Author of national bestseller “The Help” Kathryn Stockett is set to release her second novel, “The Calamity Club,” on Tuesday, May 5. Stockett has been working on the 700-page book for 12 years. The story takes place in Oxford, Miss.
Stockett is set to appear at Square Books on Thursday, May 7, to sign copies of the book and discuss the novel with Mayor of Oxford Robyn Tannehill. Planning and organization for the 215-person event, which is now sold out, began in January.
“The Calamity Club” takes place during the Great Depression and follows three characters: 11-year-old Meg, who begins the novel as an inmate at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum; Birdie, an unmarried and outspoken 24-year-old who befriends Meg while traveling to Oxford to find her sister; and Charlie, a determined woman with a troubled past. The three characters converge to fight for justice of societal norms and hypocrisy.
“If you enjoyed ‘The Help,’ you’re going to love ‘The Calamity Club,’” Jude Burke-Lewis, the events coordinator for Square Books, said. “It’s a good, fun story, with a bunch of strong, independent-minded women. So what’s not to love about that?”
The event will also bring together familiar faces with ties to both the story and the community.
“(Stockett) and Tannehill, I think, is going to be a really interesting dynamic, because first of all, she (Stockett) and Robyn (Tannehill) are old friends, but then, you’ve got this perspective of the current mayor of Oxford talking about a book that is set right here in Oxford,” Burke-Lewis said.
“This is Kathryn Stockett at her most confident, heartfelt and hilarious — the triumphant return of one of the most beloved storytellers of our time,” the back cover of the novel reads.
Stockett rose to fame in 2009 with her debut novel “The Help.” Set in Jackson, Miss., the story follows three Black maids working for white families during the Jim Crow era. “The Help” was adapted into a critically-acclaimed film in 2011.
After “The Help” was released, Stockett toured for almost five years, promoting her novel through readings and discussions. She did not start writing “The Calamity Club” until the end of her tour, causing an 18-year gap between the two novels.
“I’m not a very good multitasker, so I can (either) write or go on tour,” Stockett said. “When I started writing this, I was determined to write a short, simple story — nothing like ‘The Help’.”
She chose Oxford as the setting for this novel not just because of the city’s vibrant history, but because Oxford fared relatively well during the Great Depression thanks to the university’s revenue and employment opportunities.
“There were still plenty of families doing well in 1930, and I wanted to put the story right on the cusp of that year before things got really bad — not just in Mississippi, but all over the United States,” Stockett said.
An important part of Stockett’s writing process was researching Oxford life during the 1930s. Stockett combed through the University of Mississippi archives and Oxford memorabilia with Jennifer Ford, senior curator of manuscripts and professor, and John Cofield, an Oxford historian.
“We had been on just a tear of debilitating events with the (Great Flood) of 1927 that took place closer to Greenwood, (Miss.), and then a drought in 1930, then the bullweevils, then, of course, the (stock market) crash in 1929,” Stockett said. “It was almost like Mississippi had already started its Great Depression well before the rest of the nation.”
Stockett was intentional about her writing process and focused on the disparities between class and gender in “The Calamity Club.”
“I learned that it was impossible to write about Mississippi and not write about the hypocrisy and the atrocities and all the things that have happened in Mississippi history,” Stockett said.
She hopes readers can gain a new sense of Oxford through the book.
“I hope that it gives them a slightly different perspective on the Square,” Stockett said. “You know, when you go in a shop on the Square you can sort of feel the history, but if you’re able to really trace back to how many business owners and how many shoppers, how many daily lives have been affected by that one space — I think that would be really cool for a reader to go back and trace the steps in the book like I did researching.”
“The Calamity Club” features Oxford businesses on the Square that were present, and prevalent, during the Great Depression — one of which was Neilson’s Department Store.
Stockett keeps returning to Mississippi as a setting for her stories because of the vast untold stories that exist among locals. Born in Jackson, Miss., Stockett understands the complexities of the state.
“There is a lot to be disturbed by about Mississippi, and there is a lot to be proud of about Mississippi,” Stockett said. “We have come so far.”
Attendees of Stockett’s event at Square Books will receive a signed copy of “The Calamity Club.” Pre-orders of the book are available through Square Book’s website, or by phone and coming in-store.
“People are going to come away learning more about the book, and about the town, about why she wanted to write it and set it here in Oxford,” Burke-Lewis said. “Hopefully, they should come away excited to read the book, as well.”
