This heartrending but ultimately heartwarming historical fiction novel is set in 1933 Oxford, Mississippi. The country was in the middle of “The Great Depression,” considered to be the longest and most severe economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world. The main characters trying to survive through the hardships of this time are some of the bravest, most enterprising females you could ever hope to meet, who alternate narration in this book.

We first meet Birdie Calhoun, 24, as she is trying to buy 99 condoms – the most you could buy without a prescription – from the pharmacy. Birdie has traveled from her home in the little town of Footely, Mississippi to visit her younger sister Frances in Oxford. Frances was married to Rory Tartt, and living with him in his mother Viktoria’s large house. Birdie, Mama, and Meemaw believed the Tartts had money and might help them; they were running out of it themselves, and were worried the bank would repossess their house.

Meg Lefleur is next, a 11-year old orphan who is smart, funny, and being seriously abused at the LaFayette County Orphan Asylum for Girls, where she has lived for the past two years. This institution had a “welcome” sign out front noting it did not accept:

“Coloreds, Indians, Jews, Mexicans, Oriental types, Twins, Anyone who has or has had Leprosy, Consumption, Missing Limbs or Harelip. No Boys. No Sick Children or anyone of a Retarded Nature. No Girls Over the age of twelve. No Women in the Family Way. We do not deliver Babies here. May the Lord bless you all.”

Charlie Lefleur is Meg’s mother. She was the victim of profound injustice, and Meg being taken from her and put into that awful orphanage was the worst of it. She is desperate to get Meg back, and that means she needs money. She will do whatever it takes.

Birdie, Charlie, Frances, and Rory’s mother Viktoria all end up in an uneasy coalition living at the Tartt house, trying to make some cash both to save themselves and the ones they love.

That wasn’t the most significant alliance of the book, however. Frances was unwilling to do much to help make money, even though money and status were her loadstars. But Birdie and Charlie found some ladies who would. Soon Flossy, Ruby, the twins Trixie and Dixie, and Esmeralda were also living in the house. They were also joined by Virginia Cunningham, a medical lab assistant intent on becoming a woman doctor. No men were around to save them. Instead, these intrepid women became a family, supporting and empowering each other. As Birdie mused:

“This slapped-together band of misfits made me feel, for the first time, that I truly belonged. How the hell, I wondered, did I ever get so lucky?”

The primary adversary in the book is a woman named Garnett Pittman, who personified the cruelty, hypocrisy, and malice of those who sit in moral judgment on others, and unfortunately have the power to do something about it.

Birdie’s sister Frances was not as much of a villain as Garnett, but definitely did not fill a positive role in Birdie’s life. Frances was overly concerned with social standing, material goods, and other peoples’ opinions. She regularly blamed Birdie for her own problems and tried to whittle down Birdie’s self esteem.

In the end, however, Birdie proved to everyone around her, and even to herself, that she was a force to be reckoned with.

Discussion: There are some important themes in the book that form the background of the story and drive it forward.

Misogyny
Hypocrisy
Prejudice and racism
Self-hate vs. self-acceptance
Tolerance vs. hate and fear
Cowardice vs. bravery

Some of these reflected societal biases back then – maybe now too. Stockett devotes her “After Note” to these issues, filling in readers on the laws in effect in Mississippi in 1933.

For example, a federal law passed by Congress in 1918 regarding women’s health – The Chamberlain-Kahn Act, also known as “the American Plan” – legalized and encouraged police to stop any woman on the street who looked “promiscuous.” Police were to detain the woman and test her for sexually transmitted diseases. Stockett reports that tens of thousands of American women were seized and “forcibly examined,” as historian Scott W. Stern writes:

“If they misbehaved or if they failed to show ‘proper’ ladylike deference, these women could be beaten, doused with cold water, thrown in solitary confinement — or even sterilized.”

In addition, Mississippi passed a eugenics-based sterilization law in 1928, becoming the 26th state in the U.S. to do so. The law, which targeted individuals in state institutions deemed “feeble-minded,” insane, epileptic, or “sexually promiscuous” was part of a broader, systemic effort to control the reproduction of marginalized groups in the South, often resulting in coerced or forced sterilizations that continued into the 1960s and 1970s.

(One of the famous victims of the “Mississippi appendectomy” was the Civil Rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer.)

Stockett mentions that California’s sterilization practices even became models for the Nazi regime.

Evaluation: I was so impressed by the author’s ability to craft flawed, messy, but ultimately lovable characters. They seemed so authentic and relatable that it was impossible not to form emotional connections to them. You will not want to miss the chance to get to know them; they had hard choices to make, and opted to do what was necessary for those they loved in spite of the risk of social obloquy and worse. I won’t easily forget them, and in fact, am hoping there might be a sequel of sorts just so I can keep up with these wonderful women.

Rating: 5/5

Published by Spiegel & Grau, 2026

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