The Calamity Club

Oxford, Mississippi, 1933. Eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned to survive inside the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum after her mother abandoned her. Birdie Calhoun arrives in town hoping that her wealthy sister will help the family she left behind, only to discover that privilege has not protected her sister from fear or deception. Their lives converge with Charlie, a woman running out of lawful options, whose audacious plan offers a possible escape from poverty and dependence.

The novel follows women and girls across divisions of age and class as they confront orphan care, limited employment, family obligation and coercive ideas about who should be allowed to have children. Its central characters and scheme are fictional, but the setting reflects Depression-era Mississippi and the state’s eugenic sterilization programme. Humour and friendship temper a story about institutional power, reproductive control and the dangerous forms of resistance available to women with little legal or financial protection.