Title: Circling the Sun         

Author: Paula McLain      

Genre: Historical Fiction      

Publisher: Anchor Canada      

Format: Paperback 

Pages: 400

Rating: 5/5 stars 

Synopsis (Goodreads):

“Paula McLain cements herself as the writer of historical fictional memoir, giving vivid voice to Beryl Markham, a singular, extraordinary woman. Markham crackles to life, and we readers truly understand what made a woman so far ahead of her time believe she had the power to soar.”–Jodi Picoult

Paula McLain, author of the phenomenal New York Timesbestseller The Paris Wife, now transports readers to 1920s Kenya. Circling the Sun breathes life into a fearless and captivating young woman–Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator whose passionate love triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, author of Out of Africa, awakens Beryl to her truest self and her fate: to fly.

Review:

After reading the Paris Wife by Paula McLain, I knew I would be reading more of this authors work! And this book did not disappoint!

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I had heard the story of Beryl Markham because of the @missedinhistory podcast (thanks ladies) so I’m glad I had an inkling of just how awesome this woman was, and this book I thought did a great job to recounting her earlier life, and the trials and successes she experienced!

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Beryl and her family move to Kenya in the early 1900s when Beryl is a small child, and her mother leaves with her brother to go back to England because she can’t handle Kenya! So Beryl grows up with her father, and she grows up a bit “wild” according to the rest of British society. As she grows older, she learns she has a knack with horses and becomes one of the first ever female horse trainers, which is super cool! Now I don’t want to tell her whole life story, cause I want ya to read the book 😉, so I’ll finish the plot summary with that!

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McLain does an amazing job of showcasing just how strong Beryl was and how she wasn’t ashamed of who she was, and how she refused to conform to what society wanted her to be! I felt compassion for Beryl when she’s forced to make a touch decision in order to stay in her home, and how that decision maybe wasn’t the best, but it shaped who she became! Great book! 

Happy reading!