During the aftermath of World War I, the pretty town of Hazelbourne-On-Sea houses a complex array of characters dealing with the change that war brings. It also harbours the prejudices of the era … class distinction, sexism and racism.
Constance is our main character, a very capable woman who managed an estate during the war, but now must leave her job to make way for the returning men. While visiting Hazelbourne, she meets Poppy, a wealthy but fiercely independent woman who, during the war runs a motorcycle club, which is a taxi service giving employment to local women. This too, is threatened by the new Labour Force, which states that women must return to the kitchen sink and make way for the men. Poppy also dreams of a Flying Club to help her wounded brother gain his self-esteem.
Karl, the lone German in the town was interred during the war and now works as a waiter in a hotel. He introduces us to the seedy side of the town, where the poor, broken and displaced reside. Pendra, an Indian captain is shunned by high society, until they discover he is a Maharaja and then clamour for his attention.
Constance is the likeable voice of reason, while confronting the snobbery and derisive attitudes towards ‘broken men’ she believes that ‘education and intelligence make one the equal of all’. The story is told with humour but also a depth of insight into the changing attitudes of the time.
The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is an easy read: well-developed historical fiction with just the right touch of romance.
Reviewed by Sue Stanbridge
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Helen Simonson was born in England and spent her teenage years in a small village in East Sussex. A graduate of the London School of Economics, she has spent the last three decades in the United States and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Simonson is married, with two grown sons, and is the author of the New York Times bestselling debut novel Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand. This is her second novel.
0 Comments