It is the summer of 1919 and Constance Haverhill is without prospects. Now that all the men have returned from the front, she has been asked to give up her cottage and her job at the estate she helped run during the war. While she looks for a position as a bookkeeper or—horror—a governess, she’s sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel. Despite having only weeks to find a permanent home, Constance is swept up in the social whirl of Hazelbourne-on-Sea after she rescues the local baronet’s daughter, Poppy Wirrall, from a social faux pas.

Poppy wears trousers, operates a taxi and delivery service to employ local women, and runs a ladies’ motorcycle club (to which she plans to add flying lessons). She and her friends enthusiastically welcome Constance into their circle. And then there is Harris, Poppy’s recalcitrant but handsome brother—a fighter pilot recently wounded in battle—who warms in Constance’s presence. But things are more complicated than they seem in this sunny pocket of English high society. As the country prepares to celebrate its hard-won peace, Constance and the women of the club are forced to confront the fact that the freedoms they gained during the war are being revoked.

Whip-smart and utterly transportive, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club is historical fiction of the highest order: an unforgettable coming-of-age story, a tender romance, and a portrait of a nation on the brink of change.

Dear Ms. Simonson, 

Huzzah. A new book from you. I’d almost given up when I saw it on a “to be released” list and sprang at the chance to read it. It’s a complicated and at times melancholy and heartbreaking book. It also, yeah, takes a while to get into gear and truly had me guessing how certain things would be resolved.

Constance Haverhill is drifting in the early summer of 1919. She has been firmly eased out of the job she did to “do her part” for the war effort. Dreading becoming a governess, she gladly agrees to be a companion to a (truly sweet) elderly lady at a seaside resort and there becomes acquainted with a group of women similarly looking for the means to support themselves. The War has changed social mores and expectations, or so Constance and the other women hope. But has it really and is Constance truly a part of this society or merely there for a summer?

Rereading my review of “The Summer Before the War,” I should have remembered that your style is to slowly introduce the characters, set the scene, and only then allow the story to get going. This mimics the slower pace of life in a smaller seaside vacation town of 1919. People are not flicking and scrolling their phone screens and rushing around. Even with the gentler tempo, things are still going too quickly for middle aged characters who decry the sudden changes that are jolting their world. Meanwhile (usually wealthy) young women who see new opportunities are champing at the bit to enjoy life or, if they’re working class, are desperately attempting to find a job and scrounge a living. Those who fought and survived are learning how to live with their new realities.

Tertiary characters fill out the background and show how various social outcasts ease through this world. Naturalized German Klaus was once a sought after waiter in better hotels but made it through the war working hard in low rent jobs in London. Captain Pendra, a skilled Indian pilot, had to approach the French to get a commission before the embarrassed British would accept his credentials. Simon and Matilde de Champney have always faced racism due to their mother and the fact that their parents weren’t married. Sam might have money but it was made through trade so he’s not quite totally accepted into the golden circle. Meanwhile as one working class man says the rich live by different rules. 

Constance is inhabiting a middle ground. She’s not truly a part of the wealthy titled world that she lives in and can easily see herself sinking into the unnoticed working class. She knows that she must forge her way in the world which still views women as wives and mothers even though there is now a generation of women who will never find a husband. The camaraderie she sees in the motorcycle club draws her though some women are dilettantes and others are looking for money to supplement woeful pensions. I liked Constance and felt she was standing up for herself as well as she could in her situation. Yes, she bites her tongue at times but she has to keep on on the good side of certain characters who control her employment. But she does stick up for Mrs. Fog and that woman’s lovely second chance.  

She’s not at all sure about the brother of her new friend, Poppy. Harris has inherited a barontency but is mired in depression due to his amputation and the feeling that he should have died in the war with his friends. He is (usually) well mannered but also brittle and given to retiring from social events. A strong sense of responsibility for his former mechanic and a gift from his sister might be what drags him back even before the stark realities of the financial situation of his estate yank him out of his funk. I could understand Harris’s desire to withdraw from company, especially as we learn of past relationships that have been broken. Poppy is a character who both charmed and annoyed me. Often her heart is in the right place but she can also duck responsibility when she feels like it and makes a decision that causes a stunned Constance to tell Poppy that she just doesn’t understand the people in this (rarified) world. 

There are events and revelations that call out the racism and classism of this world. Some people will end up having to reap what they have sown. Some innocents will pay the price for jingoistic attitudes. I was annoyed at how a few people seemingly abandoned those who depended on them but at the same time, some of this was caused by the post war government policies dictating what genders could be employed. Still it stung. Rigid conventions almost upend a relationship until one person’s true colors emerge which allows the changing social mores to finally deliver what I’d been waiting for. This story is much more historical fiction with romantic elements than a romance. The pace is  leisurely. Bad things happen to some people. Other people get off the hook. But Constance’s eyes are open to what she’s going into and Harris knows that he’s found the woman he can respect and admire. B  

~Jayne

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Lillian Rose Atkins is tired. She’s tired of picking cotton, serving as a maid in a hotel, and taking care of her younger cousins. So when she receives an invitation from the mother she hasn’t seen in ten years to move to Chicago and take part in Chicago society, Lily jumps at the chance. This is her opportunity to finally have new things, be on the other side of service, and find a wealthy husband.

