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Skull and Sidecar
In 1926, what is believed to be the oldest skull in North America has been found in Oregon. Nell Kelly, an ambitious archaeologist at Barnard University, has been sent to verify the cranium’s age using the most modern scientific breakthroughs in a laboratory of her devising -- if she can survive an afternoon in the sidecar of a Harley-Davidson driven by notorious flapper and cultural anthropologist Gunn Flagely.
But as soon as Nell reaches the University of Oregon and has the skull in her hands, it’s stolen at gunpoint by a man in a black hat. The only way to get it back is for Nell to team up with Gunn to chase the thief across Oregon and recover the skull. Gunn flings a leather-booted leg over the seat of her Harley-Davidson to begin the pursuit, leaving Nell in a pair of borrowed men’s dungarees to fold into the sidecar.
Nell has butted up against the boundaries of suffragette-era feminism by merely being a single female scientist who insists on being taken seriously. Riding in a sidecar with a woman who studies sexual taboos and writes popular accounts of her studies is beyond the beyond, right down to her always intact red lipstick.
Chasing down the man in the black hat and Skully, as the women come to call the archaeological treasure, takes Nell and Gunn on a reverse Oregon trail over the Cascade Mountains from Eugene to Joseph, with help and hindrances from loggers, Chinese medicine men, cute drunken cowboys, gold dredgers, cultists, and the Nez Perce. Nell puts her measured mind to the test when she discovers the uses of sex, guns, whiskey, and even that infernal motorcycle with its fearless driver.
But as soon as Nell reaches the University of Oregon and has the skull in her hands, it’s stolen at gunpoint by a man in a black hat. The only way to get it back is for Nell to team up with Gunn to chase the thief across Oregon and recover the skull. Gunn flings a leather-booted leg over the seat of her Harley-Davidson to begin the pursuit, leaving Nell in a pair of borrowed men’s dungarees to fold into the sidecar.
Nell has butted up against the boundaries of suffragette-era feminism by merely being a single female scientist who insists on being taken seriously. Riding in a sidecar with a woman who studies sexual taboos and writes popular accounts of her studies is beyond the beyond, right down to her always intact red lipstick.
Chasing down the man in the black hat and Skully, as the women come to call the archaeological treasure, takes Nell and Gunn on a reverse Oregon trail over the Cascade Mountains from Eugene to Joseph, with help and hindrances from loggers, Chinese medicine men, cute drunken cowboys, gold dredgers, cultists, and the Nez Perce. Nell puts her measured mind to the test when she discovers the uses of sex, guns, whiskey, and even that infernal motorcycle with its fearless driver.
286 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 16, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 10, 2019
A lot to like about the book. I give it a 3.5, but downgrade to 3 for so many geographical references. If you aren't from Oregon, they won't help you, and can be a bit distracting even for a Northwest girl like me. On the other hand, if you like a clear sense of place and would like to follow the epic chase on a map, you'll be happy for the frequent reference points.
January 20, 2019
3.5. Good fun!
March 3, 2024
A fun adventure book set in the late 1920s in Oregon. Being from the State, I enjoyed all the geographical references. I also loved the powerful women in the story!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews