\u201cGreat Circle<\/a>\u201d presents a third-person immersion in aviator Marian Graves\u2019 life during Prohibition and World War II times alongside actress Hadley Baxter\u2019s contemporary experiences playing the role of Graves in a movie. The two characters juxtapose awkwardly, with Graves a highly motivated and driven individual and Baxter an aimless, confused person driven by sexual impulse.<\/p>\n Graves\u2019 story transports the reader from her childhood home in Missoula, Montana to Alaska and many other exotic settings around the world. This character-driven story captivates readers with Marian\u2019s struggles to achieve her dream in a time when women had limited opportunities. Author Maggie Shipstead writes riveting, beautifully described and sometimes terrifying flight scenes.<\/p>\n Will readers be engaged enough in Marian\u2019s epic story to plod onward when they are repeatedly jolted out of her narrative by Hadley\u2019s story? Or will Hadley\u2019s story appeal to some readers? Read our review of “Great Circle” to decide if our critique seems justified and whether Shipstead\u2019s novel is deserving of all the fame and praises bestowed on it.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat Circle\u201d was short-listed for the 2021 Booker Prize<\/a> and was a New York Times best seller. Two parallel narratives are maintained throughout the story. Some chapters follow fictional characters Marian Graves and her brother, Jamie, in the 20th century. Other chapters follow fictional actress Hadley Baxter in contemporary times (2014). Hadley plays Marian\u2019s role in the movie, \u201cPeregrine.\u201d<\/p>\n Twin infants Marian and Jamie, rescued from the sinking Josephina Eterna in 1914, are raised by their uncle Wallace. Marian meets stunt aviators Trixie and Felix Brayfogle. They take her on her first flight the same day Charles Lindbergh flies across the Atlantic. Marian becomes obsessed with the dream of becoming an aviator, dropping out of school at age 14 and disguising herself as a man to find work. To forward her interests, she allies herself with, and eventually marries, the wealthy bootlegger, Barclay McQueen.<\/p>\n Hadley Baxter is an aimless actress, bouncing from bed to bed, her behavior imperiling her romantic and professional relationships and career. After being fired from her leading role in the \u201cArchangel” series due to yet another scandal, she accepts an offer to play Marian Graves in the movie, \u201cPeregrine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cGreat Circle\u201d is historical fiction that embraces the reader like a true story. Readers are brought into intimate relationships with the central characters and fictional characters are woven very skillfully alongside real-life ones. Many readers will experience a sense that Marian and Jamie really existed.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat Circle\u201d reminded me of Kristin Hannah\u2019s \u201cThe Nightingale<\/a>.\u201d Hannah\u2019s novel follows two sisters living in Paris during World War II times.<\/p>\n Looking for a narrative that’s certainly worth reading? Read our review of “Never Let Me Go”<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> At The Rauch Review<\/a>, we care deeply about being transparent and earning your trust. These articles explain why and how we created our unique methodology for reviewing books and other storytelling mediums.<\/p>\n<\/div> \u201cGreat Circle\u201d has been classified under the genres of historical fiction, adventure fiction, biographical fiction and women\u2019s fiction. This book will appeal to women of all ages, particularly those who are independent and adventurous. Women with a penchant for aviation and LGBTQ readers will also be drawn to this book. It may appeal more to American and European women than women from other countries.<\/p>\n I found this book to be unique from any other books I have read in recent years. It didn\u2019t strike me as stereotypical in any way.<\/p>\n Independent women would be likely to enjoy \u201cGreat Circle\u201d the most. Women who are unconventional thinkers, LGBTQ and\/or adventurous are also likely to savor this read. Sexist men, descendants of the Lindbergh family and people offended by graphic sexuality will not appreciate this book.