Rutledge “Rudy” Addison is tired. As an investigative journalist who reports on the facts of lynchings and race riots in the South, he’s tired of dealing with the dregs of society. But when he is challenged to love those he is starting to hate, he begins to find that life is not as black-and-white as he always thought.

When Lily and Rudy are thrown together, will they realize that maybe the things they’re tired of are more important than they could ever have fathomed?

TW/CW – mention of past racial violence/lynchings, current (in the book) threat to incarcerated African American men

Dear Ms. Susberry,

I’ve been eyeing several of your books/series and finally decided to try this one as it appears to be a stand alone story. Right from the beginning, I realized that it wouldn’t just be a story about a young woman trying to better her prospects. Instead there are dark past and current incidents that investigative reporter Rudy covers as well as mentions of race riots in Chicago and Nebraska. An element of faith is also included.

Rudy Addison never planned on being a reporter but when teaching didn’t pan out, he discovered he has a natural knack for digging into stories, especially ones about racial injustice. Rudy gains such detailed insights because he can “pass.” With blond hair, blue eyes, and light skin Rudy can arrive in towns that have just lynched uppity negroes (term used in the book) and suss out the true reasons why these horrific acts were committed without the whites whom he talks to realizing that he’s Black. Rudy knows he’s playing a dangerous game and that if he’s identified as Black, he’ll be the next “strange fruit” in town.

Lily Atkins wants something better in life. She’s lived without her mother who moved to Chicago ten years ago and who has remarried a relatively well-to-do man. But upon arriving in a city that astonishes her at its size, Lily’s dreams are facing a cold reality. Her mother is intent on bettering Lily but the bond they lost isn’t being rebuilt. Lily feels terribly out of place and at times humiliated by other Black women in her age group who deliberately show Lily – with her seventh grade education – up. A few people are nice, surprisingly her step-father, and two other young women who enlist Lily’s aid to help Blacks who have suffered due to the recent race riots in town.

When Lily meets Rudy, sparks fly. At times Rudy is curt to Lily and ends up calling her Daisy because he couldn’t be bothered to remember her “flower” name. But the two work out a plan to help each other. However things are derailed when news of riots in Lily’s hometown reach them. Lily heads back to help her family and Rudy quickly follows to report on what’s happening. But will Lily remain stuck in Elaine, AR and can Rudy escape it?

Let me start with what didn’t work so well for me. At times the story feels disjointed as there is a lot going on both good and bad. The book starts with Rudy in a TN town that just lynched someone and the needs of the Black Chicagoans who suffered due to the (real) riots there seems intense and is something Lily and her friends try to alleviate. But then Rudy is helping Lily write a poem based on British Romantic poets for her ladies society meeting as well as learning to waltz. The contrast is jarring. I know that the two need to remain in the same vicinity for their relationship to begin but I kept thinking, doesn’t Rudy have more important things to report on and do?

Another thing that felt a bit forced was the element of faith. Rudy’s family has been raised in the strong Christian faith of his parents and his father is urging Rudy to find a way to love those who are difficult to love and we know Rudy is faced with a lot of those. Lily is also religious and there are many church service scenes. But then chapters will pass with little mention of faith until suddenly it’s front and center again. I liked how in the end, both Rudy and Lily find a degree of forgiveness for those who are doing them wrong but it’s more for them to be able to lay down the burden of hate that is eating them up, and as Rudy says, allow them to pity those whites with such racial hatred in them.

Now there is a lot to enjoy in the book. Lily has a dry but wicked sense of humor and doesn’t let people put or keep her down long. Her mother might push Lily at Rudy but Lily makes it clear that he’s not on her marriage list and makes sure he knows it. Lily has also already started improving herself even before she leaves Arkansas because she knows she wants more out of life. When she decides something, she does it. Yet when her family needs her, she immediately heads back to help even if that means possibly surrendering her dreams. Family is that important to her.

Rudy has built a career going into places dangerous to him in order to get the truth and make sure that it sees the light of day. The plot calls for him to be stupidly fixated on a woman we all know isn’t The One and honestly, I never saw much in her beyond she’s pretty. When he quickly decides to go to AK, several of his friends call him on his insistence that he’s not going down for Lily but once he realizes his true feelings, he throws himself into helping her family as well as covering the events of the (real) Elaine Race Riots.

