3.5 Stars

This story begins after WW1, as the men who survived are returning home, and those who didn’t are mourned by their families and those who loved them. But this is less a story about the war, it is about how the war reshaped the lives of the women left behind, who had little choice but to make their way by finding jobs.

Constance is the main character in this story, a young woman whose parents have died, and so she turns to an important woman in the village, and is able to serve as a companion to the family’s grandmother while she seeks a position that will allow her enough funds to live on.

When Poppy enters the picture, she becomes friends with Constance, and introduces her to the women in her motorcycle taxi service which started out as more of a hobby, but also a necessary way to both do something important to her and help other women who are in need of jobs.

When the men returned, they expected the women to return to their former lives, dependent upon the men, but the women have become quite content in their freedom to make their own decisions, which is fine with some of the men, and one in particular, but doesn’t sit well with the majority of men.

There is an essence of charm sprinkled throughout this story, while also sharing some of the darker side of war. The lives lost, the heartbreak are touched on, while also inserting somewhat disturbing views of husbands who rule the roost.

I loved the beginning - when the motorcycle taxi service begins, and the women begin to recognize the freedom they have acquired as the war continued, and beyond that, the way that embracing their freedom gave them a stronger belief that they were, indeed, equal.


Pub Date: 07 May 2024

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group-Random House, The Dial Press

Constance Haverhill's future is dismally uncertain. During the Great War, she managed the estate office for the Mercer family. Lady Mercer and Constance's mother were childhood chums, but because of their social class differences, Constance's mother was relegated to part-time governess and invitee to the "less distinguished" dinner parties. With the war over now, Constance is just one of thousands of women who are being told to vacate their jobs to make way for the returning soldiers. Constance's beloved mother was a victim of the influenza epidemic, and the young woman is not welcome at her brother's farm, where he and his wife are grieving the flu-related loss of their baby.

A temporary reprieve is found when Constance is asked to be caretaker for Lady Mercer's mother, who is planning a summer-long seaside holiday. At the Hazelborne-on-Sea's Meredith Hotel, Constance meets Poppy Wirrall, an ebullient iconoclast whose cadre of female motorcycle riders provided messenger services during the war, and are now planning to continue working as taxi drivers. Constance is drawn into Poppy's circle of friends and family, including her brother Harris, a former fighter pilot who lost his leg in a fiery plane crash.

The plot takes most of the novel's first half to get off the ground (sorry not sorry), but once it is truly launched it soars. Simonson (author of the bestselling Major Pettigrew's Last Stand) weaves in numerous themes on her way to an explosive climax: the post-war reversal of women's equality gains; the reestablishment of class distinctions that were weakened in the trenches; the hypocrisy of honoring the men who died in battle while hiding away the seriously wounded; the toxic, lingering anti-German sentiment; and the unyielding racism towards Black and Indian people.

The redoubtable Constance is a bit Mary Sue-ish, always on the side of Justice and Fairness (her name can't be a coincidence), but it's rewarding to watch her come out of her shell and find a place in the this New Normal. Predictably, she is a key to Harris' emergence from depression and isolation, but his recovery journey is predicated on more than just the love of a Good Woman. Poppy is a fascinating character, torn between forging a new path and acknowledging the still limited choices available for women. And it's impossible to not love the elderly Mrs. Fog, who proves that there's no age limit on a HEA ending.

There is a bit of humor in the story, primarily in the townspeople's increasingly futile attempts to get rid of a German U boat that washed up on their shore. But the events of the final chapters have a sobering effect. Constance has found her place and her man, but there's already a hint that the extreme xenophobia seen in Hazelbourne's otherwise delightful residents will contribute to a short-lived peace.

ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for objective review.

I really like reading about women in the post-World War One era (the Maisie Dobbs books start here!) and this didn't disappoint. The world and characters that Constance falls into make for a really compelling read and I was transported to the English seaside.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to review an ARC of this novel.

Helen Simonson’s earlier novels, especially the wonderful Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, are the best kind of historical fiction, written with warmth and wisdom and characters who are imperfectly human and therefore very real. Her latest, set during the difficult transition between the Great War and the Jazz Age, centres on Constance Haverhill. Except for the group of young women she is suddenly swept into, Constance is fairly representative of any respectable lower-middle class woman of her times. In her early twenties, intelligent and resourceful, the loss of family and position in the wake of war and the flu epidemic leave her confronting an unsettled world with little to offer someone like her. In Britain as elsewhere, society is still reeling from the losses, and everything is in disarray. For some, especially women, workers, and veterans, further sacrifice and struggle are in order.