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat Circle\u201d is written in third person from multiple points of view during two different time periods. Perspective shifted primarily from Hadley\u2019s in contemporary time (2014) and Marian\u2019s from 1914 until after World War II. The narrative primarily follows Hadley and Marian\u2019s stories. Marian\u2019s narrative sometimes shifts to third person points-of-view of other characters, including Jamie and Caleb.<\/p>\n The alternating point of view enabled the reader to glean information from Hadley\u2019s experiences that never occurs in Marian\u2019s narrative or before the event appears in the narrative. Reverting to Hadley\u2019s point of view might be annoying for some readers, because she has an annoying and shallow personality. She lives in a time where the sky\u2019s the limit in the way of opportunities for women, but she throws it all away, falling into the worn-out role of sex object. The book would have been more engaging without Hadley\u2019s threads.<\/p>\n Editorial Note: We believe these three factors are important for evaluating general writing quality across every aspect of the book. Before you get into further analysis, here\u2019s a quick breakdown to clarify how we\u2019re using these words:<\/i><\/p>\n Maggie Shipstead\u2019s writing style is compelling and captivating. Her prose is raw, realistic and engaging. The author incites deep emotional responses and portrays disturbing life events in a vivid and poignant way. She draws readers in tight to the characters until they start to feel like family.<\/p>\n Overall, the author\u2019s writing is sophisticated and well-crafted but easy to follow. \u201cGreat Circle\u201d is long \u2014 589 pages \u2014 but the pacing works most of the time. The depth of the characters and engaging storyline make it worth the long read.<\/p>\n Some readers will be tempted to rush through chapters that followed Hadley, because of her dislikeable nature. Chapters following Hadley only held my attention when the narrative was about to reveal something intriguing about Marian\u2019s story.<\/p>\n Many female readers will connect with Marian on some level. American women today have almost unlimited choices for careers. In her era, Marian was a caged bird fighting frantically for freedom. She quits school and hides her gender as a teen. This ruse allows her to pick up odd jobs (sometimes illegal) to earn money and pursue her dreams to become an aviator.<\/p>\n Marian\u2019s perseverance, drive and passion for flying was not only inspiring, but also delightfully obsessive. Nothing and no one could stand in the way of what she wanted. Fictional characters are smoothly woven in with real people, giving Marian and Jamie real-life dimension.<\/p>\n The rich development of characters, perpetual conflict and tension, and captivating descriptions of flight experiences set the stage for a very compelling read.<\/p>\n Readers will experience a full spectrum of emotions alongside Marian and Jamie. The story is rife with excitement and tension. Both characters display multiple dimensions. Jamie is very different from his twin sister: artistic, hypersensitive, somewhat shy. The emotional ups and downs they experience feel very realistic.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat Circle\u201d is very well-written, with beautiful, literary prose. The book is free of typos and is well edited and professional. A YouTube video interview with Shipstead (by Curtis Sittenfeld)<\/a> revealed that the editing process with Knopf took almost two years. The original text was hundreds of pages longer, Shipstead said.<\/p>\n Following the book\u2019s plot wasn\u2019t overly challenging. The author often uses Hadley\u2019s discoveries to punctuate a chapter with Marian\u2019s experience.<\/p>\n There were no apparent plot holes. Occasionally, there are questions brought up in the narrative that remain unanswered by the end of the book.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat Circle\u201d would have been more streamlined, coherent and interesting without Hadley\u2019s story. Pacing within chapters was never an issue.<\/p>\n The vocabulary used in the narrative worked. The author wasn\u2019t trying to impress readers with flowery language, and the writing didn\u2019t feel contrived.<\/p>\n Marian and Jamie were brought to life in such depth that I felt like I knew them personally. Following them for decades continues to draw the reader in closer to them. Hadley struck me as shallow. In contrast to Marion, who knew exactly what she wanted, following this character who had no clue what she wanted and saw no worth in herself beyond \u201csex symbol\u201d felt exhausting and irritating.