I loved Lily’s family including her younger cousins. Aunt Rachel is a Rock in the troubled waters and Uncle Rufus is a man staunchly determined to provide for and better his family’s lot in life. Lily has white friends in Elaine including a family who has employed her and quietly looks after and helps her. She also makes good friends in Chicago (I’d love to have seen more about one couple’s romance) and works out relationships with her step siblings. Stepfather Frank is a jewel of a man. I would join the Frank Harrison Fan Club.

Even with the issues I’ve mentioned, for me the positives of the book far outweigh the niggles. Lily is my favorite but I think by the end, she’s got Rudy in line and fully aware of what a gem he’s got. B

~Jayne

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Amid the hushed city, two hearts must navigate danger and deception, bound by a love that outshines the stars.

Katherine Schneider’s life as a dentist in 1913 New York is upended when a patient reveals details of a deadly plot while under the influence of laughing gas. As she is plunged into danger, she seeks help from the dashing Lieutenant Jonathan Birch, a police officer she has long admired from afar.

Jonathan has harbored powerful feelings toward Katherine for years but never acted on them, knowing his dark history is something she could never abide. Now, with her safety on the line, he works alongside her through the nights as they unravel the criminal conspiracy that threatens her . . . even as he keeps his deepest secrets hidden at all costs.

Dear Ms. Camden,

I love the fact that our heroine, Katherine, is a dentist working in a clinic that is forward thinking. The owner has hired a diversified staff, lowered his prices, and keeps the office open until midnight all so that the poor/immigrants of the city have a place they can afford, times that fit their working schedules, and staff who often speak their language. As Katherine later jokingly tells Jonathan, she’s probably the only dentist who went to dental school to spite someone but she’s good at what she does and handles her patients’ dental needs with care. Too bad that she overhears something she later puts together with other facts that threatens her life.

Jonathan Birch is the handsome but quiet police officer who is always on hand to walk Katherine to the subway station when she gets off in the middle of his night shift. They chat about nothing while he plies her with luscious biscotti and focaccia which he claims he buys in local stores – though Katherine has never been able to find a nearby bakery that makes chocolate biscotti. When, after hearing about a shipboard fire at sea, Katherine puts two and two together and approaches Jonathan with her information, she becomes part of a police investigation. When the newspaper reveals enough information about the “police source” to put her in danger, Jonathan strong-arms the police and the paper owner to provide protection for her. But who will protect Katherine when she learns the truth about Jonathan.

I can always count on something unique from your books and here it’s a female dentist who works late and a cop who works the night shift. The driving factor behind what threatens Katherine, and so many others in New York City, makes sense given the number of people around the world with similar views and ideas about how to change society. If bombs are what it takes, then bombing is what will be done.

Jonathan is obviously keeping something from Katherine but it turns out he’s got bigger secrets and grudges from his past. He’s escaped from something that has cost him dearly but from which he did want to be free. His lies about it aren’t innocent white ones and he lies to Katherine’s face as well as to his bosses. He also has to deal with a person who gets under Jonathan’s skin and whom Jonathan takes delight in besting. Things can reach the petty level between them but to Jonathan it’s a matter of honor not to let this guy get away with anything.

Katherine freely admits to Jonathan that she’s an open book and doesn’t hide her emotions. She wants to believe the best in people and thinks that everyone deserves to be heard and maybe get a second chance. This makes Jonathan and some of her friends shake their heads but if she gets fooled a time or two while giving someone the benefit of the doubt, Katherine doesn’t mind.

Of course they’re going to clash eventually about their different viewpoints and over how to deal with the situation Katherine finds herself in. Of course Jonathan’s past is revealed just at the worst time and Katherine, due to something in her past, takes it badly. When faced with how she reacts to one man and not another, Katherine has to do some soul searching. She and Jonathan have an exchange about the difficulties each has overcome and that no one wants to win an “I’ve had it worst” contest. Feelings are hurt and it takes each doing some hard thinking to move through and past their conflicts. These conflicts are where the main religious themes of the book lie. Also Jonathan is Catholic and yay for inspie books moving beyond only Protestantism.

Jonathan and his fellow police officers have to crack this case as the villains are trying to hurt and inconvenience as many New Yorkers as possible. But one other person will have to “man up” and put himself at risk to help solve the case. There is a degree of violence in the story. Katherine also learns that even 90 year old grandmothers are tough and gets some strong advice about being willing to let someone do what they feel called to do.

I enjoyed the everyday view of life in NYC in that day and age. It’s alive, vibrant, and filled with normal working people getting on with their everyday lives. Bonus points that it’s all effortlessly worked into the story and not just there to show off research. I’d love to have read some of Katherine’s newspaper columns about night workers. Double yay that the owlets are fine. I would have rioted otherwise. Just saying. My bet is that the next books in the series will focus on some of Katherine’s friends and fellow residents in the fascinating women’s only apartment building in which she lives. I’m looking forward to them. B

~Jayne

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