From the Bookshelf of Constant Reader…

Circling the Sun

Paula McLain

Start date: May 15, 2016

Finish date: June 1, 2016

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What Members Thought

Apr 12, 2017 Laurel Bradshaw rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, daytimers-book-club, kenya, aviation

This took me a long time to finish, because it kept getting interrupted by other things with time limits that I had to read. I learned a lot about Beryl Markham's life prior to her flight across the Atlantic Ocean, but then I knew very little to begin with. Anything to do with aviation was mostly an afterthought. The epilogue felt tacked on and wasn't necessary at all. The last chapter had such a great ending line - it really should have ended there. It's a good story - as fiction - but the over This took me a long time to finish, because it kept getting interrupted by other things with time limits that I had to read. I learned a lot about Beryl Markham's life prior to her flight across the Atlantic Ocean, but then I knew very little to begin with. Anything to do with aviation was mostly an afterthought. The epilogue felt tacked on and wasn't necessary at all. The last chapter had such a great ending line - it really should have ended there. It's a good story - as fiction - but the over-romanticization (is that a word?) of her writing makes me doubt that her Beryl is true to life. It does make me want to learn more, and perhaps read Beryl's own book.

Otherwise, I found myself frustrated by shallow characters. At times Beryl seemed impossibly naïve and other times she was given a wisdom and grace that was beyond her years and experience. All of the men seemed to be out to take advantage of her, and perhaps that was true. Certainly she made some poor life choices. On the other hand, here was a woman who refused to give up, who refused to be defined by the conventions of her society. In that regard, she seemed more like the native Africans that she grew up with, and it surely had a huge impact on her personality. I am not a fan of colonialism, and while many of the English here seem dissolute and selfish, she also over-romanticizes the native culture. So enjoy this book for its poetic writing and if you like romances you'll probably like this a lot, although the actual romance here doesn't have a happy ending. But the romance does serve as the catalyst for Beryl's future life as an aviator. A good story. I'm just not sure it is a "true" one.

Book description: Circling the Sun brings to life a fearless and captivating woman—Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, who as Isak Dinesen wrote the classic memoir Out of Africa.

Brought to Kenya from England as a child and then abandoned by her mother, Beryl is raised by both her father and the native Kipsigis tribe who share his estate. Her unconventional upbringing transforms Beryl into a bold young woman with a fierce love of all things wild and an inherent understanding of nature’s delicate balance. But even the wild child must grow up, and when everything Beryl knows and trusts dissolves, she is catapulted into a string of disastrous relationships.

Beryl forges her own path as a horse trainer, and her uncommon style attracts the eye of the Happy Valley set, a decadent, bohemian community of European expats who also live and love by their own set of rules. But it’s the ruggedly charismatic Denys Finch Hatton who ultimately helps Beryl navigate the uncharted territory of her own heart. The intensity of their love reveals Beryl’s truest self and her fate: to fly.

Set against the majestic landscape of early-twentieth-century Africa, McLain’s powerful tale reveals the extraordinary adventures of a woman before her time, the exhilaration of freedom and its cost, and the tenacity of the human spirit.
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Feb 13, 2016 Cooper rated it it was ok

I have such mixed feelings about this book. No denying that Ms. McLain provides a compelling story of a woman who tried to define her own life, but I found the incredibly flawed, childish, selfish Beryl Markham unlikeable.

People have stated that Ms. Markham was a complex character, but I found her to be nothing more than a simple child throwing a temper tantrum whenever she didn't get her way. She gave no regard to how her decisions would effect anyone but herself. She wanted to prove she was a ...more

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Nov 19, 2016 Joyce rated it liked it

Shelves: book-club-choice

My book club friends often like to choose historical fiction. Probably because it does make for good conversation, comparing the book to what really happened. I always have trouble with them, however. This one gives us the story of Beryl Markham, who lived in Africa and knew Karen Blixen, which we all know from Out of Africa. I'm on Team Karen. Yes, that is totally silly. Actually, it was hard reading this particular book during the election. The privilege was creepy in light of real events that ...more

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Apr 04, 2022 Dottie rated it really liked it

Shelves: own, 2022

More details -- and good writing as expected, having read The Paris Wife earlier. Beryl Markham has long tantalized me in regard to the autobiography which I finally read in tandem with this -- I must say the double immersion worked extremely well. Africa as an entity also entices and is well represented in both volumes.

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Jan 18, 2016 Temple Dog rated it it was ok

Before I read McLain's Circling the Sun, I was a Jazz Age devotee. She has successfully killed the Jazz Age for me.

Granted, this is not a Jazz Age book, however, this is historical fiction that spans that period. I loved McClain’s The Paris Wife, but I could not connect with any of the characters. All the women are either shrill or naive and the men are immature and shallow.

There were myriad plot lines and a cornucopia of supporting cast, but it came across a much ado about nothing.

Sorry, I can’ ...more

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