by Helen Simonson ★★★★☆
Set in 1919 following the devastation and loss of World War I and the Spanish influenza, the Meredith Hotel (shoutout to my Sister!) in the fictional British town of Hazelbourne-On-Sea is the setting for our tale, primarily told from the point of view of Constance Haverhill. Constance spent the war managing the Mercer Family estate office, a property owned by her mother's childhood friend. Now with the war over and men returning to society, Constance is spending the summer at the seaside as the companion and caretaker to Mrs. Fog, a friend of the wealthy Lady Mercer. Mercer fancies herself Constance's patron given their different economic circumstances, and she has made her opinion known that "with the war over and women no longer needed in men's professions, Constance would be well advised to take up as a governess," a suggestion that Constance absolutely loathes. But perhaps the summer will bring other opportunities Constance's way?
As the book introduces us to the hotel and its fascinating cast of characters, Constance encounters a wide collection of personalities, among them Poppy Wirral, the rebellious, entrepreneurial, and spirited daughter of a resident. Poppy owns and runs the Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle Club, a taxi service managed by women who worked as despatch riders during the war. While Poppy always seems to say the wrong thing, frequently alienating her friends and loved ones, Constance instead begins to idolize the freedom with which Poppy carried herself through life. "Constance was suddenly tired of being a dull moth. So she would let herself be drawn to the rather alarming young woman and trust that, for the length of one dinner, she was sensible enough to protect her brown powdered wings from being singed." So begins an unlikely friendship, and Constance is immersed in the world of both The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle Club and Poppy's childhood friends, who come from a social circle that Constance had previously only watched from the outside. Will she be welcomed, or will she stay an outsider?
While the novel primarily follows Constance and the women, we are also offered additional insight into life at this time from several other characters, most notably two men with very different backgrounds. Klaus is a German-born naturalized citizen, who is back working at the Meredith after spending the war in an internment camp on the Isle of Man. Harris is Poppy’s traumatized and curmudgeonly brother who lost his leg as a pilot during the war, and is now faced with the financial realities of running the estate that his father has left him with few prospects for work and a mountain of debt. He starts to soften as he gets to know Constance and is begrudgingly pulled into service as Poppy makes plans to turn the Motorcycle Club into the Motorcycle and Flying Club.
The book meanders along at a moderate pace, expanding upon these stories and others, until it suddenly rushes to a conclusion around a closing trio of events. The Peace Day festival, a hasty wedding, and a Society ball all take place on the same end-of-summer day, bringing to a crescendoed climax many of the plots up to that point. Given the deliberate pace of much of the novel, this frenetic end seemed rushed and abrupt, with many choices and actions taking place in one day that will have lasting ramifications for the lives of many the characters. Some we find are not as they seem and others act, disappointingly or not, exactly as we expect them too.
The language of the novel is beautiful ,and I grew to love many of the characters. It also tackled several heavy issues, including the changing role of women in society, the hypocrisy of British colonialism, the struggle of wounded veterans returning from war, racism, and classism, to name a few. The characters were well-developed and multilayered, and there were a few surprises right up until the conclusion. Everyone bares their true colors by the end, and while a few there were a few bumps along the way, I was very much pleased with this winding ride.
It's somewhere between a 4 and 5 for me -- let's call it a solid 4.5. There was enough depth and interesting storytelling to make this recommendable to most, but it falls just short of a perfect 5 stars for me.
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