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

Absolutely beautiful writing

I have just looked at the other reviews and no one has mentioned how beautiful Shipstead's writing is. Wonderful metaphors!
I enjoyed the story, too, but what really makes me love this book is how beautifully it is written. I also liked the narration. A woman is not going to sound like a man, so get over it. Too many voices would confuse the story. The narrator has a soothing low key voice and when she is doing the dialogue, it was spot on.

The historical perspective on the women pilots is pretty accurate. They did an important service for the war effort and were left without the benefits the men received. Only recently have they been recognized for their contributions.

Wonderful story. Recommend highly.

Mixed Review; uneven performances

Author should/could have ditched the Hollywood story and producers should have ditched the actress narrator.

Too long

Parts of this book were very enjoyable, but it was just too long. The characters did not draw me in as much as they could have, and instead of being sad to say goodbye at the end, I found myself checking to see how much time was left.

Dubious ending

I’ll start by saying this is a complex and carefully written saga that is impressive in scope. My interest started to wane, however, after about 12 hours, when the story focused on gender and sexuality issues I found uninteresting. The Hollywood angle didn’t add anything to the story for me either. What took this book down a star for me was that the main character makes a decision towards the end of the book which never made sense to me nor was it fully explained. A talented author though, wow. With all the formulaic garbage out there this stands out. I loved all the plane stuff. If you don’t find flying interesting this novel may not be for you anyway.

Not my thing

Maybe others would find this to be a good listen but I felt it was a long drawn out storyline with superficial details about the character’s lives that really didn’t stick with me besides the difficulties of being a woman in a male dominated world. Very little depthful character development.

Magnificent work

One of the best written books I've ever read. Masterful use of language and description with philosophical and spiritual insights that are inspiring. The voice performances are excellent. I highly recommend Great Circle.

Worth every minute you’ll spend listening.

This is a very long book. I am thankful for that because it is truly a masterpiece. So engrossed in the characters that I couldn’t believe it was almost over.

Mixed bag

The story is told from the POV of 2 different women from 2 different eras. While the duplicity of the story was a great idea, the modern story was off-putting as I struggled to care about any of the characters. To add to the issue, the narrator of modernity was challenging to listen to. The main story was much more pleasant and the characters endearing.

One of my absolute favorites! I will read it again.

I do recommend this book, especially enjoyed the Audible book. It was a bookclub choice and kept me listening right from the beginning.

Listened to this book a second time

This book stayed with me. I enjoyed it so much, the beautiful prose, I felt like was flying a plane it was described so amazingly well. I loved the characters and story. The narrator was excellent.