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Book guide

The Great Circle

by Maggie Shipstead

A sweeping literary historical novel about a vanished aviator, a modern actress, and the dangerous pursuit of freedom across the 20th century.

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About The Great Circle

From her days as a wild child in prohibition America to the blitz and glitz of wartime London, from the rugged shores of New Zealand to a lonely iceshelf in Antarctica, Marian Graves is driven by a need for freedom and danger. Determined to live an independent life, she resists the pull of her childhood sweetheart, and burns her way through a suite of glamorous lovers. But it is an obsession with flight that consumes her most. Now, as she is about to fulfil her greatest ambition, to circumnavigate the globe from pole to pole, Marian crash lands in a perilous wilderness of ice. Over half a century later, troubled film star Hadley Baxter is drawn inexorably to play the enigmatic pilot on screen. It is a role that will lead her to an unexpected discovery, throwing fresh and spellbinding light on the story of the unknowable Marian Graves.

Reading signals

Spice
Medium
Darkness
Dark
Pacing
Balanced
Content warnings
  • plane crash
  • rape/sexual assault
  • adult/minor relationship
  • domestic abuse
  • alcoholism
  • drug use
  • abortion
  • death
  • grief
  • sexism/misogyny
  • war
  • homophobia
  • sexual content

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