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A review by ashleysilver7
Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
4.0
I admit it - I hadn't heard of Beryl Markham before reading this novel about her life. Beryl was an amazing woman, way before her time as the saying goes. She was born in the U. K., to what I can only assume to wealthy parents, before moving to Kenya when she was only 3 years old (approximately). However, she had a very unconventional childhood, made worse by her mother and older brother leaving her and her father by going back to England. After this, she gets a very thick skin, and is especially close to the native Africans, and even learns Swahili as her first language. Her father lets her "run wild" so to speak, which means she never received a traditional "English" education. Furthermore, her view of the world is very non-conformist, and this attitude stays with her for the rest of her life.
She marries for the first time at the age of 17, around 1920. Shortly after her marriage, she decides to become the first female horse trainer. She be-friends many illustrious British ex-pats, and becomes tangled in many affairs and other scandalous expeditions. I'm saying her behavior and decisions would be considered by many to be scandalous for today's times...certainly 100 times more so for back in the 1920s and 30s (and beyond). But she eventually defies the odds by making a (controversial) name for herself. However, she was a respectable woman and I'm glad to have learned more about her. It's sad that the world knows Amelia Earhart as such a pioneer (and she was!), but most do not know about Beryl Markham.
I should add that it was interesting reading about Kenya, one of Britian's many colonies. I hadn't known so much about Kenya, and about how the ex-pats from Britain shaped Kenya in so many ways. For one - who knew that Kenya was named for it's famous mountain, Mt. Kenya? I didn't...
Interesting that World War I would change many Britian's views regarding colonialism and attitudes toward "indigenous" tribes and the treatment of these people. However, from this author's perspective, it seems as though the Britians and Natives got along pretty well, yet in a rather unequal (and probably racist) fashion. Hopefully the people of Kenya do not feel, to this day, as though they were too terribly exploited by colonialism in general. And as a final note, it was sad, yet interesting, to read about safaris and how many rich, spoiled, and often aristocratic people would come to Africa and ruin it's landscape, not to mention the animals. Sadly, the effects and mindset of this behavior from over 100 years ago are still happening today...and the native Africans are suffering because of this selfish attitude. At least it seems as though Beryl and her friends had respect for Africa, the native people, and the animals.
She marries for the first time at the age of 17, around 1920. Shortly after her marriage, she decides to become the first female horse trainer. She be-friends many illustrious British ex-pats, and becomes tangled in many affairs and other scandalous expeditions. I'm saying her behavior and decisions would be considered by many to be scandalous for today's times...certainly 100 times more so for back in the 1920s and 30s (and beyond). But she eventually defies the odds by making a (controversial) name for herself. However, she was a respectable woman and I'm glad to have learned more about her. It's sad that the world knows Amelia Earhart as such a pioneer (and she was!), but most do not know about Beryl Markham.
I should add that it was interesting reading about Kenya, one of Britian's many colonies. I hadn't known so much about Kenya, and about how the ex-pats from Britain shaped Kenya in so many ways. For one - who knew that Kenya was named for it's famous mountain, Mt. Kenya? I didn't...
Interesting that World War I would change many Britian's views regarding colonialism and attitudes toward "indigenous" tribes and the treatment of these people. However, from this author's perspective, it seems as though the Britians and Natives got along pretty well, yet in a rather unequal (and probably racist) fashion. Hopefully the people of Kenya do not feel, to this day, as though they were too terribly exploited by colonialism in general. And as a final note, it was sad, yet interesting, to read about safaris and how many rich, spoiled, and often aristocratic people would come to Africa and ruin it's landscape, not to mention the animals. Sadly, the effects and mindset of this behavior from over 100 years ago are still happening today...and the native Africans are suffering because of this selfish attitude. At least it seems as though Beryl and her friends had respect for Africa, the native people, and the animals.