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Last week, I celebrated the 50th anniversary of the release of “Bohemian Rhapsody” on Halloween. Tina read Frankie by Graham Norton, set in Ireland, London, and New York.

Book: The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Dial Press
Publication date: 2024

Source: E-book borrowed from the library (twice)

Summary: World War I has ended, but the upheavals have only begun. Constance Haverhill has lived a life on the outskirts of gentry, gaining unappreciated skills that may or may not help her navigate the post-war world.

Everyone appreciated the work of women during the war, but now that the men are back from fighting, they should surely be given all the work. Never mind that there are women who must support themselves as well as women who want to continue to use their newly-discovered talents.

Constance’s new friend, Poppy Wirrall, wants to continue employing women as motorcycle taxi drivers. When her brother, Harris, comes home as an injured pilot, Poppy hopes to give him a new lease on life as an instructor for lady pilots.

These three characters, and many more, are in a world where class and gender roles are changing. Proper pre-war behavior is still the desired norm by many people. Others see that the way the world used to work is outdated and was always unfair. Opportunities for conflict abound, but it’s all set in a beach side resort town to charm the reader while exploring hard questions.

Thoughts: I started this book in June, but didn’t manage to finish until autumn because other books got in the way. I keep trying to improve my reading plan but with unpredictable library holds and reading moods, I accept that there will be imperfections in the pattern.

It’s a testament to this story that I could pick up this book right where I left off, several months later. The characters and situations stayed in my memory.

This is Helen Simonson’s third book and I’ve read all three. She is probably most well-known for her first novel, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, a contemporary novel. I also enjoyed The Summer Before the War, a historical novel set at the beginning of World War I. The one thing that these three books have in common is their settings in small English villages.

Simonson is not a very quick writer, but her books are worth the wait.

Appeal: If you enjoy reading books during their season, this is an excellent book to plan to read next summer. The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is a nice alternative to the WWII books that many of us enjoy. It’s fun to read a book set a generation earlier and at the end of a war rather than in the midst of it.