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 was born in southern Vermont. She received her associate's degree at seventeen, then moved to Ireland; after working her way around the world over the next three and a half years, she returned to the United States and bought her first motorcycle.