GIRL ON A MOTORCYCLE

“She dreams of wandering the world.”

Striking, light-filled illustrations with the look of mid-20th-century monotone prints and informative, evocative text tell the true story of Anne-France Dautheville, a White journalist who left her home in Paris in 1972 to embark on a decadelong, international motorcycle journey that she depicted in a series of articles and memoirs. While her writing is mentioned, the focus here is on the travels themselves, told with realistic, dreamlike detail from the perspective of a lone woman imbued with a sense of awe and freedom. Obstacles involving falls from and repairs of her bike are included, and the surprise and respect she received from girls along the way help depict the view and position of women during the time period. The use of the word girl in the title is a misnomer as Dautheville was 28 when she began her travels, though this may be a translation issue (the title echoes that of Dautheville’s 1973 memoir, Une demoiselle sur une moto); more disappointing is the use of the word girl throughout the book, from both a feminist perspective and a factual one. Still, word choice aside, this is an exhilarating story of an independent Frenchwoman who challenged prevailing beliefs to follow her heart, to travel, and to observe and describe different cultures and countries (Canada, India, and Afghanistan are highlighted) from a unique, outsider’s point of view. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at 67.8% of actual size.)

A poetic, visually stunning depiction of a young woman’s travels via motorcycle with dated descriptors.