While You Wait for The Calamity Club

Seventeen years after publishing her first book, The Help, Kathryn Stockett is back with another unforgettable historical fiction novel. The Calamity Club is set in 1933 in Oxford, Mississippi and follows Meg, Birdie and Charlie. Abandoned by her mother at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, 11-year-old Meg strives each day to not let her spirit break. Meanwhile Birdie, a unmarried and outspoken woman, traveled to Oxford to ask for her sister's help, only to learn her sister's life is woven with lies. That's when she encounters Charlie, a woman who has little to lose.  

As Meg, Birdie and Charlie's fates tie them to one another, they form a plan to take back control of their lives. However, it won't be easy in a place and time where their acts of defiance can bring about dangerous consequences.  

Told with heart and humor, The Calamity Club is sure to have you experiencing all the emotions and losing track of time. While you wait out the holds list for Stockett's captivating work, check out one of these emotionally-charged historical fiction novels that take you back to the 1930s to explore a variety of lives from the time. 

Whale Fall by Elizabeth O'Connor 

In 1938 on a remote Welsh island, Manod is a young-woman navigating life as she cares for her sister and father. She can't help but wonder what life holds for her beyond the island. When a dead whale washes up on shore, she believes it's a symbol, but she isn't sure whether it's good or bad.   

The arrival of two ethnographers on the island also changes the course of Manod's life. They've come to study the culture of her community, but their documentation isn't faithful. Despite the sense of distrust she has, Manod is pulled to them as they offer her only means of leaving her home to explore what the world has to offer her.  

This debut novel from O'Connor is an entrancing story that considers the complexities of life and the way remote communities are spoken about. Grab a friend to do a buddy read with as this is a novel you will certainly want to talk about as soon as you finish! 

"Whale Fall is an astonishingly assured debut that straddles many polarities: love and loss, the familiar and the strange, trust and betrayal, land and sea, life and death. O’Connor has created a beguiling and beguiled narrator in Manod: I loved seeing the world through her eyes, and I didn’t want the novel to end." —Maggie O'Farrell, New York Times bestselling author of The Marriage Portrait and Hamnet

The Last Carolina Girl by Meagan Church 

Fourteen-year-old Leah lives alongside her lumberjack father in a coastal Caroline town. Her days are spent running through the forest to the shores and savoring the free country life, despite her impoverished upbringing. However, her simple and slower way of life doesn't last after tragedy strikes. 

Fair warning, this one does not contain the same lightness as The Calamity Club in its exploration of a difficult time in history. This is an emotionally intense and intricately plotted read that addresses Eugenics, injustice and teenage abuse.

If you want to try out a different novel from Church her latest work, The Mad Wife, follows 1950s housewife Lulu whose carefully crafted life begins to unravel after giving birth to her second child. It's a bit more suspenseful and you will think about the book long beyond the final chapter.  

"The Last Carolina Girl is a heart-wrenching and authentically rendered glimpse into the portal of a state’s secret dark culture, family ties, and the fierce strength of a young girl’s grit and resilience. Church is electric in her delivery of loss, longing and place. Unforgettable, this a powerful debut to savor." ―Kim Michele Richardson, bestselling author of The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Light to the Hills by Bonnie Blaylock

In the Kentucky Appalachian region during the 1930s people are just barely getting by in their isolated communities. Hard labor and coal mining are the way of life. When a new librarian arrives she brings hope to one mountain community. 

Amanda is a packhorse librarian and a young widowed mother. As she connects with the community, she feels most drawn to the MacInteer family, who remind Amanda of her own family and their complicated dynamic. As their connection deepens, Amanda shares a dangerous secret from her past that may come back to haunt her.

Blaylock's story is a testament to the power of words and human connection. Inevitable moments of darkness are found in Light on the Hills, but nonetheless it is a heartwarming story you won't be quick to forget. 

“A bright and vibrant debut. Light to the Hills is a touching meditation on motherhood and the importance of community, especially during difficult times. Bonnie Blaylock will be one to watch in the realm of historical fiction.” ―Olivia Hawker, bestselling author of One for the Blackbird, One for the Crow

I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows 

The dust coats everything. The animals, the windowsills, the hair and skin of everyone. It's 1934 in Mulehead, Oklahoma, and the early stages of the Dust Bowl are already taking control of everyone's life. Crops are dying and with little left to live on, people are packing up to leave.  

The Bell family lay in wait for the rain, but it's not easy toughing it out on the Great Plains. Annie Bell is pulled to find an escape with a secret admirer while her husband contends with disturbing dreams of rain. Meanwhile, dust pneumonia plagues their son Fred and their daughter Birdie is headed down a path full of secrets.   

You will be pulled into the story of the Bell family. Though they face great hardship, a sense of hope envelops the novel leaving you to root for the family as they navigate their new, unwelcome journey through life.  

“I Will Send Rain is delightfully vivid, both in the setting and the windows into the characters. The reader can taste the dust, and the longing in the characters' mouths. I didn't feel that I was reading as much as watching, and that kind of dive into prose always speaks highly for a novel.” –LitPub

China Dolls by Lisa See

In 1938 San Franscisco, three girls meet at the Forbidden City, an "Oriental" nightclub where they are auditioning for showgirl roles. Grace, an American-born Chinese girl, is trying to escape her abusive father in the Midwest. Helen is from a Chinese family with deep ties to San Francisco's Chinatown. Ruby is Japanese passing as Chinese. 

Although they are from different backgrounds, the girls find connection with one another. When the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor things come crumbling down for Ruby. The government is rounding up all Japanese people and sending them to internment camps, Ruby included. 

Set in the time leading up and into the start of World War II, China Dolls is a richly detailed story exploring the devastating effects of racial prejudice and betrayal. With chapters narrated from Grace, Helen and Ruby's point of view it is easy to immerse yourself in their stories as their complicated friendship and difficult life circumstances develop. 

“China Dolls mines a fascinating part of our cultural history through the story of a trio of women who become a complex constant in one another’s lives even as the world serves up painful transformation. Lisa See gets so much just right here. You’ll want to dive right in.”—Paula McLain, author of The Paris Wife