★★★★★
"There are things we find only at our lowest depths. The idea of wings and then wings themselves. An ocean worth crossing one dark mile at a time. The whole of the sky. And whatever suffering has come is the necessary cost of such wonders, as Karen once said, the beautiful thrashing we do when we live."
I loved Paula McLain novel The Paris Wife so I had very high expectations with her new novel that came out in July. Circling the Sun tells the story of Beryl Markham - the first women to make the record breaking voyage across the Atlantic in 1936. I was expecting the story to focus mostly of Beryl's journey of becoming a pilot, but it instead told of her childhood and earlier life as a horse trainer. And what an interesting life it was!
Raised in Kenya with her father after her mother moved back to England as a young child, Beryl's unique upbringing allows her to become a strong women in a world primarily dominated by men. It also leads her to make some very unhealthy choices as far as relationships are concerned. Baryl drove me crazy throughout most of the novel. Even though we have next to nothing in common, I grew to love her characters and respect - at least most of - the tough decisions that she was forced to make. I sometimes forgot how young Beryl actually was during the majority of the novel and was at awe at how much she was able to accomplish as a young women during her lifetime.
A wonderful novel by and extraordinary writer telling the unique story of a women almost forgot by the past. The author's note was also extremely interesting to read and learn on the truth of Baryl's story and what happened to her after the novel ended. This one was worth the wait!
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