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 upher cottage and her job at the estate she helped to run during thewar. While she looks for a positionas a bookkeeper or (horror) agoverness,she’s sentas a lady’s companion toan old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel. Despite having only weeks to find a permanent home, Constance finds herself swept up in the social whirl ofHazelbourne-on-Sea after she rescues local baronets daughter, PoppyWirrall, from a social faux pas.

Poppy wears trousers, operates a taxi and delivery service to employ local women, and runs a ladies’ motorcycle club(towhich 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 brothera fighter pilot recently wounded in battlewho warms in Constances presence. But things are more complicated than they seem in this sunny pocket of English high society. As the countryprepares to celebrate its hard-won peace, Constance and the women of the club are forced to confront the fact thatthe freedoms they gained during thewar are being revoked.

With sharp humor, biting wit, and a warm heart, Simonson captures the mood of a generation facing the seismic changes brought on by war.The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Clubis a timeless comedy of manners,refreshing as asummerbreeze and bracing as the British seaside.

Story Locale:English coast, 1918