Maggie Shipstead is an extraordinary wordsmith. In her fiction novel Great Circle she mesmerizes the reader with descriptions, dialogue, character development and plot details. Her story moves back and forth between two protagonist, Marian Graves the fictional female pilot who attempted circumnavigation of the planet crossing over both poles rather than over the equator and Hadley the actress who wants to find a way to be more that the child star she is forever viewed as. We discover at the beginning that Hadley has been cast in the movie of Marian’s attempt at circling the earth. As she researches her character, Hadley unravels the mystery of the end of Marians’s life. Like Amelia Earhart, Marian disappeared in the last leg of the flight presumably drowned after ditching her plane when she ran out of fuel over the ocean. This story is much more than a retelling of a tragic adventure. The real story comes from the main characters and their interaction with each other. We learn early on that both Marian and Hadley were orphaned early in life when their parents die in tragic accidents. Neither woman had anything resembling a normal childhood and the damage they experienced in their younger years scarred them and affected them their entire life. Both characters searched and searched for love, for connection even for recognition, but neither knew how to relate to people or how to love at all. The people in their lives were critical to their story, but these people were also worthy of their own development and Shipstead took the time to tell their stories too to some extent. The only negatives for readers is that the book is very long and has a somewhat disjointed beginning. Like many novels, this book starts at the “end” and then circles back to explain how the characters got to that point. Because there are two stories the circling back is a bit confusing, but it does not take long for all the storylines and characters to fall into place. There were many themes to discuss such as love vs. obsession or the need for connection vs. isolation and each theme was interesting and timely. Through these wonderful characters we see that the wondrous circles of life may seem to meander and change, but in the end each circle is completed and life moves on. Great Circle is under consideration for a Pulitzer Prize which may or may not influence readers consideration. I think it is a worthy choice for reading. Just know it will take some time.
