Great Circle
Ratings50
Average rating4.1
15
Ratings50
Average rating4.1
"From the night she is rescued as a baby out of the flames of a sinking ship; to the day she joins a pair of daredevil pilots looping and diving over the rugged forests of her childhood, to the thrill of flying Spitfires during the war, the life of Marian Graves has always been marked by a lust for freedom and danger. In 1950, she embarks on the great circle flight, circumnavigating the globe. It is Marian's life dream and her final journey, before she disappears without a trace. Half a century later, Hadley Baxter, a brilliant, troubled Hollywood starlet is irresistibly drawn to play Marian Graves, a role that will lead her to probe the deepest mysteries of the vanished pilot's life."--Publisher.
Reviews with the most likes.
A high flyer
Few books reach this altitude. I reveled in its characters and drew the warm blanket of its lavish world around me, day after night. Shipstead has written a book whose equal might only be Lonesome Dove. As that classic's love is to men, this one adores its women. Read this and savor the creation of a story that encircles all of our doubts and dreams. Yes, you can do something this grand, if you set a course for majestic points.
Really enjoyed this, good old-fashioned thick piece of melodrama. The ending felt a bit rushed though.
This book was good and I enjoyed it, but it also wasn't quite what I was expecting. I went into it expecting a lot of adventure, and the adventure was more in bits and pieces in between more family/friend/relationship content. I also had no idea that there would be so much sex and lust in this book! I don't have a problem with sex and lust, but I just didn't expect it. Lust, though, becomes a theme throughout the entire book: lust both for other humans and for what you really want in life.
Marian's story was very well done. I felt like a really knew her as a character, understood her motives, and rooted for her throughout the book. Her life story was super interesting and fun to read.
Hadley, on the other hand...wasn't my favorite. I've read some other reviews of this book and have seen that there are quite a few others who feel the same. I just didn't think this book needed her side of things to be great. Marian's story was so compelling, so unique, and so exciting, and Hadley's was just not. I mean, it was okay, but it just felt unnecessary. In fact, the further on I got in the book, I felt like I was racing through Hadley's parts to get back to Marian's. At 600+ pages, I think Hadley's part of the story just didn't need to be there.
I also enjoyed the mystery portion of this book. You kind of know how it's going to end, but you're not exactly sure, and then as the book goes on, you get these clues that the end you thought was coming might actually not be coming. I loved the way Shipstead weaved that in there!
Read my full review: https://literaryquicksand.com/2021/11/review-great-circle-by-maggie-shipstead/
