Great Circle
From her days as a wild child in prohibition America to the blitz and glitz of wartime London, from the rugged shores of New Zealand to a lonely iceshelf in Antarctica, Marian Graves is driven by a need for freedom and danger. Determined to live an independent life, she resists the pull of her childhood sweetheart, and burns her way through a suite of glamorous lovers. But it is an obsession with flight that consumes her most. Now, as she is about to fulfil her greatest ambition, to circumnavigate the globe from pole to pole, Marian crash lands in a perilous wilderness of ice. Over half a century later, troubled film star Hadley Baxter is drawn inexorably to play the enigmatic pilot on screen. It is a role that will lead her to an unexpected discovery, throwing fresh and spellbinding light on the story of the unknowable Marian Graves. A Book of the Year for The Times, Telegraph, Daily Express, New Statesman, Good Housekeeping, Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, Time, Esquire, The Economist, Oprah Daily and Woman and Home 'A gripping historical adventure that feels sharp, fresh and modern' STYLIST 'So beautiful, so daring, so complete' TAYLOR JENKINS REID 'A masterpi
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about Great Circle
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Marian Graves grows up in 1920s Montana obsessed with airplanes and disappears in 1950 trying to fly the great circle pole-to-pole. Decades later, a tabloid actress plays her in a movie and starts asking what really happened.
Yes. Great Circle was shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize and the Women's Prize for Fiction. It was a New York Times Book Review Notable Book and was widely featured on year-end best-of lists.
Great Circle is fictional but draws on real history of women aviators in the early 20th century, including Amelia Earhart, Beryl Markham, and Amy Johnson. Maggie Shipstead researched the period extensively.
Great Circle was written by Maggie Shipstead, published in 2021 by Knopf.
Great Circle is 608 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Great Circle takes most readers 9 to 13 hours to finish.
Great Circle is a standalone novel by Maggie Shipstead, not part of a series.
Great Circle is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.