Circling the Sun

A Novel

By: Paula McLain

Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan

Length: 12 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR, BOOKPAGE, AND SHELF AWARENESS 

“Paula McLain is considered the new star of historical fiction, and for good reason. Fans of The Paris Wife will be captivated by Circling the Sun, which . . . is both beautifully written and utterly engrossing.”—Ann Patchett, Country Living

This powerful novel transports listeners to the breathtaking world of Out of Africa—1920s Kenya—and reveals the extraordinary adventures of Beryl Markham, a woman before her time. Brought to Kenya from England by pioneering parents dreaming of a new life on an African farm, Beryl is raised unconventionally, developing a fierce will and a love of all things wild. But after everything she knows and trusts dissolves, headstrong young Beryl is flung into a string of disastrous relationships, then becomes caught up in a passionate love triangle with the irresistible safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and the writer Baroness Karen Blixen. Brave and audacious and contradictory, Beryl will risk everything to have Denys’s love, but it’s ultimately her own heart she must conquer to embrace her true calling and her destiny: to fly.

©2015 Paula McLain (P)2015 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“Paula McLain cements herself as the writer of historical fictional memoir with Circling the Sun, giving vivid voice to Beryl Markham, a singular, extraordinary woman. In McLain’s confident hands, Markham crackles to life, and we readers truly understand what made a woman so far ahead of her time believe she had the power to soar.”—Jodi Picoult, author of Leaving Time

“Richly textured . . . Markham’s life is the stuff of legend. . . . McLain has created a voice that is lush and intricate to evoke a character who is enviably brave and independent.”—NPR

“Bold, absorbing fiction.”—New York Daily News

Pro: It made me want to read "West With the Night"

Con: I wanted more from this book, which perhaps wasn't fair since I'd been content enough with McLain's "The Paris Wife", even though it had all the elements which properly limited it to the Women's Fiction bestseller category. But here is a daring woman of adventure, Beryl Markham, who braves being abandoned by her mother, a father who mostly ignores her, a lion attack, marriage to a drunk macho settler and becoming Kenya's first woman to be licensed as a horse trainer, all by the age of 18, and what we get for the first half of the book, is a nicely dressed bodice ripper. I had to quit halfway through, leaving Beryl to pine away for the love of her life, Denys Finch Hatton, who also happened to be her friend Karen Blixen's great love (as played by Robert Redford in the movie "Out of Africa"). But disturbingly enough, Paula McLain's description of Beryl's lion mauling and her first experience of bedding Finch Hatton, whom she actively and quite literally pursued, read in a similar sentimental semi-erotic vein:

“Paddy’s jaw closed on my thigh above the knee. I felt his dagger teeth and his wet tongue. The strangely cool feel of his mouth. My head swam as I smelled my own blood, and then he released me to bellow.” That's the mauling, not the lovemaking, for those of you who may (understandably) confuse the two.

A few chapters on, we get a sampling of Markham and and her lover going at it for the first time: “The night beyond the window had hushed itself as well, and there was only the fact of our two bodies rippled with shadow. We pressed to get closer, to push through something. . . .”

I wanted to ignore the niggling voice that said I couldn't take McLain's writing seriously to try to engage with the "real" Beryl of the writer's imagination and flow along with the story, but passages like the ones above made me decide to call it quits. Besides, I've had "West With the Night", Markham's 1942 memoir, sitting on my shelf for much too long. The same memoir that reportedly made Hemingway spit with jealousy, prompting him to write to his publisher “But this girl, who is to my knowledge very unpleasant and we might even say a high-grade bitch can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves as writers.”

I think I'll be better served with Beryl's story in Markham's own words.

