1. Which character’s journey resonated with you the most? Why?

2. “It was all very well and patriotic when we were freeing up men for the services,” Iris says of women working. “But now we are just behaving oddly and diminishing our chances of snatching up one of the few available husbands.” Discuss the situation in which the novel’s working women find themselves --- having to give up their wartime jobs or accept lower pay when the men return. How do you think you would have reacted?

3. How are people of other nationalities, like Captain Pendra and Klaus the waiter; socioeconomic classes, like Constance and Jock; and races, like the de Champneys and Pendra, treated by other characters in the book?

4. How does author Helen Simonson characterize the members of the British elite? Are there differences amongst characters of that echelon? Contrast Lady Mercer’s behavior, for instance, against that of Mrs. Wirrall.

5. What freedoms does the Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle (and later, Flying) club offer its members? In what ways are the women still limited?

6. How do characters treat Harris differently due to his disability? How did this make you think about how disabled people are treated today? Do you think much has changed?

7. How do Poppy and her Motorcycle Club help break Constance out of her shell?

8. What other themes are present in the book?

9. How does Helen Simonson show the lesser-seen casualties of war?

10. What did you think about the end of the novel? Did your favorite characters get what they wished for? Did your least favorite characters get their comeuppance?