What a delight! I had no idea what to expect from this title but I was engaged from start to finish and feel that Helen Simonsen has captured the essence of the era and people really well.

Set at the end of the First World War, the book, in addition to being a charming adventure, explores a number of themes including class, sexism, disability and female empowerment. It was a time of significant social change and this is very successfully highlighted by Poppy and Carol, two central characters from different backgrounds. I loved the way boundaries were stretched and broken…women wearing trouser, flying, motorcycling. How audacious! But the world didn’t implode and the social attitudes of the time are well depicted, I was reminded at times of E F Benson’s exploration of class in the Mapp and Lucia chronicles. The Hazelbourne ladies have similar charm, humour and prescience and I really enjoyed this title.

Set towards the end of the 1918, this books is about the freedoms that were becoming available to different groups of people at the end of the First World War.
What begins as a story of women trying to make their mark ends with a clear understanding of what they could and could not do and the impact of the end of the war on the women of England.
I loved the characters, I really enjoyed the way the story was told and found out more than I expected about attitudes and ideas in 1918.

I am grateful to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the chance to read and review an ARC of this book.
Set in the aftermath of the First World War it chronicles many issues around at the time: the stiff necked social attitudes, the class structure and its inherent obstacles, the grief for lost family members, the struggle for wounded and disabled men, the push to set up new businesses using developing technologies and, of course, the struggle for women to gain recognition and independence.
Constance is caught between two worlds: she grew up among, but not part of, aristocratic society and is acutely aware of the need to make her way in the world at a time when opportunities were severely restricted by the perceived need to provide jobs for returning servicemen. The motorcycle and flying club appears to offer opportunities.
The family and social interactions are well observed; the writing is sound and the characters are credible.
My only mild criticism is that the book is somewhat over long.

I DNF’d this. I think the premise of the book sounds interesting and I love historical fiction but I just couldn’t connect with the characters.

I have never come across Helen Simonson’s works before. After I finished The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club, I saw that her debut novel, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand was published in twenty one countries… so I can’t understand how I’ve never read her until now! The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is set in the summer after World War I and follows the story of Constance, initially portrayed as a young woman without prospects, who befriends Poppy, who runs a ladies' motorcycle club.
The novel explores the challenges faced by women in the post-war era, including issues of class, sex and race and addresses the ambitions, frustrations, and tragedies of both the women and the men emerging from the Great War.
It’s an absolute must for lovers of historical fiction especially if you enjoy reading about resilient and independent women - because Constance and Poppy are the epitome of female empowerment.

This book was brilliant!
Totally recommend it.

Following WW1 all the women who had stepped into male roles during the war were expected to return to their drawing rooms and find a husband.

We meet a rag tag group of women who aren’t prepared to do that.
Constance is experiencing a change of circumstances and must become independent. As she tries to find a place for herself in the world of work, she befriends Poppy and her team of motorcycle delivery drivers.

On one level a fun romp of a book, but covering many issues of the age.
Well worth a read!

Thank you to NetGalley and author and publisher for a copy to review.

I really enjoyed Helen Simonson’s The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club. There is humour; there is romance; and there is an uncomfortable reminder that 1919 was a time when women and non-white people were treated as second-class citizens.

Many men went off to fight during WWI, leaving their roles to be performed by women – in most cases, at least as well as the men had performed them, and sometimes better. However, a difficult situation arose when a man was demobbed. Should the woman be replaced by the returning soldier / sailor? If not, the man had no income and his family would starve. Society would have broken its promise that a conscript would return to the job they left. However, as we see from this book, the woman was also dependent upon the income they earned from that job. She might be a war widow with a family to feed – how could she do that without a wage? We can see with a hundred years’ hindsight that the answer is “Create more jobs” but that, too, is difficult when inflation is high and the government tries to regulate prices and incomes.

Britain drew upon its empire to provide soldiers, sailors and airmen but, again, once the war ended, racial intolerance outweighed gratitude. Indian soldiers were snubbed and openly discriminated against.

When Constance Haverhill was a girl, her best friend was Rachel Mercer and Constance, now an adult, is spending the summer as companion to Rachel’s grandmother in a seaside hotel at Hazelbourne-on-Sea. Just to show that prejudice doesn’t just pick its victims by gender or race, Constance is bullied by Rachel’s mother because of her class.

In the hotel, Constance makes the acquaintance of Poppy Wirrall, a highly unconventional woman who wears trousers and rides a motor-bike. Poppy runs a small business – the Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle Club – and has a handsome brother who lost a leg in the war. Constance becomes friendly with both Wirralls, although Harris can be acerbic; and gets drawn into the doings of the Club. She discovers the sheer joy of going fast on a motor-bike and even faster in an aeroplane. At the front of her mind, though, is the constant nagging question, “How am I going to get a job and earn a living when the summer is over?” A couple of interviews go badly, with one prospective employer sitting far too close to her and holding her hand; and another telling her that her ways must change if she takes the job, including ceasing her friendship with Poppy.

I really enjoyed the book, although I despaired so often on Constance’s behalf. It was all so unfair: the sexual discrimination engrained in society and sanctioned by unjust laws; the snobbishness and the cruelty meted out by the so-called upper-classes. A banker says “I believe the war widows receive generous pensions” and is told by Poppy, “If you believe any of the war pensions are generous, you have not tried to pay they rent with one.” The love, tolerance and generosity of some characters matches the cruelty, snobbishness and prejudice of others, but there a couple of truly shocking, horrible moments that I doubt I shall forget.

Niggles? The author has dual US and British nationality and can please herself about spelling, but this is a book about Britain, so it really grates to read “Labor” instead of “Labour”. And I know it’s meant to reflect Harris’s thinking, but the narrator referring to Constance as “the Haverhill girl” in the narration alienates us and disturbs the flow. These are definitely minor points, though.

#HazelbourneLadies #NetGalley.