Recommended to me, but isn't 656 pages too long?

Beginning with the Prologue

September 1933 ... Downtown Drugstore had a bell on the door that made a single tink sound when you opened it.  Oxford Pharmacy had two bells on its door so it was more of a ta-tink, though nothing to startle over.   But the Gathright-Reed Drug Co. door bore a foot-long strip of brass sleigh bells on its knob, which, when turned, sent metal balls clanging to announce somebody's coming in the dang store so you better turn around and look see who it is.  And if you did, you'd see me.

The Calamity Club ~ by Kathryn Stockett, 2026, historical fiction (Mississippi), 656 pages

Abandoned by her mother one Christmas Eve, eleven-year-old Meg Lefleur has learned the hard way to rely on no one.  Now one of the unadoptable "big girls" at the Lafayette County Orphan Asylum, she fights each day to keep her spirit unbowed.  Birdie Calhoun, unmarried and outspoken, has come to Oxford to ask her socialite sister to help the struggling family she’s left behind.  But as the Depression tightens its grip, Birdie discovers her sister’s seemingly charmed life is a tapestry of lies.

Then, Birdie encounters Charlie, a woman running low on luck with little left to lose.  When their fates — and Meg’s — converge, Charlie comes up with an audacious plan for them to take control of their lives.  But in a place and time where hypocrisy is rife and women’s freedom is fragile, even the smallest act of defiance can have dangerous consequences.  The Calamity Club will make you laugh, cry, and cheer — an epic testament to underestimated women who know that calamity can be the spark of new beginnings.  This is Kathryn Stockett at her most confident, heartfelt, and hilarious — the triumphant return of one of the most beloved storytellers of our time.