Reviewed by readingwithwrin on
"It would be foolish to keep crying about the past and things that shouldn't have turned out the way they did."
This story follows Jo, Clara, and Isabella and how bicycles have affected there lives. While the main focus of the story is Jo, every few chapters we see things from Clara and Isabella's point of view.
Jo is a headstrong young lady who is going to ride a bike no matter the consequences because she needs an escape from her life with unloving parents who would rather blame her constantly for her brother's death, then show her they care for her.
Clara is a pharmacist daughter who wants to be just like him and be one of the first women to attend University and get a degree in pharmacology.
Isabella is the daughter of a rich factory owner, whose father is trying to marry her off to the most well-to-do man for them to social climb. All while Isabella hates it, but puts on the act that she loves it.
When Jo gets sent to the Black Forest by the neighbor Freida do to her cough getting worse, she sees a bike and not only a bike but also a girl riding a bike on one of her long walks. As she gets to become friends with this girl (Lilo) she learns that it is becoming the next big thing, but girls aren't allowed to ride because it isn't ladylike or for the "fairer sex". Jo doesn't let that stop her though and while she is there she convinces Lilo to let her try. They become good friends. When Jo is better and is sent back home, she set her sights on getting a bike. Until she learns that their old friend Isabella's father has a bike.
With this information, Jo goes to Isabella and asks to see it, and then ride it. After they all see, how well Jo can ride Clara and Isabella want to give it a try. This causes the girls to go over to Isabella's house several times a week so they can ride the bike in her parent's yard without the rest of the town seeing them. Then, when Isabella gets her own bike for her birthday causing them now to be able to ride without having to worry about their skirts as much. They continue to ride the bikes inside the fenced yard until Clara ends up getting hurt, and that's when Isabella and Jo start going for night rides.
After they get caught, coming home from a night ride by Isabella's father they are banned from bikes. While Isabella listens Jo does not. When Jo gets into a wreck one night while riding she gets caught and sent to jail for three years! While there though she finally gets to learn how to be a mechanic.
With Jo in prison, we get to see things from Clara and Isabella's point of view. Clara ends up getting married and dropping her dream of becoming a pharmacist. Isabella ends up getting engaged to Adrian. Together they end up putting off the wedding multiple times due to it being a sham and then finally calling off the engagement. While they were still engaged though Adrian helped Isabella create the first women's bicycle club and racing competitions.
Once Jo gets out she finds out that she inherits the neighbor Freida's house and that's when she sets up a repair shop of her own. With everyone in town coming to her to repair things, she has no time for bikes or a club that is until Isabella gets, her accepted and Adrian helps her get a bike. Once she has a bike she ends up giving for night rides again, except this time with Adrian. This slowly leads to her and Adrian falling for each other and even though his engagement to Isabella is a sham Jo can't help, but feel that it is wrong. Once Adrian goes to America to try and get cheaper bikes imported to Germany for the common man/women. Jo and Isabella start going on night rides again. Not to long after this a racing woman from another country comes and asks the ladies at the women's' bicycle club to come and take part in a 600 mile 4 day race. Only three agree and Jo also invites Lilo who has been becoming a racing woman all across Europe. As they train for the race they realize how grueling it will be, but that doesn't stop them and they want to prove to everyone that women riding bicycles isn't horrible or harmful in any way. Once they've all finished the race and made up for the arguments they had had. We see Clara, Isabella and Jo all becoming friends again even though they are all in different stages of life.
For me, this story didn't get interesting until Jo got out of Jail and we got to see her get back into life, and then again when the bicycle race finally happened.
I can't help but feel like if this story had been a little bit shorter, or if maybe it was so much information at once in certain parts I would have liked it better. I would only suggest this book if you are a person who is really into bikes and wants to know the history of them.
Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Crossing for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
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Reading updates
- Started reading
- 21 February, 2016: Finished reading
- 21 February, 2016: Reviewed