During the war, women like Catherine stepped into traditional male work, only to be « let go » for the sake of returned men. She had flourished as the manager of Lady Mercer’s estate, taking care of her widowed mother, and living in her own allotted cottage. In the trying summer of 1919, her mother and baby niece have died of the flu, and all that disappears. The best her former employer can offer is a temporary position as a lady’s companion to an elderly friend recovering from the flu at a seaside resort.

Hazelbourne-on-Sea is a popular summer destination, and the Meredith Hotel, despite its somewhat shabby appearance and the effects of food rationing on its menu, still attracts the upper classes and professionals. The hotel itself is symbolic of the struggle between traditional prewar social comportment and the emerging modern behavior, especially among the young—women in particular. Unmarried women under 30 (the age of majority) cannot be served unaccompanied in the Grand Dining Room—they can take meals in their rooms or in the garden. They must be chaperoned at all public events. Yet the more privileged among them—the wealthy and titled—sneak in flasks, drink “disguised ” alcohol, wear the new revealing fashions, and dance uninhibited to racy ragtime music. The Grand Dining Room waiter, Klaus Zeiger, has fallen from prewar glory because of his German origins. His sad story is also part of the larger narrative.

Through the unconventional Lady Wirrall, a once famous actress who married a local baronet and is staying at the hotel while her estate is renovated, Catherine enters the younger circle of an elevated social strata. She is befriended the Wirrall offspring and their friends. Their father died in the epidemic. Harris, an RAF officer, returned from the war without a leg only to find that he can’t be hired as a commercial pilot because of concerns about how passengers would react to an amputee. The fearless pants-wearing Poppy drove motorcycles, trucks and ambulances at the front, and wants to continue in that line despite the shock and horror of all respectable people.

Poppy’s fledging business gives the book its title. With other young women who gave their all at the front and on the home front, she wants to start a special taxi service, especially for women, to provide safe and reliable rides in completely enclosed motorcycle sidecars. All taxis will be driven by women.

The disillusioned Constance is drawn out of her obscurity and anxiety, and even succeeds in bringing her frail elderly employer, Mrs Fog, out of her room, by her chance encounter with this unusual family. The intrepid Poppy gets her on board in every sense, and when she buys a disabled airplane for her depressed brother to fix, things really start flying.

Simonson is a skilled and thoughtful writer who can make readers take in both the seriousness of a situation and the wry humour behind it. She manages at once to skewer the upper class twits while making it clear that their adjustments to the new postwar world is also difficult. She is especially good at showing the « lost-ness » of the rising generational. The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is an emblem of the best the new age can offer to young women like Catherine—freedom, exhilaration, purpose. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I loved Major Pettigrew's Last Stand so I was excited to dig in! The premise sparked my interest right away. Much to my delight, this new novel from Helen Simonson contains her trademark warmth and wit. The characters are multi-dimensional and interesting, particularly the women who are facing many changes after the war, and the returning soldiers who must adjust while still being haunted by its tragedies. Simonson handles class issues with a deft hand. I especially enjoyed how she portrays the characters' inner lives. As you can tell from this review, the novel is certainly character-driven, and I highly recommend it for fans of character-driven fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy; all opinions in this review are 100% my own.

This is a delightful adventure that takes place after WW1. The characters and events are delightfully crafted,
with strong women, who having been working hard and keeping the family owned operations well afloat,
having to adjust to having the men home and not exactly understanding the changes in the women.
This is a life affirming story that warms the heart. I loved the conclusion…
My thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for a download of the book for review purposes.

I LOVE Helen Simonson and I am so happy she is back and she did not disappoint. Thank you for sharing the ARC!

