Seventeen years after “The Help” became a publishing phenomenon, Kathryn Stockett is back with “The Calamity Club,” her sprawling, funny, devastating new novel and a #1 New York Times bestseller.
Kathryn joins Brian to talk about what really happened during those 17 years, including false starts, losing her publishing home, finding the editor who helped her see the book clearly again, and the moment she discovered the disturbing history that ultimately became one of the novel’s driving forces.
They also get into Depression-era Mississippi, compulsory sterilization and the eugenics movement, creating the unforgettable 11-year-old Meg, writing women who refuse to fit neatly into society’s expectations, queerness in the 1930s South, the influence of Kathryn’s rebellious mother, and why she bought an old Victrola while researching the music of the period.
Plus, Kathryn shares the “YES! moment” that helped unlock the novel after years of work.
“The Calamity Club” is available now wherever books are sold.
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