Join us for wine, cheese and The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle & Flying Club!

We invite you to an engaging evening of wine, cheese and proper (lol!) conversation around Helen Simonson's The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club: A Novel. A timeless comedy of manners—refreshing as a summer breeze and bracing as the British seaside—about a generation of young women facing the seismic changes brought on by war and dreaming of the boundless possibilities of their future, from the bestselling author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand

From Goodreads:

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.

As always, please feel free to join even if you have not finished the book - no stress :-)

All attendees are asked to please bring one of the following:

1. A bottle of wine
2. Cheese and Crackers
3. An alternate beverage or nosh of your choice

Host will provide glasses, wine opener, plates & napkins.

To enhance the opportunity for great conversation, we would like to keep the group small. Please feel free to sign-up to meet us along with up to 2 friends.

In the future, we will vary books by genres, settings, eras, awards, themes, etc. The group will make the selections for dates and books at each meeting.

Please feel to share book titles for consideration for the next few months - perhaps we can share some ideas for Fall 2025 reads at the meeting.

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE COMMITTED TO ATTEND WHEN YOU RSVP FOR THIS EVENT. We ask that ALL folks honor their RSVP. If you are unable to attend after sending in a YES, please update your status so that others may join us. In the event you do not communicate and are a no-show, your ability to RSVP for future events will be restricted. Thank you in advance for your understanding.

If you are unable to join us in August, we hope you'll remain interested and join us for an evening in the future. Looking forward to wine & cheese with you soon - happy reading!