Aloha Wanderwell Takes the Wheel: A Novel

by Laurel Corona

In the 1920s and 1930s, Aloha Wanderwell drove Model Ts across five continents, winning fame as the most traveled woman in the world.

Sixteen-year-old Idris Hall ran away from her boarding achool in 1924, changed her name, and joined the daring around-the-world expedition of charismatic Walter “Cap” Wanderwell, beginning a decade-long adventure that would take her across five continents behind the wheel of a Model T, in an era where roads were often no more than grooves in the dirt, and few if any people had seen a car or a European face.

Who was Aloha Wanderwell? How did she find the determination and courage to survive threats like stampeding elephants in Africa, a blizzard obliterating the road in Ukraine, and armed militants in China? Who was Walter Wanderwell? Rogue, philanderer, con man, and perhaps a German spy—he was all of this, as well as the love of Aloha’s life. Through the grit of their travel and the giddy heights of their international fame, Aloha grows from a starstruck teen to a woman confident of everything except the man who cannot love her the way she needs.

Aloha Wanderwell Takes the Wheel is a richly imagined exploration of Aloha’s inner and outer world, told against the backdrop of one of the great adventure stories of its time, and the murder that brought it to a catastrophic end.

Praise for Aloha Wanderwell Takes the Wheel

“Fans of historical Fiction about kick-ass women as well as those who love a good, juicy crime story will enjoy this book!”

——Sherry Jones, author, Josephine Baker’s Last Dance

About the Author Laurel Corona is the author of The Four Seasons and The Mapmaker’s Daughter, among other works of fiction and non-fiction. After retiring as a professor of Humanities at San Diego City College, she now travels the world as a lecturer for several luxury cruise lines. She has received numerous awards for her writing, including a Christopher Medal and the Theodor Geisel Award for Book of the Year at the San Diego Book Awards. A native of Southern California, she now lives in Victoria, British Columbia.

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