<\/p>\n There were flashbacks in the story, although not enough to be distracting. Change and impermanence is a consistent theme in the book. Marian and Jamie are constantly traveling throughout most of the book. Their situations shift suddenly and often.<\/p>\n Marian treated others, including the people closest to her, badly throughout the book. Perhaps her pushing others away was emotional self-preservation. She likely feared getting too close to people because she was abandoned as a child. Her tendency to be inconsiderate and selfish never shifted. This static character trait was a slight disappointment, although not surprising because it\u2019s a trait often exhibited by obsessive, hyper-driven types. It was clear that she deeply cared for people but seemed unable to express her feelings.<\/p>\n The author didn\u2019t intrude on the story, but her history added to the dimension and reality of the story. In the Sittenfeld YouTube interview, Shipstead mentioned that her brother was in the Air Force and that he had always been obsessed with flying. Her basic understanding of aviation undoubtedly enabled her to bring raw realism to the flight scenes.<\/p>\n Shipstead also has traveled to many places. She mentioned flying to Greenland and being surrounded by ice and eventually visiting Antarctica. Because the female characters were casual about sex, it crossed my mind that the author might be as well, but that is only conjecture.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat Circle\u201d is an engaging, character-driven historical novel. Readers become invested in the lives of Marian and Jamie and are compelled to follow their stories to the end. Older readers who survived World War II will likely find the experiences the characters suffered during this time compelling.<\/p>\n Shipstead\u2019s writing is unique. Marian\u2019s character roughly resembles real-life pilot Amelia Earhart. Both women wanted to circumnavigate the world and cut their hair short and boy-like. Earhart clearly came from a much more privileged background than Graves and didn\u2019t have to frantically fight to become a pilot. The mysterious circumstances of Earhart\u2019s death during her attempted round-the-world flight parallel the oddities experienced during Marian\u2019s attempt.<\/p>\n (spoiler alert) The ending to \u201cGreat Circle\u201d should satisfy most readers. Most of the details of Marian Graves\u2019 and Eddie Bloom\u2019s trip around the poles is colorfully revealed through direct experience and through letters Hadley receives from Adelaide Scott.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat Circle\u201d blends narrative with dialogue and weaves fictional characters skillfully into historical events and meetings with real-life people.<\/p>\n Shipstead writes beautifully and is particularly adept at portraying a sense of bleakness to life and its certain end. She also describes stark settings, which could be interpreted as lonely and desolate or meditative and pristine, depending on the reader\u2019s viewpoint. Below are examples of her writing, which particularly appealed to me.<\/p>\n Hadley\u2019s parents died in a plane crash when she was a child. Her reflections, while swimming in Lake Superior are, \u201cI kept thinking about the sunken Cessna out there somewhere, wondering if infinitesimal particles of my parents were floating around me like fireflies.\u201d These thoughts did strike me as too deep to come from Hadley\u2019s brain, though.<\/p>\n (Spoiler alert) Jamie\u2019s death when his transport ship is hit by torpedoes during the war struck me as the most disturbing scene in the novel. I was saddened to experience the death of this character I\u2019d connected with so deeply and even felt physical pain as I read Shipstead\u2019s description of his life being snuffed out in an agonizing way.<\/p>\n \u201cHe survived long enough to feel a sudden crush and violent churn of salt water, the other bodies against his, the pressure that squeezed his lungs, broke his eardrums. Heat billowed past like a wind. He thought he was swimming toward the surface, that the rippling pane of sunlight was almost within reach, that he was about to burst up into the air. And he did see light coming closer, but it was only the blooming glow from the exploding boilers. He didn\u2019t quite feel terror as he died\u2014there wasn\u2019t enough time. Nor did he feel anything resembling acceptance, nothing like peace. He didn\u2019t think of Marian or Sarah or Caleb, or of his paintings or Missoula, though he might have, if he\u2019d lived a few more seconds.