If you are put off by the length of THE CALAMITY CLUB, just start reading it. You won't be put off for long. You may, as a matter of fact, wish it were longer by the time you get to the end. I am hoping for a sequel. It's that good.

The reviews of THE CALAMITY CLUB that I read before its publication said that it is about a group of women. While that is true and it can explain the title, the book is way more than that. A more accurate description would say that THE CALAMITY CLUB is about an 11-year-old orphan, Meg, a bleeding-heart spinster, Birdie, and Meg's mother, Charlie; and getting the orphan back together with her mother with the help of the Calamity Club.

Characters are so well developed in this book, including every woman in the Calamity Club, with Charlie as their lead. But THE CALAMITY CLUB concentrates mostly on Birdie and Meg. The whole story is told from each of their perspectives in alternate chapters. These are the two characters you will care about most.

Something that not all readers will care about but some, like me, will: Meg's chapters do not use quotation marks. Italics indicate quotations. But why? And why not in Birdie's chapters? I think that must mean something but what?

Thank you, thank you to LibraryThing. I won this great book through their Early Reviewers program.