Great Circle

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021**

**LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2022**

I WAS BORN TO BE A WANDERER

From the night she is rescued as a baby out of the flames of a sinking ship; to the day she joins a pair of daredevil pilots looping and diving over the rugged forests of her childhood, to the thrill of flying Spitfires during the war, the life of Marian Graves has always been marked by a lust for freedom and danger.

In 1950, she embarks on her life's dream - to fly a Great Circle around the globe, pole to pole. But after a crash landing she finds herself stranded on the Antarctic ice without enough fuel. With one fearsome piece of water separating her from completion of the Circle, she writes one last entry in her logbook.

She is ready for her final journey.

Half a century later, Hadley Baxter, a brilliant, troubled Hollywood starlet is irresistibly drawn to play Marian Graves, a role that will lead her to probe the deepest mysteries of the vanished pilot's life.

GREAT CIRCLE is an enthralling journey over oceans and continents and a drama of exhilarating power. Combining unforgettable characters and thrilling suspense, it is a sweeping story of loss and obsession, sacrifice and survival, of the unknowable mysteries of freedom, love and life itself.

Praise for Maggie Shipstead, New York Times bestseller and winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize and LA Times First Fiction Prize:

'Outrageously gifted' RICHARD RUSSO
'Ferociously clever' GUARDIAN
''Graceful and dazzling' MARIA SEMPLE
'Joyously good' DAILY MAIL
'impressive' JEFFREY EUGENIDES

© Maggie Shipstead 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

Critics Review

  • Luminous, masterful … glides seamlessly through the 20th century immersing the reader. Tremendously well-written

    TELEGRAPH, 'Best Fiction of 2021'
  • A gripping historical adventure that feels sharp, fresh and modern

    STYLIST MAGAZINE
  • Shipstead turns phrases and observes people beautifully. Full of adventure, passion and tragedy… a glorious tribute to women who push the boundaries of their one, brief life, breaking the bonds of their place in history and their female bodies, to soar higher and faster than others; and the price they pay to live so fast

    THE TIMES, 'Best Fiction of 2021'
  • Impressive and gripping

    SUNDAY TIMES
  • What’s so impressive is how deeply we care about each of these people, and how the shape and texture of each of their stories collide to build a story all its own. GREAT CIRCLE grasps for and ultimately reaches something extraordinary

    NEW YORK TIMES

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