Circling the Sun: A Novel
Paula McLain, author of the phenomenal bestseller The Paris Wife, now returns with her keenly anticipated new novel, transporting readers to colonial Kenya in the 1920s. 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. 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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Community Reviews
I had a difficult time separating my rating of the book from my rating of Beryl Markham as a person. I give the book 5 stars, because the writing was superb. Beryl - well, I wouldn't want to know her; sociopaths can be lively to be around, but heaven forbid you get run over as they go for their goals.
Kenya is in some ways integral to her life, and in other ways almost irrelevant. Colonial Kenya, with it's white "settlers" trying to tame an untamable world and wild social life away from judging eyes, was what made her what she was. Even though she spent lots of time with actual Kenyans when she was growing up, she somehow managed to ignore the population and politics as her story is told. In defense of that aspect of the story telling, I suspect that it is an accurate reflection of British colonists in Kenya. When I was there as a tourist about 40 years ago, it was impossible not to wonder at the difference between the EverSoWhite polo club, and the reality of the Kenyans living a day's drive away from Nairobi. It is not a stretch to imagine that the polo players talked very little about the life of someone living in a mud hut. Until it got through my skull that people in her social sphere (the Happy Valley Set) really were quite the group of narcissistic hedonists, the ignoring of Kenyans bothered me; after that, I realized that's just the way they were. Kenya's people were irrelevant to her as an adult, but the wildness, the harshness, and the distance from principled British society created her personality.
I love this quote: "'You can take a cub from the savannah as they have, and raise it like a pet if you like. In a cage, as some do, or running free like Paddy. You can feed it fresh meat so it never learns to hunt and brush its coat so it carries a human smell wherever it goes - but know the what you've done is twist something natural into something else. And you can never trust an unnatural thing. You don't know what it is, and it's baffled too.'" This is Beryl. As an unparented child, she was able to be free. Then she tried to fit into the society that she was a member of, but it was never what she truly was. Rules were not something she believed applied to her, whether it was sleeping with a friend's lover, caring about her own child, or paying her own bills. She was amazingly untrustworthy, and yet, like a pet lion, someone who attracted people to her.
This is not a book I would usually have read, but it's the choice of my book club next month. Despite that, I still found it to be an excellent read. There are few writers who can make words mean so much or let small observations in the middle of the book tell you a truth about the world, but Paula McLain is one of them. It is a perfect book for a book club, with topics of abandonment, sociopaths, integrity and illusions of independence ("I have fought for independence here, and freedom too. More and more I find they're not at all the same thing").
Kenya is in some ways integral to her life, and in other ways almost irrelevant. Colonial Kenya, with it's white "settlers" trying to tame an untamable world and wild social life away from judging eyes, was what made her what she was. Even though she spent lots of time with actual Kenyans when she was growing up, she somehow managed to ignore the population and politics as her story is told. In defense of that aspect of the story telling, I suspect that it is an accurate reflection of British colonists in Kenya. When I was there as a tourist about 40 years ago, it was impossible not to wonder at the difference between the EverSoWhite polo club, and the reality of the Kenyans living a day's drive away from Nairobi. It is not a stretch to imagine that the polo players talked very little about the life of someone living in a mud hut. Until it got through my skull that people in her social sphere (the Happy Valley Set) really were quite the group of narcissistic hedonists, the ignoring of Kenyans bothered me; after that, I realized that's just the way they were. Kenya's people were irrelevant to her as an adult, but the wildness, the harshness, and the distance from principled British society created her personality.
I love this quote: "'You can take a cub from the savannah as they have, and raise it like a pet if you like. In a cage, as some do, or running free like Paddy. You can feed it fresh meat so it never learns to hunt and brush its coat so it carries a human smell wherever it goes - but know the what you've done is twist something natural into something else. And you can never trust an unnatural thing. You don't know what it is, and it's baffled too.'" This is Beryl. As an unparented child, she was able to be free. Then she tried to fit into the society that she was a member of, but it was never what she truly was. Rules were not something she believed applied to her, whether it was sleeping with a friend's lover, caring about her own child, or paying her own bills. She was amazingly untrustworthy, and yet, like a pet lion, someone who attracted people to her.
This is not a book I would usually have read, but it's the choice of my book club next month. Despite that, I still found it to be an excellent read. There are few writers who can make words mean so much or let small observations in the middle of the book tell you a truth about the world, but Paula McLain is one of them. It is a perfect book for a book club, with topics of abandonment, sociopaths, integrity and illusions of independence ("I have fought for independence here, and freedom too. More and more I find they're not at all the same thing").
This is no way a reflection of the actual writing style of this novel - that alone was briliant and McLain is a truly talented Historical Fiction authoer - but rather the unlikeable subject matter and the outlying cast of characters (with the exception of Ruta and Lady D).
As a reader, it was just hard to truly like or feel much empathy for Beryl and I wonder what this woman must have been like "in the flesh". Between her almost obsessive lock on Denys to her rather naieve approach to dealing with the (albeit stupid) societal gossip/scandal that befell her, I found myself shaking my head and wondering if I were ever going to make it through Parts II and III. I did enjoy Part I and McLain's description of Beryl's childhood, of the freedom and beauty it encompassed for the main character. Unfortunately, for the remainder of the novel, I just kept wishing it was over with and felt like it kept going and going and going without any real hope for an epiphany on the part of the main character.
I will say this, I liked Beryl's gumption, grit, determination, and "I don't give a damn" attitude regarding said stupid gossip. Is it odd that I wanted to shout out "Bully for her!" in some parts and in others, "Why, Beryl, why?" ~ maybe that was the point, but overall? This novel just really bored me utterly and completely.
As a reader, it was just hard to truly like or feel much empathy for Beryl and I wonder what this woman must have been like "in the flesh". Between her almost obsessive lock on Denys to her rather naieve approach to dealing with the (albeit stupid) societal gossip/scandal that befell her, I found myself shaking my head and wondering if I were ever going to make it through Parts II and III. I did enjoy Part I and McLain's description of Beryl's childhood, of the freedom and beauty it encompassed for the main character. Unfortunately, for the remainder of the novel, I just kept wishing it was over with and felt like it kept going and going and going without any real hope for an epiphany on the part of the main character.
I will say this, I liked Beryl's gumption, grit, determination, and "I don't give a damn" attitude regarding said stupid gossip. Is it odd that I wanted to shout out "Bully for her!" in some parts and in others, "Why, Beryl, why?" ~ maybe that was the point, but overall? This novel just really bored me utterly and completely.
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