Great Circle

A Novel

De: Maggie Shipstead

Narrado por: Cassandra Campbell, Alex McKenna

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 prodigiously gifted Maggie Shipstead.

©2020 Maggie Shipstead (P)2020 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION NOMINEE • BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: TIME, NPR, Washington Post, EW, Boston Globe, LitHub, and more

“A soaring work of historical fiction . . . So convincingly does Shipstead stitch her fictional heroine into the daring flight paths of early aviators that you’ll be convinced that you remember the tragic day her plane disappeared. 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. My top recommendation for this summer.” —Ron Charles, The Washington Post

“Shipstead's writing soars and dips with dizzying flair . . . With detailed brilliance, she lavishes heart and empathy on every character (save one villain), no matter how small their role. Many authors attempting to create an epic falter at the end, but Shipstead never wavers, pulls out a twist or two that feel fully earned, and then sticks the landing. An expansive story that covers more than a century and seems to encapsulate the whole wide world. ”
—Boston Globe

“Thrilling . . . Great Circle starts high and maintains altitude. One might say it soars. An action-packed book rich with character . . . Great Circle grasps for and ultimately reaches something extraordinary. It pulls off this feat through individual sentences and sensations—by getting each secondary and tertiary character right . . . What’s so impressive is how deeply we come to care about each of these people, and how the shape and texture of each of their stories collide to build a story all its own. It’s at the level of the sentence and the scene, the small but unforgettable salient detail, that books finally succeed or fail. In that, Great Circle is consistently, often breathtakingly, sound.” —Lynn Steger Strong, The New York Times Book Review

Well researched and interesting human drama

The story held my interest and was well crafted. Many life situations were painful. Narration was very good. Mature subject matter.

entertaining

the life story of a fictional female pilot and her relationships. woven around ww2. it was drawn out longer than necessary, IMHO, and lots of sex did not add to the story. if you like fiction with a bit of history you will probably enjoy. voice actors were very good, kept me engaged. i did speed it up to 1.35.

Stay with it you be glad you did!

Great story. A bit long too a while to get a sense of where it was going but I enjoyed it.

A Wonderful Ride

Beautifully written and read. Ms. Shipstead's research made her story come alive. Characters remained true to themselves all through. I hungered for the time to get back to listening. I loved this book.

Lovely

A brilliantly written story that moves between our primary character in the 30’s and 40’s to today. Hadley, our today character is as welcome in this book as Marion even as she struggles for her position and definition as an actress, both feel real. Similar life circumstances along with real historical references draws you in and doesn’t let go. The author is amazing at creating the characters and deftly moves us from one era to another. It’s very long and likely could have been delivered a bit shorter but when I thought of this I knew I would have felt slighted. Highly recommend this story but it’s wonderful via audible with two narrators. So good!

Best Book of 2022

Exquisite, intelligent, well researched adventure story that reveals the history of 20th C women aviators & their importance to war effort that heretofore was squelched by the white men who disregarded contributions of those not them.

Got a little slow at times.

I enjoyed it over all but the times in the war came off as painfully slow. I felt like there were three different stories lumped into one but I enjoyed it over all.

Great story, amazing reader

Don’t give up at the beginning because the first chapter or so is a little bit weird, but this is a truly great story totally worth it. The weather is just amazing doing so many different characters very effectively

Fly away

The Great Circle is the title, but the story (actually many stories)is all about circles of time, place, people, world events. The entire book circles. It’s Sublime! It’s epic, it’s a saga and it moves on the updraft of beautiful writing. The actor’s reading of the story is so deft and skilled with the voices of characters…. You really get to know these people, it’s deep. The authors ability to write about nature is quite wonderful too. I’m still basting in its spell 3 days later. I secretly (not secretly) love that part of reading a great book. This is a truly great book.

Many life circles

Well done story of a woman with vision and drive! I would recommend this to anyone interested in a family story of survival and adventure with emphasis on strong women. I particularly liked the WWll segment and the women fliers.