This is easily one of my favourite books for 2021 - so much so that my bookshop made it out book of the month for June!

I was really taken by the concept of this novel, a pilot, Marian Graves, embarking on her final journey in 1950, her life story, and the story of the Hadley Baxter, the actress playing her in the movie adaptation.

It did take me a few attempts to get into the novel, and think I struggled with the Hadley Baxter chapters from the very start. I couldn’t relate to Hadley, and the selfish self-indulgent lifestyle, or the way in which these chapters were written more simplistically.

I did however think the historical fiction chapters, centred around Marian and her life, were completely captivating and beautifully written. There was incredibly strong character building, and I particularly loved both Caleb and Jamie.

I did feel the novel jumped around a lot, and there was a lot of unnecessary tangents (and sexual detail). It made for a very long read, which at times took willpower.

I will include trigger warnings for: drug abuse, mental health and suicidal thoughts, domestic abuse, sexual assault and rape.

There were strong themes of identity and belonging, of adventure and ambition, the consequence of decisions through the generations, and of female empowerment. Some of these were echoed between both the Marian and Hadley chapters.

I did enjoy this novel, I just think if it was a little shorter, and found a way to eliminate the need for the Hadley chapters, or with a more endearing protagonist I would’ve really loved it.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for Advanced Copies of this original and engaging novel.

I love novels about women flyers. This one was beautifully written and very long, so it needed to be engaging to keep me reading (and I did put it down and have to pick it up again more than once when it became a little too same-ish) . It was a dual-time novel, so very popular it seems of late, with the most engaging story that of Marian, the fictional pilot who disappeared in 1950, and the least engaging that of Hadley, a self-destructive actress who plays the role of Marian in a film. Marian's story was rich with detail, which I enjoyed. Overall I think a very strong edit to remove about 200 of the 600 pages would have improved it and possibly turned it into a 5 star read. .

Compelling writing and many different, inter-twined layers of plot around Marian, an intrepid pilot. Unexpected twist at the end. Highly recommended reading.

This is an epic. Yes its a long book but so beautifully written that you dont want to put it down. The life of Marian Graves, the hero of the story was riveting. Spanning a timeline of prohibition to current day we watch her grow up and develop her passion for flying and by the end of the book I felt I had almost met her. I loved the stories of her twin Jamie and childhood friend Caleb as they interwove throughout her life.. Riveting.The modern day actress Hayley, who is about to play Marian in the film of her life adds an element of mystery. I loved this book and now will read others by this author.

This is the second book about an aviatrix I have read this year (after The Aviatrix), and this is definately more ambitious with much more of a bigger thematic canvas which wants to comment on the changing roles of women over the last hundred years. There is a lot of good stuff here, and the heroine has been created deftly to slot into the historical records of famous female pilots, so that her defining stunt (flying a Great Circle across the poles) is one of the last air records that could have been attempted. Equally the framing device of a modern actress (very much an amalgam of Jennifer Lawrence and Kristen Stewart) is good and often picks up the slack when the historical narrative flags. Which is just as well, as it does more often than it should.

When should you start a story? Here we start a few years before Marian Graves, our flygirls, birth. We see the disasters which set up her complex upbringing by an uncle with her sensitive vegetarian brother. We see her life, we see her brothers life, we see much of her childhood best friend and occasional lover life. We even get a little bit too much of the life of her brothers teenage girlfriend, her world war II girlfriend, and her husband. It all adds together eventually, but it is a little exhausting to be on another digression when you really just want to watch Marian fly. Much of this is about agency, Marian is not rich and manages to cobble flying lessons for doing a favour (and eventually marrying) a bootlegger. But I really felt that much of this could be slimmed down, and found myself surprisingly drawn more to Hadley Baxter, the modern day starlet, no matter how familiar her tale of teen actress excess felt over-familiar. Her contextualisation of how Marian's story mirrored her own is actually one of the more successful framing stories I have read - perhaps a bit too successful as certainly towards the end I wanted more of her than Marian.

