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 LivingThis powerful novel transports readers to the … Country Living
This powerful novel transports readers 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.
Praise for Circling the Sun
“In McLain’s confident hands, Beryl 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
“Enchanting . . . a worthy heir to [Isak] Dinesen . . . Like Africa as it’s so gorgeously depicted here, this novel will never let you go.”—The Boston Globe
“Famed aviator Beryl Markham is a novelist’s dream. . . . [A] wonderful portrait of a complex woman who lived—defiantly—on her own terms.”—People (Book of the Week)
“Circling the Sun soars.”—Newsday
“Captivating . . . [an] irresistible novel.”—The Seattle Times
“Like its high-flying subject, Circling the Sun is audacious and glamorous and hard not to be drawn in by. Beryl Markham may have married more than once, but she was nobody’s wife.”—Entertainment Weekly
“[An] eloquent evocation of Beryl’s daring life.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
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Loved it!
Worth reading as addition to West with the Night and Out of Africa.
One of my absolute favorites. It reunites us with the wonderful, real people from Out of Africa and West With the Night. If you loved those two books, you must read this one.
This was such a great book. The Storytelling extraordinary and based on another character at the time of when the book Out of Africa was written.
What an interesting life she led. Very good read about a real person growing up in colonial Africa.
What an inspiring tale .
I read this on vacation. This is based on the true life experiences of a women who wanted to experience so many things in a life time. She was years ahead of her time.
book was ok
A girl grows up in Africa becomes a successful horse trainer and a famous airer.
How life was from another point of view during the times of “Out of Africa.”
Remarkable woman who lived an eventful life.
It is an intersting story about a truly unique person. When i read west with the night i thought no book could tell me more about this very interesting person and hold my interest at the same time. Well this book did both and i enjoyed every page of it.
Loved the book and the history.
Great book!
Great book with a wonderful African history.
I fell in love with Beryl from the very first page. The book is based on the life of the woman who was the first pilot to fly non-stop from Europe to North America (against the headwinds. Lindbergh went the other way with tailwinds helping him along). After an unconventional childhood in colonial Kenya, Beryl was not one to settle into the conventional role of a woman in the early part of the 20th century. And that refusal to conform caused her many heartaches as well as some incredible highs. The book also provides a fascinating look at Africa during the European colonial period. Absorbing and interesting and a really good read.
Loved the characters and the history behind the book.
want’d to read more with every page very authentic
Honest, excellent writing, Real people with interesting lives, Aviation and women.
Much better than “Paris Wife.” Thoughtful, rich, strong themes, brilliant heroine, insightful observations of social norms in colonial British East Africa. Reader is assured of being “in the hands” of superb writer.