The Calamity Club A Novel

The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett — Published by Spiegel & Grau (May 5, 2026)

New York Times Bestseller — the long-awaited second novel from the author of The Help, named one of the most anticipated books of 2026 by the New York Times, Oprah Daily, Goodreads, Garden & Gun, Southern Living, and Town & Country.

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. Singled out by the cruel director, she is forced to toil in the institution's offices rather than attend school, counting down the days until her twelfth birthday, when she'll be sent to work in a Biloxi cannery. Meanwhile, Birdie Calhoun, twenty-four, travels to Oxford to ask her younger sister Frances for help when back taxes threaten their family home, only to discover that her sister's seemingly charmed life is a tapestry of lies. When their fates converge with those of Charlie — a woman running low on luck with little left to lose — an audacious plan takes shape, with dangerous consequences in a place where women's freedom is fragile and even the smallest act of defiance carries a price.

An epic testament to underestimated women who know that calamity can be the spark of new beginnings, this is Kathryn Stockett at her most confident, heartfelt, and hilarious — the triumphant return of one of the most beloved storytellers of our time. Stockett was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. Her debut novel, The Help, has sold over 15 million copies worldwide and was translated into 35 languages.