It is interesting comparing Great Circle to The Aviatrix, which was a much simpler "edge of YA" book about female empowerment. Great Circle has so many narrative themes and central characters that the power of the basic story is dissipated, not least by certain storytelling beats which felt over-familiar (bootlegger as abusive husband, the tentative steps into a same sex relationship). All of this led me to be actually quite disappointed with the last act flourish, which just did not convince me in the world of the book or our own. There's a lot here to like, and if it grabs you in the right way I can see this being a great beach read, but it did a little too much for me to love. And at least tell me if the film Hadley Baxter made was actually any good or not!

This is a big book in every way, but fascinating. I found I enjoyed the parts relating Marion’s early life better than the Hadley parts and I felt the book was too long. That apart, this is fresh and different and interesting, about flying and survival and being a girl in a man’s world.

This sweeping, majestic novel is a towering achievement and will undoubtedly be my book of the year. Nominally telling two stories over the course of a century, it is actually telling at least five more and the scope is impressive, including one chapter taking us back 15,000 years.

The primary stories are that of Marian Graves, a pilot attempting to be the first person to circumnavigate the poles in the mid 20th century, and Hadley Baxter, the disgraced star of a Twilight-esque series of films who is hired to play her in a biopic a century after Marian’s birth. It is a richly peopled novel and I could have followed any number of the characters in the same level of depth.

Covering almost the entire world and a century of change, this novel is stunning in its ambition and the depth of research is evident. It’s hard to be eloquent about such an immersive experience but I particularly enjoyed the Possession/Arcadia style aspects of the 21st century characters speculating on the lives of their predecessors whilst we see what is happening in ‘real time’.

I will be pressing this book on everyone I meet and I could not recommend it more highly. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

The Character in the past was far more interesting than the present day character.

Which made the story very slow in the present day.

I found the story very disjointed.

Just not for me.

A twin timeline weighty novel expertly told. Marian and her brother are left parentless and rested by a difficult uncle. Marian is strong willed , a rebel who has a passion for flying deciding to undertake ‘The Great Circle’ . We are taken on that fatal flight.
Hadley is commissioned to play the role of Marian in the film . She too is a troubled character.
Enjoy the historical detail in this long read

I really wanted to like this book. It's set in a period I really like, of early aviation , with a focus on all those magnificent women in their flying machines. I don't care about aeroplanes, but I love reading about flight, and I've read quite a few books set in the world of aviation, Antoine de Saint-Exupery's books, and Richard Bach has written some beautiful books of his experiences trying to recreate the life of a barnstorming pilot ( this is before his hokey attempts at philosophy). The sweep of history the author covers is interesting, and there are some absolutely lovely descriptions of the protagonist, Marian, learning to fly, and her experiences with the plane. The book has two narrative strands- one traces the life of the protagonist, Marian, born during World War I, who wants to fly. The other is set in present day,and traces an actress set to star in a movie adaptation of Marian's life. The narrative set in present day is very weak, with the actress being a fictional stand in for Kirsten Stewart, immediately after a very public breakup with Robert Pattinson, dealing with the fallout of that on her career and the fandom. The fictional Twilight standin is called 'Archangel' in the book. While the authors aim is to write a harsh indictment of celebrity culture, she doesn't succeed since she's adding to it by fictionalising the pain of real people- something she accuses the tabloids of doing. This narrative strand is required only at the ending, and it quite really took away from Marian's story which is far more interesting, and much less pretentious. Marian's life as an aspiring aviator gives us potted biographies of nonfictional pioneering fliers, all of whom are absolutely fascinating and inspiring. I didn't know that several women aviators were involved in the transport of planes from the factories to their takeoff sites, and the book also mentions Jacqueline Cochran, whose life deserves a book of its own. This part of the book is very interesting, and the writer describes more than a few theatres of war I didn't really know about. In this section as well, though, instead of more about Marians wartime experiences, the writer chooses to focus on a very tedious love triangle, that is too badly written to be moving. AJ Pearce's books Dear Mrs.Bird and Yours Cheerfully also re set in a similar period and balance wartime with normal life, but it's done much better, so you don't feel that focus has shifted. Additionally, the love of Marian's life, Caleb , is a paper thin character who seems to pop into her life exactly when she needs it, and their childhood relationship starts off in a very transactional way that's quite uncomfortable. This relationship did not ring true at all.

