Author Kathryn Stockett has signed with CAA.
Stockett is behind The Calamity Club, which was released on May 5 and is currently in its 19th week on the New York Times bestseller list. The book has sold over 1.5 million copies in the U.S. to date, and is scheduled to be printed in 35 languages.
The Calamity Club is a historical fiction novel set in 1933 during the Great Depression that follows an orphan and a spinster as they form an unlikely sisterhood in an attempt to take control of their lives and futures. The New York Times review of the book reads: “All this action is carried relentlessly forward on the surf of Stockett’s full-hearted, down-to-earth prose, her dialogue and inner monologues so well crafted that each sentence gives the impression of being not crafted at all, but inevitable.“
The Calamity Club is only Stockett’s second novel and her first in 17 years. Her first was The Help, itself a New York Times bestseller that sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
The Help, which is set in Mississippi in the 1960s and follows an aspiring writer who interviews the Black maids about the white families they work for, was made into a 2011 feature film starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer. The movie, released by Disney, earned over $200 million at the global box office. It was nominated for best picture, and Spencer won an Oscar for best supporting actress for her role.