Is The Calamity Club a sequel to The Help?

No. The Calamity Club is Kathryn Stockett's second novel, published in 2026, seventeen years after The Help (2009). It is a standalone story with new characters, set in Oxford, Mississippi in 1933 during the Great Depression, rather than a continuation of The Help's story or cast.

What is The Calamity Club about?

Set in Oxford, Mississippi in 1933, the novel follows Meg, an eleven-year-old orphan at the local orphan asylum; Birdie Calhoun, an outspoken bookkeeper who comes to town seeking to help her sister; and Charlie, a woman with a difficult past. Their lives intersect and lead them into a daring scheme to reclaim control over their own circumstances at a time when women had little.

How long is The Calamity Club?

The hardcover edition from Spiegel & Grau runs 656 pages. Other editions vary slightly by format and typesetting.

The Calamity Club

Historical Fiction Literary Fiction

Pages: 656
Published: 2026
Language: English

In 1933 Oxford, Mississippi, eleven-year-old Meg has grown up trusting no one at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum since her mother disappeared. When Birdie Calhoun arrives in town to take a bookkeeping position at the asylum — and to help her own sister, whose marriage is not what it seems — her path crosses with Meg's, and with a woman named Charlie, who has come back to town with a past and few options left.

Together the three women hatch a daring scheme to seize back control of their circumstances, in an era when a woman's independence could carry real and severe consequences. Kathryn Stockett's second novel, seventeen years after The Help, is a Depression-era story of resilience, hidden histories, and the families people build and find for themselves.

Prose complexity: 7/10

Hopeful Heartwarming Emotional Funny Dark

Found Family Coming of Age Family Saga Survival Secret Identity

Kathryn Stockett

Kathryn Stockett is an American novelist born in Jackson, Mississippi. She studied English and creative writing at the University of Alabama and spent sixteen years in New York City working in magazine publishing and marketing. Her debut novel, The Help (2009), about African-American domestic workers in early-1960s Jackson, took five years to write, reached number one on the New York Times bestseller list and has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. Her second novel, The Calamity Club, fo...

Meg LefleurProtagonist

An eleven-year-old girl at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum in 1933 Oxford, Mississippi, left there after her mother disappeared.

Birdie CalhounProtagonist

An outspoken, unmarried bookkeeper who takes a job auditing the orphanage's accounts while trying to help her sister.

Garnett PittmanAntagonist

The administrator of the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, whose cruelty toward Meg is bound up with a secret involving her own husband.

Frances (The Calamity Club)Supporting

Birdie's wealthy, self-absorbed sister, whose marriage is not what it appears to be.

All characters in The Calamity Club

Frequently asked questions

Is The Calamity Club a sequel to The Help?
No. The Calamity Club is Kathryn Stockett's second novel, published in 2026, seventeen years after The Help (2009). It is a standalone story with new characters, set in Oxford, Mississippi in 1933 during the Great Depression, rather than a continuation of The Help's story or cast.
What is The Calamity Club about?
Set in Oxford, Mississippi in 1933, the novel follows Meg, an eleven-year-old orphan at the local orphan asylum; Birdie Calhoun, an outspoken bookkeeper who comes to town seeking to help her sister; and Charlie, a woman with a difficult past. Their lives intersect and lead them into a daring scheme to reclaim control over their own circumstances at a time when women had little.
How long is The Calamity Club?
The hardcover edition from Spiegel & Grau runs 656 pages. Other editions vary slightly by format and typesetting.