyalty; of strict social standards and also of acceptance due mainly to necessity; of sexual mores and women’s health. Book clubs will find much to discuss from this lengthy (656 pages) historical fiction novel which does drag in parts. Readers will develop affection and concern for Meg as well as Birdie - who is an especially likeable character - but their circumstances and the “calamities” they face are not.