The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club (2024) by Helen Simonson is a work of historical fiction set in 1919. Simonson also wrote Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, set in the present day, and The Summer Before the War, which is set in 1914. Her novels often portray quaint rural communities, often in the first part of the 20th century. 

The novel’s protagonist is Constance Haverhill, a young woman serving as a companion to Mrs. Fog, an elderly lady recovering from the deadly influenza epidemic that swept the world in 1919, just as World War I was coming to an end. While living in a posh hotel at the English seaside, Constance befriends the unconventional, socioeconomically diverse group of women who belong to a local motorcycle club. Their leader, Poppy Wirrall, starts a business for lady chauffeurs in the hopes of employing more women and countering women’s loss of employment in favor of male veterans returning home. Poppy and the club also seek to mitigate the obstacles to civilian assimilation experienced by servicemen who live with disfigurement as a result of their service. The novel follows the many challenges that Poppy and her club face during this time of considerable social upheaval, especially around gender roles. The women grapple with the tensions between society’s conservative pressure for female respectability and the real necessities of postwar life. 

This guide refers to the 2024 Dial Press first hardcover edition.

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of ableism, racism, addiction, mental illness, and death.

Plot Summary

Constance Haverhill arrives in the dining room of the Meredith Hotel, hoping to eat early. She is turned away because she is a women unaccompanied by a man. In the lobby, Constance meets Poppy Wirrall, another young woman attempting to dine. Poppy’s mother, Mrs. Wirrall, is living at the hotel while Penneston, the family’s estate, undergoes renovations. The two women have tea on the terrace, and Constance accepts Poppy’s invitation to dinner. Constance is in Hazelbourne-on-Sea as a companion to the older Mrs. Eleanor Fog. Mrs. Fog is the mother of Lady Mercer, an old friend of Constance’s mother. During the war, Constance ran her family’s landed estate, and she longs to continue this kind of work now that the war is over. When Constance’s mother died of the flu, however, Lady Mercer forced Constance to leave the estate, despite her unpaid service to the family. At first, Constance moved into her brother’s family home, but tensions with his wife made this untenable. After this, Lady Mercer asked Constance to accompany the convalescing Mrs. Fog to the seaside for the summer season.

Through Poppy, Constance meets Mrs. Wirrall and Harris, Poppy’s brother, as well as the snobbish Tom Morris and his shallow sisters, Evangeline and Guinevere. Constance knows that she must find work for when her time with Mrs. Fog ends, and she pursues leads in her free time. Poppy has started a business called Wirrall’s Conveyance, staffed by young ladies who drive motorcycles with sidecars. They are met with criticism by those who believe that women should not do this kind of work, especially because returning soldiers need jobs. Poppy is also the founder of the Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle Club, which she runs from the barn at Penneston. Poppy takes Constance on her first motorcycle ride there. Constance meets Tilly and Iris, who repair bikes and provide lessons. Constance enjoys the camaraderie and openness that the women share.

Harris Wirrall has lost a leg in the war, and even though he can still fly, no one will hire him. He increasingly experiences depression, but he becomes interested in Constance, who does “not shrink from him” as others do (61). Constance learns that Harris was engaged to Evangeline before the war, but her interest waned when he came home injured. He offered to release her, and she agreed, though she never returned the ring.

Mrs. Fog renews a former friendship with Mathilde de Champney, who lives close to Hazelbourne, though she asks Constance to keep this secret. Mrs. Fog hires Poppy to drive her to the home that Mathilde shares with her brother, Simon. Harris introduces Constance to Captain Kumar Pendra and his colleague Mr. Nag Basu. They are visiting England from India on a trade mission and are investigating business opportunities. Mrs. Wirrall is delighted to meet them, as she was friends with the late Maharajah of their area in India, Kochi Benar. At the beach that Saturday, Poppy and Constance discuss how they felt so useful during the war. Poppy was a dispatch rider. Like many women who stepped into jobs formerly held by men, both enjoyed the independence and sense of purpose they gained and regret that they cannot easily continue their employment.

That weekend, Constance and the other ladies cheer on Poppy and Iris in a Victory Day race. Tilly asks Constance to walk with the club in the parade, in part to gain from Constance’s social respectability and show that they are not unfeminine threats to the social order. Constance agrees, though she wishes they’d think of her as “competent” rather than “pretty.” Poppy buys a damaged Sopwith Camel plane for Harris; she hopes that restoring and flying it will help him find a sense of purpose again. Harris is shocked by Poppy’s purchase. Tom wanted the plane for the male-only club Hazelbourne Aviation, and he scoffs at Poppy’s insistence that Harris will use it to teach young ladies to fly.

