The Motor Girls Through New England

In Short

Margaret Penrose’s 1911 juvenile adventure follows wealthy automobile enthusiast Cora Kimball and her close-knit circle of friends as they embark on an ambitious road trip across the Northeast. What begins as a leisurely resort vacation quickly morphs into a fast-paced mystery filled with shadowy villains, sudden explosions, dark mountain roads, and a daring abduction. Combining early twentieth-century fascination with the newly affordable freedom of the open road and wholesome, melodramatic peril, the novel remains a charming, energetic artifact of early American youth adventure fiction and the pioneer era of automobiling.

The Story

The adventure opens at Clover Cottage, a seaside retreat at Lookout Beach where Cora Kimball and twin sisters Bess and Belle Robinson gather after a seaside drive in their automobiles, the Whirlwind and the Flyaway. Trouble begins almost immediately when Cora catches sight of a suspicious man lurking beneath the windows. That night, after a chaotic boating incident in which a porpoise frightens the party and their companion Walter Pennington fires his waterproof pistol to signal for rescue, Cora discovers a burglar inside the cottage. Showing immense composure, she fires her revolver and scares the intruder away.

The intruder, a man named Tony, is eventually arrested, but the trouble is far from over. Cora finds a bottle of chloroform at the scene and realizes Tony was accompanied by an old gypsy woman named Liza, who utters a dramatic threat before leaving town. Despite the unsettling encounter, Cora and her friends—accompanied by Jack, Ed, Walter, and new acquaintances—set off on their grand motor tour through Connecticut and Massachusetts toward Pittsfield and the White Mountains.

The journey presents constant perils. While staying at a resort hotel, a sudden explosion in the kitchen causes panic, scattering the guests. Later, on a lonely detour, the party encounters a mysterious man lurking beneath Cora's car, leaving behind only a slouch hat. Amidst these disturbances, the girls face chaperone troubles when their companion, Dr. Miss Robbins, abruptly leaves to care for an injured man—who turns out to be her long-lost brother.

The tension peaks when the group reaches a mountain hotel. Following a grand ball, Cora suddenly disappears from the resort grounds, leaving behind only a pair of dropped gloves on the road. She has been chloroformed and kidnapped by a gypsy tribe attempting to prevent her from testifying against the jailed Tony. Held captive in a secluded mountain house, Cora finds an unlikely ally in Helka, the educated twenty-five-year-old gypsy queen who secretly longs to break free from the domineering influence of the tribe’s elder matriarch, Mother Hull.

As Cora’s desperate friends search the wild passes in their automobiles, Cora and Helka conspire to escape. Using a guitar to mask their movements with music, they orchestrate a risky descent from a window using a rope. Their brave gamble pays off: Cora is safely reunited with her brother Jack and the rest of the motor party. The perpetrators flee, Tony is convicted for his crimes, and the travelers celebrate their victory before resuming their journey home, bonded forever by their wild journey across New England.

How It Unfolds

The shadow at Clover Cottage Cora, Bess, and Belle spot a suspicious man sneaking around their summer home after a seaside drive. Despite the scare and a chaotic night involving a broken-down motor launch, Cora confronts a midnight burglar, firing her revolver to drive him out into the darkness.

A threat from the road Following Tony’s court hearing, Cora finds a bottle of chloroform left behind and receives a dramatic warning from an old gypsy woman named Liza. Unfazed, the young drivers pack their cars and begin their long-planned road tour across New England.

Explosions and detours A kitchen explosion at a resort hotel throws the traveling party into utter chaos. Continuing their journey through Massachusetts along the Housatonic River, the motorists are forced onto lonely back roads, where they discover evidence of a mysterious figure stalking their vehicles.

Disappearance at the hotel During a stop in the White Mountains, Cora is surreptitiously abducted by members of the gypsy tribe. Her frantic friends find only her discarded gloves along a dark road and immediately rally four automobiles to launch a full-scale search through the mountain passes.

Captivity and clever allies Cora awakens in a secluded house, held prisoner to prevent her court testimony. She forms an alliance with Helka, the cultured gypsy queen, who resists the cruel demands of the tribe’s elder, Mother Hull, and vows to help Cora regain her freedom.

Escape and reunion Using music as a cover, Cora and Helka orchestrate a daring escape from a second-story window using a rope. Cora is triumphantly reunited with her friends, leading to the legal downfall of her captors and a joyful end to their New England tour.

The People

• Cora Kimball, the courageous, resourcefully independent heroine who drives her four-cylinder touring car, the Whirlwind, and faces burglars and kidnappers with unflappable poise.
• Bess and Belle Robinson, twin sisters and close friends of Cora; Bess is cheerful and confident, while the timid Belle constantly dreads danger, chaperoneless travel, and unexpected mishaps.
• Jack Kimball, Cora's protective, fiercely loyal brother who leads the search parties across wild mountain roads to recover his missing sister.
• Ed Foster and Walter Pennington, charming young men of the party who offer gallantry, mechanical help, and witty camaraderie throughout the journey's misadventures.
• Helka, the regal, educated twenty-five-year-old gypsy queen who refuses to submit to tribe coercion, ultimately choosing to save Cora and embrace her own path toward freedom.
• Mother Hull, the menacing, vengeful gypsy matriarch who pulls the strings behind the kidnapping and seeks revenge for the arrest of her accomplice, Tony.

In Its Own Voice

"Seems to me you are more afraid of the revolver than of the burglar," remarked Cora. "Do you realize that a man has just jumped out of the window?"

Cora reassures her terrified companions after firing her gun to ward off an intruder sneaking through Clover Cottage in the middle of the night.

"There are holes, and caves and rivers," answered the woman, with the plain intention of frightening the disloyal one into submission.

The sinister Mother Hull threatens Helka with dire consequences if she fails to keep Cora secured as a captive.

"Those gloves have never been out of doors a week," said Jack seriously. "They have been carried there--placed there--just to throw us off the track."

Jack analyzes a misleading clue left along the road during the frantic search for his missing sister.

What It's Really About

Beneath its sensational plot of roadside perils and kidnapped heroines, the novel explores the rapid onset of modern female autonomy at the turn of the twentieth century. Cora Kimball represents a new generation of self-reliant young women who master gasoline engines, handle firearms responsibly, and navigate complex crises without relying entirely on male authority. The narrative contrasts this modern, technological independence—symbolized by the open road and the freedom of driving—with older, darker underworld threats represented by the wandering gypsy tribes. Ultimately, the book asserts that true capability lies in composure, loyalty, and practical intelligence in the face of unexpected adversity.

Why Read It Today

This volume offers a delightfully nostalgic window into early American motoring culture, capturing an era when automobiles were glamorous novelties requiring courage, wrenches, and grit. Readers who enjoy vintage juvenile fiction, nostalgic mystery series like Nancy Drew, or early twentieth-century social history will thoroughly enjoy the sheer energy, vintage terminology, and brisk pacing of the narrative.

Modern readers should be prepared for the story's period tropes, particularly its unvarnished, melodramatic stereotyping of Romani characters ("gypsies") as sinister rogues and kidnappers, which reflects the standard fiction conventions of 1911. The prose also features light period slang and the somewhat predictable structure typical of early series fiction. Nevertheless, Cora Kimball remains an undeniably charismatic protagonist whose cool judgment and leadership make this spirited tour across historic New England an endearing and entertaining read today.