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 tell it was going to be "my kind of book," and it largely was. I just wish I'd listened to it so it could've packed more of a wallop. Spreading it out over eight months diminished the experience.