Great Circle

by Maggie Shipstead

Paper Book, 2021

Status

Available

Call number

FIC SHIP

Collection

1st floor Fountainside

Rating

(325 ratings; 4)

Genres

Description

Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML:NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER �?� A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK �?� The unforgettable story of a daredevil female aviator determined to chart her own course in life, at any cost: an �??epic trip�??through Prohibition and World War II, from Montana to London to present-day Hollywood�??and you�??ll relish every minute�?� (People). After being rescued as infants from a sinking ocean liner in 1914, Marian and Jamie Graves are raised by their dissolute uncle in Missoula, Montana. There�??after encountering a pair of barnstorming pilots passing through town in beat-up biplanes�??Marian commences her lifelong love affair with flight. At fourteen she drops out of school and finds an unexpected and dangerous patron in a wealthy bootlegger who provides a plane and subsidizes her lessons, an arrangement that will haunt her for the rest of her life, even as it allows her to fulfill her destiny: circumnavigating the globe by flying over the North and South Poles. A century later, Hadley Baxter is cast to play Marian in a film that centers on Marian's disappearance in Antarctica. Vibrant, canny, disgusted with the claustrophobia of Hollywood, Hadley is eager to redefine herself after a romantic film franchise has imprisoned her in the grip of cult celebrity. Her immersion into the character of Marian unfolds, thrillingly, alongside Marian's own story, as the two women's fates�??and their hunger for self-determination in vastly different geographies and times�??collide. Epic and emotional, meticulously researched and gloriously told, Great Circle is a monumental work of art, and a tremendous leap forward for the prod… (more)

Language

English

Original publication date

2021

Media reviews

The Observer

Shipstead [...] writes with precision on both macro and micro levels, bringing a sure-footed fluency to descriptions of landscape, potted highlights of aviation history and close-up details of people and places [...]

— 4 more

New York Times

The start of Shipstead’s book — her third, after “Seating Arrangements” in 2012 and “Astonish Me” in 2014 — is thrilling and complicated, with many different threads laid out and back stories carefully and richly wrought; for the next 500-odd pages, I felt the fear I feel when a

student’s work starts strong, when other novels open high — knowing that, more often than not, lofty heights can’t be sustained. But “Great Circle” starts high and maintains altitude. One might say it soars.... This is a book explicitly invested in sweep....this far-ranging breadth is as much the project of this novel as any of these individual lives — including all the ways each life exists within the context of so many others, the way the natural world informs and forms us, all the ways we are still only and particularly ourselves.

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Washington Post

“Great Circle” is a relentlessly exciting story about a woman maneuvering her way between tradition and prejudice to get what she wants. It’s also a culturally rich story that takes full advantage of its extended length to explore the changing landscape of the 20th century.... Shipstead is

particularly interested in the way attitudes about gender shape women’s expectations, desires and careers. Marian utterly rejects the gallant respect for her femininity, which she knows is just a pretty way of keeping her tethered and hooded like a tame falcon.... Shipstead has boldly complicated this gripping historical novel by weaving in a modern-day story set in Hollywood.... The extraordinary realism of Marian’s chapters can make the broad strokes of Hadley’s sections feel light in comparison....Though separated by decades, the aviator and the actress are both powerful women, rising from devastating tragedies to forge their own way.

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The Harvard Crimson

Though the plotlines come second to the character development, “Great Circle” delves into the gamut of human experience, from romance to war to grief. That being said, there are some parts of this book that drag, and it is a novel that will take time and energy to fully delve into. Especially

towards the beginning, where the reader is introduced to so many perspectives, it can be difficult to fully invest in the narrative without a clear understanding as to why each mini-story is important quite yet. Combined with the fact that the novel has a complex non-linear timeline, this story is not instantaneously engrossing, but it builds until it is difficult to put down....“Great Circle” is a novel about lofty ideals of truth, purpose, and connection across time and space, brought down to earth by a dynamic and complex cast of characters. If a reader is willing to give this novel the time it requires, the story’s universal appeal shines through.

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Kirkus Reviews

The intertwined journeys of an aviatrix born in 1914 and an actress cast to play her a century later.... Shipstead reveals breathtaking range and skill, expertly juggling a multigenerational historical epic and a scandal-soaked Hollywood satire, with scenes playing out on land, at sea, and in the

air....Ingeniously structured and so damn entertaining; this novel is as ambitious as its heroines—but it never falls from the sky.

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