A PG-rated interpretation of Beryl Markham's life

Beryl Markham is a fascinating real-life character who, based on highly researched biographies, was also very difficult and flawed. For an excellent, and I think more accurate reflection of Beryl Markham's life, read "The Lives of Beryl Markham" by Errol Trzebinski. In "Circling the Sun" the author presents a PG version of Markham's life, glossing over many facts and incidents that reflect Markham in a bad light, and spinning most other incidents to leave Markham innocent and in the right. In doing so, the author either ignores important incidents or tortures the facts to reconstruct them in Markham's favor. I heard the author interviewed on NPR and she said that she wrote the book from her home in Cleveland, and that since Colonial Kenya doesn't exist anymore, she was forced to write the book from her home and "just use her imagination". But she doesn't just use her imagination, she liberally cribs from "West with the Night" (a beautiful book about Markham's child and young adulthood in Kenya, whose authorship is controversial; the formal author is Beryl Markham, but there is strong proof that it was written by her 3rd husband), a book that is intentionally focused only on what was brave and remarkable about Beryl Markham. I love "West with the Night" too, and it's what led me to read anything else I could find about B. Markham. By contrast, when listening to "Circling the Sun", I had the impression the author swallowed "West with the Night" whole and launched her book from her admiration of the B. Markham portrayed in it. Any facts that collided with her vision of B. Markham were, as I say above, either ignored or spun to fit her image. Her Beryl Markham is sad, victimized and tender--but brave and true at heart. The author's need for that type of heroine does not do justice to the true Beryl Markham--a woman who was, unarguably remarkable and brave--but who was also sometimes heartless, cruel, selfish and highly flawed. If you want a version of Beryl Markham guaranteed to leave you mildly impressed and undisturbed you will like "Circling the Sun". I prefer the fascinating version that is the result of others' deep research: The complicated, amazing, infuriating Beryl Markham.

Beryl Markham: A most remarkable woman.

I first heard about Beryl Markham when "West with the Night" was re-released in the 80s and was captivated. She's an incredibly fascinating woman - one who never really got the credit she deserved. I don't think I can separate how I feel about the woman from how I feel about the book ... but I'll try.

First, this book does a great job of introducing people to Beryl Markham. Little has been written about this larger-than-life character and it's a pity. (I wish more had been included in this book about her accomplishments and less about her love life, but that's a personal preference.) If you love hearing about really interesting women in unusual circumstances, this is a terrific book. You may not always agree with her choices, but you have to marvel at where she lived and how she lived. That alone makes this a must-read/listen.

Second, I hope this will encourage more people to hear her story in her own words in "West with the Night." It's a superb book. Though the authorship of that book has always been questioned, Paula McLain offers some of the best evidence I've ever heard to support the fact that yes, Beryl DID in fact write it herself. The two books together do a great job of telling the story of a phenomenal woman.

Loved "Circling the Sun"

I had already started "circling the sun" when I read the review of it in the New York Times. The woman who wrote the review made it clear she didn't like it at all. I, on the other hand, loved everything about this book. I wish I could tell the reviewer how wrong she was. If you're into listening to a great story that will make you want more... this one is for you.

Circling the Sun

McLain brings to life Beryl Markham, Denys Finch Hatton, Karen Blixen, known adventurers who were the very reflections of Africa, a land untamed, vivid, and breath-taking. However. there was a wildness about Beryl, the reader discovers, that made her a woman to be reckoned with--a spearhead who dared to question the norm.

I highly recommend the book as it celebrates the lives of those among us who gamble everything to "reach for the stars."

As for Katherine McEwan, her beautiful voice added another dimension to the characters.

Though set in colonized Kenya, the brutal injustice of colonialism is obfuscated, and the lives of African people are presented

Though set in colonized Kenya, the brutal injustice of colonialism is obfuscated, and the lives of African people are presented as minutia, nearly non-existent. White people once again are treated as if their's are the only lives that mater. The writing is gorgeous and the reading superb, and if this is what matters, then enjoy the solipsism of imperialism

A narcissist in the extreme

I must say I was extremely disappointed with quite a bit of this book. It started out terrific and I was very engaged by the characters , the scenery in Africa and the wildness of the people and the place. However as the book went on I became extremely annoyed with the narcissism and lack of consideration of the protagonist which definitely impacted my take on the book. She clearly considered herself the center of the universe to the exclusion of other people's marriages commitments and needs. I'm sure that her being such an unsympathetic character tainted the book for me. My other difficulty was with the narrator. She seemed to have great difficulty simulating accents other than a typical British accent and and definitely was not credible when she read as a male voice. Having listened to books on tape for years I have heard many spectacular performances and found hers to be mediocre at best. All in all I did not feel like I got my money's worth

Extraordinary.

Beautifully written and perfectly narrated. What a life! A woman well before her time. I felt like I was there throughout.
Listener

Dare to leave the grasp of all you think you know.

This story is a excellent companion to West With The Night. Gripping, romantic and thought provoking, you will not want to put this book down. Even better than the Paris Wife. Well done!!!

Excellent

Paula McLain has done it again! Just as engaging as "The Paris Wife" !!i hope she has many more to be written just like these two to be written