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Great Circle

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Great Circle

By: Maggie Shipstead
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Alex McKenna
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2021

Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2022

I was born to be a wanderer.

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 her life's dream - to fly a Great Circle around the globe, pole to pole. But after a crash landing, she finds herself stranded on the Antarctic ice without enough fuel. With one fearsome piece of water separating her from completion of the Circle, she writes one last entry in her logbook.

She is ready for her final journey.

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.

Great Circle is an enthralling journey over oceans and continents and a drama of exhilarating power. Combining unforgettable characters and thrilling suspense, it is a sweeping story of loss and obsession, sacrifice and survival, of the unknowable mysteries of freedom, love and life itself.

©2020 Maggie Shipstead (P)2020 Penguin Audio
20th Century Historical Fiction World Literature Fiction Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Aviation War Native American Mystery

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Critic reviews

"Ferociously clever." (Guardian)

"Joyously good." (Daily Mail)

"Impressive." (Jeffrey Eugenides)

All stars
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A complex, expansive saga which feels daunting at the outset but swiftly sucks you in. The odd digression feels a little much but come the end everything makes perfect sense. Narration works well, with the two different voices separating the time lines neatly. Neither should have attempted an English accent, frankly, but luckily that's a very minor quibble. Excellent and likely to stay with me for a long time.

Compelling, immersive and satisfying

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2 Narratives that combine together as book progresses. Read the book first when it was published but enjoyment greatly added to by listening to a great audio production .
Prefer the character of Marian to Hadley but warmed to latter by closing chapters.

Great story to loose yourself in

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Characters twists and turns relationships, suspense , past and present, language, intrigue, lesbianism, identity sensual gripping loving

Narrative

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Amazing book - once you understand the way the writer has split the story, present day & historic, it totally captivates you - 24 hours plus of sheer imaginative storytelling.
Highly recommend - if you find it hard going at first then stick with it as at is captivating

Great Circle

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What a great listen! Gripping most of the way through.
Although the modern day excepts not needed in as much detail as it detracted from what you wanted to listen about… Marian, Jamie and Caleb.
Loved the ending!

Lovely book

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I love the style if this author. Totally absorbing. Do not miss this. I've ridden swimming horses..that was a small highlight for me amoung many others to numerous to mention!!

Brilliant

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I dived deep into this story . Beautifully written. A masterpiece that I will recommend to all and re read

Truly brilliant

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Amazing central characters, great story, very well written, what more needs to be said?

Brilliant Story!

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This beautiful novel describes the full life of an unusual hero - a woman with a life spanning three continents and all genders. She is comfortable choosing whichever mantle that gives her the route to her desire: mostly that desire is flying, but more often it is anonymity and solitude. There is a second storyline of the exploration and unrolling of her life by a modern movie star, with a contemporary voice; she is an opposite - ultra sexualised and firmly in the public eye. For me, the pathos in the novel comes from the contrast of the old world of privacy and freedoms, at a time when freedom for women was fragmentary and conditional, with the new world of complete freedom constrained by online scrutiny and the continuous presence of others. The novel makes our current world feel small and base, without idealising the past.

Although the novel is long, the beauty of the writing (and its reading) meant it could have gone on much longer and I would have remained happily lost. Evocative, slow, sometimes pitiless, more often deeply sympathetic, I had tears in my eyes when it ended. I can't imagine forgetting Marian, Jamie, and Caleb, and their small but important lives - or maybe huge, but unimportant lives? - in a hurry.

A book that I didn't want to end

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what a glorious story. beautifully written, it sores above the clouds. the two readers are superb.

astonishing

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