Great Circle

A novel

by Maggie Shipstead

hardcover, 608 pages

Published May 4, 2021 by Knopf.

ISBN:: 978-0-525-65697-5

(5 reviews)

From her days as a wild child in prohibition America to the blitz and glitz of wartime London, from the rugged shores of New Zealand to a lonely iceshelf in Antarctica, Marian Graves is driven by a need for freedom and danger.

Determined to live an independent life, she resists the pull of her childhood sweetheart, and burns her way through a suite of glamorous lovers. But it is an obsession with flight that consumes her most.

Now, as she is about to fulfil her greatest ambition, to circumnavigate the globe from pole to pole, Marian crash lands in a perilous wilderness of ice.

Over half a century later, troubled film star Hadley Baxter is drawn inexorably to play the enigmatic pilot on screen. It is a role that will lead her to an unexpected discovery, throwing fresh and spellbinding light on the story of the unknowable Marian Graves.

A …

Now, as she is about to fulfil her greatest ambition, to circumnavigate the globe from pole to pole, Marian crash lands in a perilous wilderness of ice.

A Book of the Year for The Times, Telegraph, Daily Express, New Statesman, Good Housekeeping, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Time, Esquire, The Economist, Oprah Daily and Woman and Home

'A gripping historical adventure that feels sharp, fresh and modern' STYLIST

'So beautiful, so daring, so complete' TAYLOR JENKINS REID

'A masterpiece' NIGELLA LAWSON

9 editions

lokroma reviewed Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Review of 'Great Circle' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Dnf. Way too long, with too many extraneous characters, and inartful writing. This novel, set in the 1930s and 1940s about an Amelia Earhart type character who yearns to fly after seeing barnstormers near her home in Montana and becomes a pilot, tells a parallel story of a contemporary actress who is making a film based on the pilot's life. The shifts between the two stories are not linked well and feel abrupt and jarring. I kept thinking of Possession, where the time shifts were handled so skillfully by A.S. Byatt. The behavior of many of the characters was inconsistent and often not believable.

I read about half of the 580 odd pages and wish I had read a biography of Amelia Earhart instead.

pithypants reviewed Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Review of 'Great Circle' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Wow. It took me 8 months and three different check-outs from the library to finally complete this book. In hindsight, at 600+ pages, I really should've done the audiobook because I think it would've moved a lot faster and felt more cohesive. Even so, I'm giving it 3.5 stars and rounding up to 4.

There are a lot of interesting details in this book, which suggests that Shipstead did a good bit of research. I loved learning about female aviators and their role in WWII, as well as how whiskey was flown across the border from Canada during Prohibition. This book provided good armchair travel: Missoula, Fairbanks. Seattle, Oahu, Antartica, New Zealand. And the storylines had a bit of something for everyone: a ship sinking, a plane crash, a round-the-world flight, a bad marriage, anguished artists, gay romance, hunting, Hollywood, secrets, etc.

When I first picked it up, I could …

GG reviewed Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

Review of 'Great Circle' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

An epic, plot-driven novel about a compelling female protagonist that, at almost 600 pages, could have used a bit more editing, but which kept me turning the metaphorical pages. It’s the kind of book that would make a great movie.

MarianneBrix

rated it

July 3, 2022

Jonathan

rated it

March 16, 2022