Mrs. Fog avoids questions about the de Champneys. Her continued secret visits to the de Champneys prompt Constance’s concern, so she asks Poppy to drive her there. After arriving, she learns that Mathilde and Mrs. Fog met 50 years earlier, but their history remains unclear. 

Poppy drives Constance to London for an interview with an accounting firm. Though a friend arranged the interview, that friend is no longer employed there, and the manner of her leaving raises some concerns. The man who interviews Constance behaves in a predatory manner. His wife interrupts the interview, declaring women to be a distraction to men in the workplace and sending Constance away. Later, Poppy and Constance go to the home of Harris’s wartime mechanic, Jock Macintyre. They learn from a neighbor that his wife and young daughters died of the flu and that he took to drinking. They find him unconscious and clean him up. Poppy bundles him into the sidecar, and they take him to Penneston. There, they task Harris with keeping watch over him.

When Constance returns to the hotel, she meets an angry Lady Mercer, who forces her to admit that Mrs. Fog is visiting the de Champneys. Lady Mercer blames Constance for the renewal of this “unsuitable” relationship. Meanwhile, Jock is suffering from alcohol withdrawal. To cheer him up, Harris explains why his sister brought Jock: to fix the plane so that Harris can provide flying lessons to ladies. Jock refuses to exercise alone, forcing Harris to join him. Constance tells Jock that Harris needs him, convincing Jock to stay. 

Constance and Mrs. Fog prepare to visit Lady Mercer’s room and stand up to her. When they arrive, Lady Mercer tells them that her daughter, Rachel, will be arriving soon with her American fiancé, Percival Allerton. Mrs. Fog reveals that she intends to marry Simon de Champney. Lady Mercer objects because the de Champneys’ parents were unmarried and their mother was Black. Rachel and Percival arrive. Constance overhears Percival ask the hotel undermanager to investigate the de Champneys, whom he spots leaving the hotel. Rachel declares that she and Percival will marry in two weeks and, though Lady Mercer initially resists, that haste is required because Rachel is pregnant.

The Wirralls hire Constance to prepare the Penneston ledgers. Jock fixes the airplane, and Harris is rejuvenated by flying again and by Constance’s presence. A local newspaper is willing to sponsor Iris to race in the Sopwith Camel, but when the day arrives for her first flight, she’s too scared, and Constance steps in. Later, Captain Pendra tells Constance that he was not permitted to buy a stake in Hazelbourne Aviation and that the Indian delegation scheduled to appear in the Peace Day parade has been held up. Mr. Basu says that it’s because the English want to disempower India, which is fighting for its independence from British rule. Constance stays up late before the Wirralls’ meeting with their banker, and she and Harris kiss. After the meeting, Harris tells Tom that Hazelbourne Aviation must begin paying for the use of Penneston land, including back rent. Tom challenges Harris to a flying contest on Peace Day: If Tom wins, Harris must sell him the land; if Harris wins, the company will consider back rent as Harris’s investor stake and hire him. Harris takes the wager.

Percival confronts Mrs. Fog about her intended marriage and suggests that she will not be welcome to visit if she proceeds. His attitude disgusts Constance, especially when he makes the accusation that Simon is Lady Mercer’s father. Although his behavior is appalling, Rachel’s pregnancy means that their wedding must go ahead. Constance learns that Captain Pendra is now the new Maharajah of Kochi Benar. Lady Mercer and Rachel are mortified by their previously rude treatment of him. The Wirralls prepare for a ball, and the community prepares for Peace Day. Jock is found drunk, and the Camel’s engine needs to be rebuilt. Tilly gets it running, and Harris flies his contest with Tom. When the engine fails, Harris lands it safely but loses the race. Jock accuses Tom of sabotage, and Tom admits that he added sugar to the gas tank, thinking that the plane wouldn’t get off the ground. Constance is revealed as Harris’s copilot, and they are declared the winners. Evangeline tells Constance that she is still engaged to Harris and plans to proceed with their marriage. Constance returns to the Meredith Hotel.

Tom is sent to the Russian front after his drunken involvement in a murder is revealed. Rachel marries Percival, and Mrs. Fog marries Simon. Constance moves back to her brother’s farm to help her sister-in-law, who is pregnant again. That autumn, she hears a Sopwith Camel overhead. Harris lands, explaining that he is now unattached, and they kiss.