Motorcycles I've Loved: A Memoir

A powerful memoir about a young woman who discovers the allure of motorcycles as she forges her own path.

At twenty-one-years-old, Lily Brooks-Dalton is feeling completely lost; returning to New England after three years traveling the world, she finds herself without the direction or the drive to move forward. When a friend starts talking about buying a motorcycle, Brooks-Dalton is intrigued, and before long she is diving headlong into the world of gearheads, channeling all her energy into a quest for the perfect ride. At first, her passion for these powerful machines is a diversion, but what she finds riding and maintaining her own motorcycles is the momentum she had been seeking all along.

Forced to confront her limitations—new and old, real and imagined—Brooks-Dalton learns focus, patience, and how to navigate life on the road. As she builds confidence, both on her bike and off, she begins to find her way, ultimately undertaking an epic journey that leaves her strengthened, revitalized, and prepared for whatever comes next.

Honest and lyrical, raw and thoughtful, Motorcycles I've Loved is a bold portrait of one young woman's empowering journey toward confidence, independence, and her own wide-open road.

Lily Brooks-Dalton is wonderful, fresh on the scene with a big heart, a fierce spirit, a writer's eye, and a lovely sense of humor.' Anne Lamott

'Lily Brooks-Dalton has given us an honest and lovely memoir about learning to keep the shiny side up and the dirty side down. This is a book for seekers, wanderers, wayward souls, devotees of the open road, and anyone who loves being swept along by the performance of a beautiful writer at work.' Philip Connors, author of Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout

'Like all great quest stories, Motorcycles I've Loved depicts a journey that demands the daring and determination to defy those voices (including our own) that try to tell us we're not cut out for the journey. Lily Brooks-Dalton has blazed a trail all her own, and the resulting memoir is as forthright as a well-worn leather motorcycle jacket, and as beautiful as a country road rolling out just up ahead.' Rosie Schaap, author of Drinking with Men