SLCL Presents Acclaimed Historical Fiction Author Helen Simonson

St. Louis County Library Foundation’s Favorite Author Series and The Novel Neighbor present bestselling historical fiction author Helen Simonson for a discussion and signing of her new novel, “The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club.”

The event will take place on Tuesday, May 14 at 7:00 p.m. at the Grant’s View Branch, 9700 Musick Rd., St. Louis MO, 63123.

The program is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase at the event from The Novel Neighbor.

Bestselling author of “Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand,” Helen Simonson presents 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.

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. She’s sent as a lady’s companion to an old family friend who is convalescing at a seaside hotel. 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. 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.

Helen Simonson is the New York Times bestselling author of “Major Pettigrew's Last Stand” (2010) and “The Summer Before The War” (2016).

Program sites are accessible. With at least two weeks' notice, accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities. Call 314-994-3300 or contact us.