Stephanie Sullivan: Review: The Calamity Club

TITLE: The Calamity Club (ebook and audiobook)

NARRATORS: Jenna Lamia and January LaVoy

RATING: Ebook - ★★★ Audiobook - ★★★★

Summary (from Goodreads): In 1933 Oxford, Mississippi, Prohibition is on the wane, and the Great Depression is tightening its grip. Poor and rich folks alike have fallen on hard times, even as the old social order remains. For women on the margins, the options are few and the price of dignity and self-determination is unbearably high.

Eleven-year-old Meg, one of the unadoptable “big girls” at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed. Birdie, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford on a mission to ask her social-climbing sister to help the struggling family she’s left behind. And Charlie is a woman with a past, running low on luck but driven by fire, fury, and grit. When their fates converge, they come up with an audacious plan to take back control of their lives. Together, they form an unlikely sisterhood—but in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife, women’s freedom is fragile, and making an enemy can have dire consequences, will the price they pay for their outrageous risk-taking be too high?

REVIEW: This was my first time reading Kathryn Stockett’s work, and I really enjoyed it. Having lived in Mississippi my whole life, it was fun being able to follow along with the towns that were mentioned because I’ve been to all of them, and I know several people who lived in Oxford and graduated from Ole Miss. The story itself wasn’t what I expected it would be. (I should also mention that I didn’t read a summary or blurb before I read the book either). So, when it came down to the nitty-gritty of the story, I was kind of caught off guard. (Wish I could elaborate but that would give the whole plot away). But Stockett did the story justice, and I loved getting to know all of the characters. There are several degrees to this story - sad, hopeful, and shocking, just to name a few. If trigger warnings were listed, I’m afraid there would be many, due to the era it takes place in. My only complaint is there was no epilogue. After reading the 600+ pages and getting fully invested in everyone’s lives, I hated not knowing how some of the character’s future’s played out. The audiobook version is absolutely incredible, and the narrators are AMAZING! I would highly recommend the audiobook version over the ebook.

(DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this title from NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own).