\u201d<\/p>\n During the circumnavigation attempt, Marian and Eddie are trying to land their plane in Antarctica in terrible weather.<\/p>\n \u201cSky and ice blend into a seamless shell, can\u2019t be prised apart. Like flying in a bowl of milk, pilots say. The horizon is gone. There is empty space around her, above and below, but she has no means of judging how much. The altimeter says they are at eleven thousand feet, but that\u2019s above sea level. She doesn\u2019t know how thick the ice is. They might be only a thousand feet above it. She can see nothing beyond a vague swirl of blowing snow.\u201d<\/p>\n Sentences were written in a way that kept me engaged in \u201cGreat Circle.\u201d I wasn\u2019t thrown out of the story by any apparent repetitive sentence structure.<\/p>\n Parallel plot, metaphor, and simile are literary devices employed in this book. The parallel plot presents Marian Graves in historical times and actress Hadley Baxter in contemporary times. There are vague similarities between the two female characters. Hadley and Marian both grew up living with uncles who neglected them. If Hadley had been interesting, this parallel story technique might have worked for me. Hadley\u2019s story felt burdensome to read.<\/p>\n Metaphor and simile were used often to great effect. Imagery was also used to make descriptions more colorful.<\/p>\n I assumed from reading this book that the author is highly sexual and enjoys adventure travel. I perceive that she questions the circle of life and wonders whether it ends in oblivion or something more ethereal.<\/p>\n The \u201cGreat Circle\u201d dialogue suited each character and blended well with description and narrative. It felt realistic and organic.<\/p>\n The amount of dialogue in the book felt balanced. Marian doesn\u2019t speak extraneously. When she says more than a few words, the scenes tend to be emotionally charged, every word ringing with significance. When she speaks with only a word or two, she sometimes seems like she\u2019s distracted and thinking ahead. Written letters serve as another form of \u201cdialogue\u201d in the work.<\/p>\n Internal and spoken dialogue help readers understand Marian\u2019s conflicted emotions toward Barclay and her deep feelings for Jamie, Caleb and Ruth, despite her often-aloof actions. Dialogue illuminates Jamie\u2019s sensitivity and attachment to Sarah, Caleb and Marian during sections that follow him.<\/p>\n Dialogue was easy to follow when Marian\u2019s story was presented. Following Hadley\u2019s conversations was more difficult.<\/p>\n Editorial note<\/strong>: Want more literary fiction? Here’s our “The Memory Police” review<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n Numerous worldwide settings are portrayed in this book. Marian and Jamie grow up during the Prohibition era in Missoula, Montana. From the 1920s to 1950s, readers follow the siblings (often not in the same place at the same time) to the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, the Pacific islands, London, Antarctica and New Zealand. The setting for Hadley\u2019s part of the story is primarily Los Angeles during contemporary times.<\/p>\n The reader travels often, particularly when Marian and Jamie are serving in World War II. I haven\u2019t read a book that transported me to so many unusual and less-traveled locations since Nicholas Christopher\u2019s \u201cA Trip to the Stars<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Settings are described in various levels of detail, depending on how essential they are to the story. The author immerses readers in vivid descriptions of Montana, Alaska, Antarctica and New Zealand. The author\u2019s descriptions of Antarctica bring to life the chill and desolation of the landscape and the experience of being there. Shipstead\u2019s descriptions of places always brought me right onto the scene.<\/p>\n I can\u2019t tell if the author is trying to make a statement by writing this book. The characters all had a voice, but the author didn\u2019t seem to intrude on their development.<\/p>\n Themes of alcoholism, parenting (or lack of it), class difference, societal roles and expectations, feminism and sexuality are explored in \u201cGreat Circle.