The Calamity Club

 

I've taken a deep dive into this book which is 600 pages long!  I loved the author's The Help, which came out years ago and was made into an excellent movie.  I thought I'd read this when it first came out, but I hesitated because of its length.  Finally, a little late to the game, I did start reading it.  And I've been at it for three weeks and am now 75% of the way along.

The book is told from a couple of points of view - an 11 year old orphan, an unrelated sister in her 20s trying to help her family survive the great Depression, and a few others who slip in along the way.  It's 1933 in Oxford, Mississippi.  I kept thinking about that Bob Dylan song Oxford Town as I read:  "The sun don't shine above the ground..."  Segregation, poverty, and social mores are all a part of everyday life portrayed here.

I look forward to finishing, but sometimes the stories are so intense that I just have to step away for a while.  This is a book that will only be read completely by those who can endure its intensity and length.  The Help made much more of an immediate impact on readers - and was shorter, too.  Yet I'm glad to be reading this novel as there's a lot to think about and wonderful characters, too.