The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club by Helen Simonson

In 1919, Constance Haverhill has lost her mother to influenza and then her nephew. She helped run the local estate during the war, but now is sent to a seaside hotel in Hazelbourne as companion to Mrs. Fog, convalescing from the flu. Constance has no home or permanent job since her mother’s death. This historical novel seems to be meant to occasionally move the reader to anger or indignation on how some of the characters are treated, by other characters or society at large.

Captain Harris Wirrall, a pilot in the war, lost a leg and can’t get work as a pilot. His sweetheart doesn’t want him, and his mother is remodeling Penneston Hall with funds he doesn’t have. His sister Poppy runs a women’s tax business: motorcycles with side cars. Hotel waiter Klaus, with German ancestry, has daily indignities to face, and more. Mr. Pendra gets discriminated against simply for being Indian, though he served valiantly in the war. A German U-boat is stranded on the beach, and the leaders of Hazelbourne try a variety of ways to have it removed or destroyed.

I attended Jane Healey’s Historical Happy Hour recently where she interviewed author Helen Simonson. Helen, who lives in Sussex and is best known for her book Major Pettigrew Takes a Stand, researched this novel from home in 2020. Among other digital resources, Helen read digitized issues of early motorcycling magazines, and learned about another town with a stranded U-boat. Her grandparents had a motorcycle with a sidecar.

Constance’s childhood friend, Mrs. Fog’s granddaughter, is coming back to Hazelbourne for a wedding to a rather unpleasant American. Mrs. Fog reconnects with her old sweetheart from Barbados, but her family doesn’t approve. Constance finds herself taking a few flying lessons, and stands in as a copilot when someone else gets cold feet about flying in a Sopwith Camel.

Other than mysteries, I haven’t read many books set immediately after World War I.  The author’s research helped Constance’s daily life and the seaside setting come to life. This is a memorable though bittersweet read, as women find it hard to keep jobs after the war and everyone is grieving the loss of someone from either the war or influenza. Constance, Harris, Poppy, and Mrs. Fog are all vividly drawn characters, and I wanted to read more about them.

Brenda