The last third of the book, though, is so excellently written, that it partly makes up for the rest. Marian's polar expeditions have beautiful , evocative descriptions, of the landscapes and her aerial adventures. It's great writing and completely immerses you in the bleak white wastes. The book ends in a completely unexpected way as well, that leaves you very moved, and inspired. This book needs much harsher editing, because it has the potential to be a truly great book. I'm very grateful to have received this ArC from Netgalley and the publishers. I would still recommend it, it's a rewarding read with some lovely writing in parts, and you get to know of a lot of incredible female aviators.

“Great Circle” follows the lives of a handful of characters, but primarily focuses on Marian Graves through her life as a pilot mainly during the 30s and 40s, occasionally switching to the first person perspective of Hadley Baxter, an actress embroiled in a number of scandals pulled straight from the tabloids and who is playing Marion in a film in 2014. It occasionally branches off to elaborate on the lives of Marion’s twin brother Jamie, with whom she was rescued from a sinking ship as a baby and their childhood friend Caleb amongst others, though these are usually smaller tangents tucked into the larger story.

The best word I could possibly use to describe “Great Circle” is “epic”. This book is 600 pages long and feels longer, though not in a bad way. While some passages are a little slow, and in places maybe even confusing (particularly at the beginning although some of this might be because the formatting of the e-ARC I read was a little off), by the end of the book I read back through the notes I had made for this review and realised that the passage of time had been well enough rendered that the earlier events of Marian’s life felt like distant memories despite my having read them only the day before.

Despite enjoying Marian’s life story and it’s many twists and turns in the lead up to her ill-fated (this is established early on) attempt to circumnavigate the globe, I still occasionally found these chapters dense and dragging in the particular way that something set in another era can be – these chapters contain a great deal of scene setting not only to build a clear picture of Marion’s life in the unfamiliar 1920s and beyond, but also to help the reader to understand some of the more technical information given about the planes of the time and her experiences flying them. While they were wildly effective and I loved the vivid, evocative descriptions, I did occasionally feel relieved when the narrative switched over to Hadley’s perspective.

Over the course of the book Hadley, who is a former child star and known also for acting in a dystopian fantasy film series called “Archangel”, experiences a number of scandals and mistreatment as a woman in the entertainment industry reminiscent of many of the stories that have appeared in real-world tabloids over the years. She takes the role of Marian in part to try to rehabilitate her image, but she also has her own reasons for feeling attached to the story. Her own parents disappeared in a plane accident of their own when she was an infant, and like Marian she was raised by a caring but distant uncle.

Both of these characters push through gender biases and relationship problems in an attempt to carve their own paths, though Marian often takes on the role of martyr for herself, sacrificing everything to save people who at points outright ask her not to bother, where Hadley is impulsive, opinionated and uncompromising as seen in her response to being fired from her film series early in the novel. Even her attempts to seek out the truth about Marian’s life contain choices that are more about self-preservation than the task at hand, something that sets her far apart from Marian.

I seriously enjoyed this book, even through some of the more confusing turns it took it felt like a true journey and an experience. I loved escaping into these two lives so unlike my own. I will definitely be seeking out some of Maggie Shipstead’s previous novels right away.

