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The Help

***PRE-ORDER THE CALAMITY CLUB: THE BRAND NEW NOVEL FROM THE MULTI-MILLION COPY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE HELP, COMING MAY 2026*** 
 
 
Enter a vanished and unjust world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted not to steal the silver . . . 
 
There's Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own son's tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; and white Miss Skeeter, home from College, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared. 
 
Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. No one would believe they'd be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend and rely upon one another. Each is in a search of a truth. And together they have an extraordinary story to tell... 
 
'A big, warm girlfriend of a book' The Times 
 
'The other side of Gone with the Wind - and just as unputdownable' The Sunday Times 
 
'Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird has changed lives. Its direct descendent The Help has the same potential . . . an astonishing feat of accomplishment' Daily Express 
 
THE PHENOMENAL MULTI-MILLION COPY INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

The other side of Gone with the Wind - and just as unputdownable

Harper Lee's classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird has changed lives. It's direct descendent The Help has the same potential . . . an astonishing feat of accomplishment

Outstanding, immensely funny, very compelling, brilliant

Daring, vitally important and very courageous, I loved and admired The Help. Fantastic

A laugh-out-loud, vociferously angry must-read

Touching, disgraceful, funny. Highly recommended

Remarkable, shocking, brave, brilliant

A compelling, great first novel, with soaring highs, poignant side stories and laugh-out-loud anecdotes. You'll be sorry to finish it

A winning story of courage and truth

An exciting and atmospheric story

A wise, poignant novel. You'll catch yourself cheering out loud

Lush, original and poignant. A wondrous novel set in the deep south told through the authentic voices of Aibileen, Minnie and Skeeter, three unforgettable women whose lives and points of view intersect vividly against a landscape of hopeful change in America. You will be swept away as they work, play and love during a time when possibilities for women were few but their dreams of the future were limitless. A glorious read.

Kathryn Stockett was born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi. After graduating from the University of Alabama, she moved to New York City, where she worked in magazine publishing and marketing for nine years. She currently lives in Atlanta with her husband and daughter. The Help has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. Stockett's highly anticipated second novel, The Calamity Club, will be published in May 2026.

Enter a vanished and unjust world: Jackson, Mississippi, 1962. Where black maids raise white children, but aren't trusted not to steal the silver... 
 
There's Aibileen, raising her seventeenth white child and nursing the hurt caused by her own son's tragic death; Minny, whose cooking is nearly as sassy as her tongue; and white Miss Skeeter, home from College, who wants to know why her beloved maid has disappeared. 
 
Skeeter, Aibileen and Minny. No one would believe they'd be friends; fewer still would tolerate it. But as each woman finds the courage to cross boundaries, they come to depend and rely upon one another. Each is in a search of a truth. And together they have an extraordinary story to tell...

Kathryn Stockett

Smart, funny, and driven by unforgettable characters ... a must-read

Bonnie Garmus, author of Lessons in Chemistry

With exquisite storytelling and unforgettable characters, The Calamity Club is a joyful, heartbreaking, heartwarming read. I loved it so much

Jennie Godfrey, author of The List of Suspicious Things

A raucous tale of found family ... a rollicking and wrenching story of economic hardship and injustice ... pure hell-raising entertainment

Its character-driven story zips along [in] a rip-roaring adventure of found family, complex sisterhood and tested moral compasses. A plot-driven yarn that keeps the reader on tenterhooks until the end. Stockett is a born storyteller

So immersive, exciting, and downright fabulous, you never want it to end

As witty, bold, and transportive as it is heartbreaking and compassionate ... storytelling at its finest. Stockett’s masterfully drawn characters are simply unforgettable. Bravo to Meg, Birdie, and Charlie for reminding us to never underestimate the bottomless resilience of smart, spirited women in revolt against circumstance and injustice

Shelley Read, author of the international bestseller Go as a River 

An old-fashioned saga, generous in both detail and srawl

The much-anticipated second novel from the author of The Help - 17 years in the making - is set in Oxford, Mississippi in 1933 and tells the story of a group of women and an irrepressible 11-year-old orphan whose fates converge

Good Housekeeping – The 12 new books we’re most excited to read in 2026

What a treat to savour – a new novel from the author of The Help, about three women in Depression-era Mississippi

Substack: Book(ish) – Good things, good intentions and good books for 2026

It’s such a joy to immerse yourself in this world and with these characters that the pages fly by ... this is a really special book that’s been well worth the wait

The biggest publishing event of the year

A gorgeous novel with unforgettable characters and a lot of heart

Funny and bold, with a richly depicted dramatis personae

A real ripping yarn, very engrossing. I couldn’t put it down!

An extremely gripping…tour de force set in Mississippi in 1933…a fully immersive southern experience

Big-hearted, bold and brimful of exuberant characters, Stockett’s sprawling second novel is as engaging as her debut, the bestselling The Help

A masterful propulsive tale that takes us from tears and rage to gut-aching laughter

[A] touching, poignant and very funny tale of sisterhood, strength and love

A thoroughly enjoyable, enriching and heartwarming read that was worth the wait, I predict The Calamity Club will be another book club favourite for many years to come

A cast of utterly unforgettable characters

Oxford, Mississippi, 1933. 
 
Eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one. 
 
Ever since her beloved mother failed to come home last Christmas Eve, she’s been one of the 'unadoptable' girls at the town’s orphanage, where she fights each day to keep her wits sharp and her spirit unbowed. 
 
When she meets Birdie, a young woman who has come to Oxford determined to remind her socialite sister of the impoverished family she left behind, for the first time in a long while it seems someone else might care about Meg’s future. 
 
But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie begins to suspect her sister’s charmed life may be founded on a tapestry of lies. Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman haunted by loss who has been pushed to the brink with nothing left to lose. 
 
Drawn together by circumstance, they find unexpected kinship among a disreputable, determined band of women. 
 
But in a town steeped in hypocrisy, even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences … 
 
Bold, heartwarming, and riotously funny, The Calamity Club is an unforgettable story of resilience and friendship, and a sisterhood of underestimated women who risk everything to take back control of their fates.

Kathryn Stockett

Praise for The Calamity Club

Smart, funny, and driven by unforgettable characters ... a must-read

**With exquisite storytelling and unforgettable characters, The Calamity Club is a joyful, heartbreaking, heartwarming read. I loved it so much**

A raucous tale of found family ... a rollicking and wrenching story of economic hardship and injustice ... pure hell-raising entertainment

Smart, funny, and driven by unforgettable characters ... a must-read

**With exquisite storytelling and unforgettable characters, The Calamity Club is a joyful, heartbreaking, heartwarming read. I loved it so much**

A raucous tale of found family ... a rollicking and wrenching story of economic hardship and injustice ... pure hell-raising entertainment

Smart, funny, and driven by unforgettable characters ... a must-read

**With exquisite storytelling and unforgettable characters, The Calamity Club is a joyful, heartbreaking, heartwarming read. I loved it so much**

A raucous tale of found family ... a rollicking and wrenching story of economic hardship and injustice ... pure hell-raising entertainment

Books by Kathryn Stockett

Articles featuring Kathryn Stockett

The must-read books of 2026

6 of our favourite author cameos in films – did you spot them?

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