REVIEW: Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

 

Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead, narrated by Cassandra Campbell and 

Alex McKenna

This is a parallel time line story, so part is in the present, but the majority

 of the book (25 houraudiobook!) is in the past. There's a bit of Les 

Miserables going on here, in that perhaps some character's backstory goes

back too far. Like when you read about the bishop and think he'll be the 

main character and he really has no big part in the story? That's what this 

felt like. I didn't actually mind the long story because when Cassandra 

Campbell narrates, the story moves along so easily. But I'm sure if I was 

reading a paper book I would have wanted a more judicious editor as I 

didn't need to know so much about Marion's mother's background. 

The main story is about Marion Graves, a pilot who flew around the Earth 

in a longitudinal circle and then disappeared. In the present, a young 

troubled actress is set to play Marion in a bio-pic movie.The story goes back

and forth between them. We start with Marion, (after her mother's 

backstory) and her twin Jamie are rescued from a sinking ship in the early 

1900s.  Then the rest is Marion as she grows up, gets obsessed with flying, 

marries an older man who becomes obsessed and controlling with her. 

I liked it, but I'm not sure I got the big picture or theme of the story. Not 

that there needs to be a bigger picture, but for the length of the story I 

wanted a little more. Or for an interesting biography type historical fiction

it could have been a bit shorter, with less of the present day actress. 

However, I think it would make a great movie. The role of a strong 

determined woman, the war times,the mystery of her disappearance - it 

would translate well.

This has been longlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction 2022.