(Just shy of 650
pages, this book was an absolute triumph. Review by Fiona de Goede)
It has been a while since Katherine Stockett’s debut The Help was first published 17 years
ago. But oh boy, was it worth the wait!
Just shy of 650 pages, this book was an absolute triumph.
It’s the story of three women – actually, only two and a bit as the one female character is the 11-year-old orphan Meg Lefleur. She crept into my heart and stayed there. Very firmly. I was rooting for her all the way, feeling her pain when she was ill-treated and sharing her joys when things eventually started to come her way - not to mention her pure delight when she was given proper meals for which she did not have to fight. And she could even go back for seconds!
Birdie Calhoun, a young woman who has the difficult task of saving her family from financial ruin, is just the right person for Meg to have in her corner. Birdie travels to Oxford, Mississippi in the hope that her sister, Frances, recently married to a wealthy banker, will be able to offer financial support to the impoverished family that she left behind.
Charlie, a woman with a heart-breaking past but with ambitious plans for the future with the sole purpose of regaining what was taken from her, is the glue that binds them all together. Once Birdie decides to support Charlie in her outrageous plan to make money, the reader is transported into a whirlwind of daring and risk taking.
The supporting cast of characters is colourful and audaciously bold. Despite the vastly differing backgrounds of these women, it is heartwarming to encounter the support and caring they have for each other.
The story is set in 1933 during the Great Depression. The poverty and hardship are always evident but the author manages to not drag you down into the depths of despair – the humour and wit, the dialogue and scenarios plus the unfolding story line guarantees this!
This will go down as one of my favourite reads so far this year. I just hope the author will not make her readers wait another 17 years before her next novel sees the light of day. - Fiona de Goede
The Calamity Club is published by Fig Tree. ISBN 978-0-241-79691-7