Great Circle
A Novel
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Great Circle
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Narrated by:
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Cassandra Campbell
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Alex McKenna
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Written by:
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Maggie Shipstead
About this listen
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 AudioWhat the critics say
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
What listeners say about Great Circle
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- coach amanda
- 2022-09-17
Good long story
Overall, I enjoyed this story. It is well written and it had a good ending. At times I found it a bit slow going.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Pastel
- 2021-07-18
Captivating
I listen to this book while doing my daily walks and it certainly was a motivator to get outside! I love the two different narrator’s and how the circle was brought together at the end! Excellent reading for the summer
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2023-02-16
Very entertaining, fantastic characters!
A wonderful storey with strong, believable characters. I found the journeys of the different lives, past and present, greatly entertaining! Highly recommend to anyone looking for an adventure:)
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Theresa Meikle
- 2023-01-29
A Fantastic Story
What a wonderful tale of adventure, sorrow, courage, heartbreak and freedom. I enjoyed the parallel stories of two women becoming themselves. The sweep of history and geography is vast and the details precise and entrancing. A wonderful book to listen to!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Lisa v.
- 2022-06-17
Good story, ok narration.
Overall I enjoyed this story. I liked how the tale was told from the two perspectives of Marian and Hadley, and I enjoyed the historic factor juxtaposed against the modern timeline.
Unfortunately I found that the reading left something to be desired. While I enjoyed listening to the Hadley voice, I found the reader for Marian lacked the range required to do a convincing job of the male characters and instead made them sound like weak female imitation voices. This distracted from the narrative and affected the overall experience.
While this had an unfortunate impact on my enjoyment of the story, I will still recommend the book to other listeners and hope that they aren’t as affected as I was by the performance.
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1 person found this helpful