\u201d In a YouTube interview, Shipstead mentioned that she was exploring the theme of scale when she wrote the book.<\/p>\n The narrative makes it clear she\u2019s very knowledgeable and well-traveled and has done extensive research. I never felt that her personality or her views intruded on the story.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat Circle\u201d focuses on the Prohibition and World War II eras. I wasn\u2019t born until the 1960s, but the portrayal of these times felt authentic and aligned with other well-written historical novels I\u2019ve read.<\/p>\n This book is likely to resonate with individuals who believe women have the right to pursue any dream or career they want. Morally conservative or religious individuals might find the sexual behavior of the characters offensive.<\/p>\n The darker sides of the Lindbergh family, including Charles\u2019 alliances with the Nazis, were new reading to me.<\/p>\n The New York Times described \u201cGreat Circle\u201d as \u201can action-packed book rich with character, but it\u2019s at the level of the sentence and the scene, the small but unforgettable salient detail, that books finally succeed or fail. In that, \u2018Great Circle\u2019 is consistently, often breathtakingly, sound.\u201d<\/p>\n The Washington Post described it as \u201cRelentlessly exciting\u2026So convincingly does Shipstead stitch her fictional heroine into the daring flight paths of early aviators that you\u2019ll be convinced that you remember the tragic day her plane disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n Favorable reviews on Amazon consistently praised the beautiful writing, the deep development of characters and the buffet of interesting settings portrayed in the work. Critical reviews often disparaged the graphic sex scenes in the book, the presence of Hadley\u2019s story and the length of the novel. Hadley was repeatedly described as \u201cvapid\u201d and \u201cshallow.\u201d<\/p>\n I concur with all the favorable points made by reviewers and, of course, am equally frustrated with Hadley\u2019s character. Some of the reviewers that described the book as too long or boring struck me as readers who don\u2019t normally read books with much depth.<\/p>\n The \u201cGreat Circle\u201d cover is quite unique and artistic, with a biplane (with a trail behind it that shows its recent path), several orange suns, spheres, or circles of life of different sizes and surrounding billowy clouds. The circles may symbolize the lives of the central characters.<\/p>\n The plane on the cover suggests the book is about aviation. The watercolor nature of the sky is vaguely ethereal. \u201cNew York Times best seller\u201d and \u201cBooker Prize Finalist\u201d are printed at the top of the front cover. There is a quote about the book on the bottom of the front cover and several \u201cPraise for \u2018Great Circle\u2019\u201d quotes on the back cover. The text on the cover is intended to persuade potential readers to purchase and the artwork portrays a sense of mystery that lures readers to explore further.<\/p>\n The cover is more artistic than most historical or women\u2019s fiction covers I\u2019ve seen. It seems very fitting for the story\u2019s aviation and life-path themes.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat Circle\u201d is slated to be made into a TV series<\/a>, but it hasn\u2019t yet been released. Once it\u2019s released, we\u2019ll update this section.<\/p>\n I loved Shipstead\u2019s beautiful, literary writing, the colorful and multisensory descriptions of so many exotic places, the flight experiences, Marian\u2019s independence, and Jamie\u2019s creativity and sensitivity.<\/p>\n Hadley irritated me. She seemed blind to the fact that she was a talented actress with unlimited opportunities in front of her. She allowed her impulses to control her, which brought peril to her reputation and career. Her only goal in life seemed to be to bed men. I couldn\u2019t help rolling my eyes. I was so annoyed whenever I was thrown into another chapter about her.<\/p>\n I knew I hated her when this thought went through her mind when she was meeting with a 40-something woman: \u201cIn 20 years, she would be a skin balloon with eyes.\u201d<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t apparent she learned anything during the arc of the story. It frustrated me that unworthy Hadley was playing the role of Marian in the movie, \u201cPeregrine\u201d and that her story would be inaccurate and distorted.