Great Circle is without doubt an epic tale of adventure, bravery and living life to the extreme. It tells the story of Marian Graves, fictional pilot who vanished in 1950 during a mission to fly around the world, north to south. To complete the circle, it also tells Hadley's story, an actress self-destructing - whose redemption comes when she gets the part playing Marian in a film about her life.

There is exquisite detail about Marian's life and passion, her loves and losses. Spanning decades the reader is offered an absorbing and often tragic insight into this fascinating character.

But for me, the book became a little laboured, and at times I felt it veered off into tangents that were unnecessarily detailed. The story was interesting enough in and of itself without quite so many asides.

There's no doubt that the writing is beautiful and at its core the story is absorbing and rich with detail.

The premise of this book sounded really interesting but unfortunately I did not enjoy the execution. It is overly long and tedious in places. A prime example of less is more. Having invested several hours on this book and decided not to spend any more. As it was a rare DNF, I have given a neutral 3* rating. I am sure many people will enjoy this book and will stick with it to the end, just not for me.

This book is advertised for fans of Donna Tarte's The Goldfinch, but i feel it is more for fans of Natasha Lester's The Paris Secret. If you love flight (being an ex hostie, I do), and a strong female characters, then you will love this book. The lead character Marian Graves is indeed a strong and determined female (we definitely need more of these), who takes up flying prior to WWII at the age of fourteenI. The book spans a century as we follow Marian in all her endeavours, learning to fly, bootlegging, marriage, love affair, WWII, circumnavigating the globe. There is also a separate story evolving, with a Hollywood actress (Hadley Baxter) who is playing Marian in a movie of her life. Initially I found these chapters tiresome and was itching to get back to the history and the real life Marian, her trails and tribulations and her exquisite descriptions of flight. But given time I also came to love the Hadley chapters. It does all eventually make sense. and become relevant. Yes it is slow in places, but it is also sooo engrossing that i didn't mind a meander through the slower chapters, it gave me the respite I needed for the turbulent times ahead. If you want to get lost in a sweeping story, that will transport you places, that will have you googling stuff every couple of chapters, then get cosy, turn your phone off and let everyone in the house know that you will be MIA for the next couple of days LOVED, LOVED LOVED!!!

Really really enjoyed Great Circle. Very clever mixing of fact and fiction. Had to google twice to check if Mariane existed as the story was so real. And an excellent ending

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. Thereafter 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 fulfil her destiny: circumnavigating the globe by flying over the North and South Poles.

You know that feeling when you read a novel and it's so vivid that you keep wanting to google something to learn more about it? That is this book. It's a bit slow to start, but it's so utterly worth it. This book has everything.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you very much to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Greta Cricle, great epic

Loved this. I came across this one in the NetGalley catalogue and love eading about these people who decide to fly around the globe and going missing - this one was no exception. This story is fiction about the main characters but alot of real life people who attempted long distance flights are mentioned like Earhart, Johnson and Lindberg. By these people doing these flights, they have encouraged the main character to do a special flight of her own with a mysterious ending.

Of course this book covers the life story of Mariàn Graves and the various people who co e across her path which is an interesting read in itself but you also have the actress in the present day, Hadley Baxter, who is about to play Marian in a film epic of the missing pilot. We learn how Hadley has the same life pattern as Marian, both lost parents young and brought up by an uncle but as Hadley learns more about Marian, the better she can play Marion in the biopic, discovering some truths along the way.

Over 600 pages so you will need to invest some of your time to it but well worth your time.

Sit down and get comfortable before you begin this epic saga! Slow at the very beginning whilst we get the backstory, this soon progresses to an adventure of sea and sky, spanning many continents and timescales.
Marion and Jamie's story resonated with me most easily, some of the other characters felt a little distracting somehow.
A real smorgasbord of characters await - feminist aviators, queer romance, philosophers and actresses. Powerfully written, this novel is vivid in colour and content and well worth the investment in time reading it.

I didn’t life this very much which is a shame as I was really looking forward to reading this one. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.