Having read Helen Simonson before, I was excited to get the chance for an ARC of her latest book, and it did not disappoint. I enjoyed the historical setting because I have read a lot about World War II and the role of women but not much about World War I. It was interesting to discover that the pressure on women to leave their independence and jobs behind and retreat to the home was even put into law to force them to give up jobs to the men. The characters are mostly interesting and the setting at a seaside hotel in England is entertaining. Main character Constance is the daughter of a genteel farmer who is forced to make her own way after her parents die. Because she and her mother gave great aid to the nearby "grand dame" of her village, she is allowed to accompany the grandmother of the family to the resort to serve as a companion for a few weeks while she looks for a position after her mother's death. Socialite Poppy has created a motorcycle taxi service as a bit of a hobby and to employ some of the young women being pushed out of jobs. She befriends Constance and draws her into the club. The circumstances didn't seem very realistic to me for the time, but I'm not British so that may be why! There were nice people to enjoy and plenty of snobs and villains to dislike. I suggest you just suspend disbelief and enjoy the story.
Thanks to Netgalley and The Dial Press for an ARC in exchange for a fair review.

Review: The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson

This was a warm & enjoyable story, taking place after WW1 & the Spanish flu epidemic. The story has strong characters, villains, sadness, and resilience. There isn’t an overarching plot to this book, but there is fun, adventure, real emotions, friendship, romance, with both happy & sad endings. It doesn’t shy away from hard truths & issues of the era, perhaps leaning towards pushing it too much.

Writing: 4/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 4/5

Constance Haverhill is a girl with few prospects. 1919 finds her spending a summer as companion to an elderly lady at a posh hotel at the seaside with an unpleasant future looming before her. The Pre-War Practices Act of 1919 gave returning soldiers their pre-war jobs back and forbade women from holding jobs in Covered Occupations. While Constance is pondering her (limited) options, she meets and is befriended by Poppy Wirrall, a local baronet’s daughter and proprietor of the fledgling women’s motorcycle-based taxi service which she hopes to expand to flying lessons for women. Poppy’s primary goal is to keep women employed and progressing while the government and local councils work equally hard to send the women back to homes and domestic service.

The book is beautifully written with a cast of compelling characters set in a very realistic post-war environment. Each person represents a kind of cohort of the day — women facing the loss of their livelihood and an (extremely) limited supply of potential husbands, wounded soldiers returning to a population that doesn’t want to be reminded of the war, those of the wealthy class still scheming for good matches at the expense of ethics and friendship, foreign born naturalized citizens who had been detained during the war and relegated to low status jobs, and even a mysterious Indian national whose character brings to light the treatment of Indians in Britain and the under-appreciated contribution of Indian men in the war. Simonson writes with intricate detail about the inner thoughts and struggles of several characters as well as painting a comprehensive picture of life in that era. It’s an Austen-style novel of manners combined with a feminist look at post-war lives in Britain with a little romance tossed in.

My only complaint might be that certain “types” of people were not given interior lives but were presented as pure negative stereotypes — mostly people of the monied class and one horribly stereotyped American. I’m sure there were plenty of Americans at the time who really were that unpleasant, but being an American myself I would have enjoyed having at least one “decent” American included :-)

This novel was a delightful read. It takes place in the summer of 1919, and follows several young people who are adjusting to life after the war. Many of the women worked during the war, and have now found themselves without those jobs. Some are trying to survive on the small war widows pensions by augmenting it by other work. They aren't the only ones seemingly locked out of the work they had been doing. Men who were injured also find themselves treated as incapable.
The central character here is Constance Haverhill. Constance's mother grew up with another woman who married into a titled family, while Constance's mother married a farmer. They continued to call each other best friends, but it seems like Lady Mercer treated her friend as an unpaid worker, often calling on her to help with childcare and other household endeavours. During the war, Constance worked as estate manager for the Mercers, but found herself quickly ousted when the war ended. With her mother dead from the influenza epidemic, she found herself called on to nurse Lady Mercer's mother, Mrs. Fog when she was ill. Her 'reward' is to act as companion to Mrs. Fog while she convalesces at a seaside hotel.
But it is in this town that both Constance and Mrs. Fog encounter second chances. Constance meets another young woman her age, Poppy Wirrall. Poppy is also the daughter in a titled family, and she spent the war, along with other young women, working as motorcycle messengers. Poppy has started a small company offering motorcycle taxi (using sidecars) and delivery services, with a variety of young women employed part-time doing this work. Some have other jobs or widows pensions that they augment by working for her.
Poppy's brother was a pilot during the war, and lost part of one leg in action. He is back at home, but depressed by the loss of many men he considered friends, and the inability of others to consider him employable.
Constance is a calming force to Poppy's impulsiveness and exuberance, and as she begins to take chances, and open herself up to other possibilities in her life, I found myself hoping for a more promising future for her than she expected at the book's beginning.
I also enjoyed Mrs. Fog, watching her go from recovering invalid to putting her own wishes first, despite the pressure of those she'd given into previously.
I also found the story of the German waiter Klaus Zeiger touching. He is the quintessential waiter, always observant, mindful of propriety, and empathetic to the needs of those he serves. He is also highly aware of his ethnic baggage and how it has affected his life both during the war and now. I really appreciated that Constance saw him as a person, beyond his role.
This is a novel of a time of great changes and adjustments and not all of them are fair or pleasant. This novel has moments of outrage, sadness, and joy. Well worth reading.