<\/p>\n Jamie was my favorite character. (Spoiler alert) I connected to him as an artist and ally with many of his sensitivities. He loved people deeply and openly expressed that he cared. His basic good character never changed, even though he felt that it did because he killed people in the war to protect himself or others.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat Circle\u201d reminded me of Kristin Hannah\u2019s \u201cThe Nightingale<\/a>.\u201d Hannah\u2019s novel follows two sisters living in Paris during World War II times. Hannah\u2019s writing also brings readers close to the characters, and her story is equally intense and sometimes heartbreaking.<\/p>\n I have never met Maggie Shipstead or communicated with her. When I was nearly finished writing this review, I listened to a video on YouTube where Curtis Sittenfeld interviewed her<\/a>.<\/p>\n My daughter loaned me her copy of \u201cGreat Circle.\u201d She has a way of finding books I enjoy. I wanted to review this book because I read dozens of books a month and rarely come across a gem like this one.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat Circle\u201d is one of the best books I\u2019ve read in recent months. It\u2019s one of those books I will read again and again. I loved the writing, the colorful descriptions and most of all, the main characters. The parallel narrative didn\u2019t work for me. For that reason, I deducted .5 stars. \u201cGreat Circle\u201d would have been a more compelling and streamlined read without the introduction of Hadley\u2019s character.<\/p>\n Yes, “Great Circle” includes LGBTQ themes as characters explore a wide range of sexual identities and relationships throughout the story.<\/p>\n “Great Circle” is not based on a true story, but it is inspired by historical events and figures in aviation. The author takes artistic liberties while mixing fact and fiction to craft a compelling and inspiring tale.<\/p>\n Below are links to places where \u201cGreat Circle\u201d can be purchased:<\/p>\n \u201cGreat Circle\u201d is available at most Barnes and Noble and most independent bookstores.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat Circle\u201d is available as an ebook and audiobook through many libraries through the Libby app. Readers may have to wait up to 26 weeks to get the ebook book and up to 6 weeks to get the audiobook . There are 20 ebook copies and 20 audiobook copies available through the Libby app<\/a> through the Pima County Public Library in Tucson, Arizona.<\/p>\n<\/div>\u2018Great Circle\u2019 Summary: Back and Forth in Time Between 1914 Feminist Aviation Adventure and 2014 Hollywood<\/h2>\n
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‘Great Circle’ Audience and Genre: Appeals to Adventurous Women<\/h2>\n
Perspective: Parallel Stories a Century Apart, One Much Better Than the Other<\/h2>\n
Three Cs: Compelling, Clear, Concise<\/h2>\n
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Compelling: Character and Action-Driven Story<\/h3>\n
Clear: Professionally Presented<\/h3>\n
Concise: Long Narrative That Could\u2019ve Been Reduced by Cutting Hadley<\/h3>\n
‘Great Circle’ Character Development: True-to-Life Characters<\/h2>\n
Story: Female Empowerment, Aviation, War and Hollywood<\/h2>\n
Prose Style: Fictional Characters Intertwined With Real-Life People<\/h2>\n
Dialogue: Realistic and Unique to Each Character<\/h3>\n
‘Great Circle’ Setting: From the Pacific Northwest to Antarctica<\/h2>\n
Rhetoric: Many Themes, Take Your Pick<\/h2>\n
Cultural and Political Significance: A Woman Ahead of Her Time<\/h2>\n
Critiquing the Critics: Are They Right About Hadley and the Length of the Book?<\/h2>\n
Book Aesthetic: Somewhat Artistic for Historical Fiction Novel<\/h2>\n
\u2018Great Circle\u2019 Review: Book vs. Film<\/h2>\n
Reviewer\u2019s Personal Opinion: Hadley, the Marian Imposter<\/h2>\n
\u2018Great Circle\u2019 Review: One of Those Books I\u2019ll Read Again and Again<\/h2>\n
‘Great Circle’ FAQs<\/h2>\n
Is ‘Great Circle’ LGBTQ?<\/h3>\n
Is the book ‘Great Circle’ based on a true story?<\/h3>\n
Buying and Rental Options<\/h2>\n
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E-Commerce Text and Audio Purchases<\/h3>\n
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Physical Location Purchase and Rental Options<\/h3>\n
Digital Rental Options<\/h3>\n