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand is one of my favorite books so I was thrilled to get the ARC for Helen Simonson's latest book. I loved this one almost as much! The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club beautifully captures the post WWI era in England. Simonson's writing firmly places you in the period and showcases the societal challenges women faced as the war ends and the men return home and to the jobs they'd left behind. Loved, loved, loved this!

Thank you Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

This adult novel captured the post WWI feel so well, and I enjoyed the story. The style was very similar to Margery Sharp (Cluny Brown, The Foolish Gentlewoman), and the period details were fantastic.

I have not read any previous books by Helen Simonson and I enjoyed the breezy storytelling of The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club.
The book tells the tale of Constance and how she meets the enigmatic Poppy and her colleagues and motorcycle enthusiast friends Iris and Tilly and of course the moody but handsome Harris who was injured in the war.
The period is well written about and the characters are likeable and interesting which makes for an entertaining read.

I heartily endorse The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson.

It’s a rich story, a fully immersive historic narrative and just a great read. The characters are sharply observed, fully dimensional and they’ve stayed with me well after I finished reading the book.

I would recommend Simonson’s new book to anyone who loves historic novels, World War I stories, vintage aviation, Anglophiles and anyone who enjoys a well-told story.

Although it took a while to hook me, hook me it did! Although there were some truly unlikeable characters (but who were true to the era), there were many more that I admired was excited to follow through the various foibles of post-WWII life in English society. Thank you for an excellent read!

Well done historical novel set after WWI, following the Spanish Flu epidemic, that breathes life into an era. During the war women provided services normally performed by the men who had been sent off, giving them their first experience of freedom and accomplishment in the workforce. Upon the men's return, they were expected to return happily to supportive roles. Here we have some renegades who refuse to fall under that category, and while the plot was a bit slow in getting started, I felt it was necessary to establish character. Some reviewers have found this imponderable, but I think a bit of patience was required to give the book its due.

This book was sent to me without me requesting it. Which was awesome, however I gave up 26% through the book. It has a great premise - a women's motorcycle club in a time period that women couldn't even where trousers. BUT where was the excitement, activity and thrill of the Motorcycle movement?!?

I think in the quarter of book I read motorcycles were mentioned 3, maybe 4 times. And Poppy's motorcycle club once!! . I wanted more about a rebel girl's movement and to see Constance change and grow in her friendship with Poppy and the motorcycle club. I'm sure it eventually gets there, but I feel 28% should have got the main plot moving. Without that aspect, I found the book boring and nothing original for books set in the same period.

Helen Simonson's The Summer Before the War is one of my very favorite books, so I was very excited to see she has written a new novel. The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is set just after the Great War, and is another wonderful slice of life in England during that time period. The cast of characters includes every day people, wealthy and titled Ladies of the British uppercrust, and everything in between. Girls with great responsibilities during the war are reluctantly having to give up their freedoms and jobs and positions to men returning from the war. Military men, wounded and others, are returning to civilian life. Everything is changing. While this is mainly the story of Constance, our heroine, and a group of girls trying to keep their Motorcycle club going after the war amidst these changes, it is also a record of the times. A solid 4+ stars, for a wonderfully captured era. many thanks to NetGalley and Random House / Dial Press for the e-arc. A truly lovely book.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC: Simonson is a master of historical fiction. This book is set just after WWI as the solders are returning--with all of their wounds--and displacing the young women who have been in the workforce during the war. The central character is a young woman of no means, who is nursing an older woman back from the flu while she plans to find work. As they spend time at a seaside resort she is befriended by a woman of means who is running a motorcycle club, and later flying club. While telling an enjoyable tale, Simonson touches on class, race, misogyny, social issues and adds romance as well. The characters are well developed and within the enjoyable story is history and depth. Recommended.