A review by sshabein
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I honestly had not heard of this book, somehow, despite its many accolades and having only come out a year ago, but I picked it up to check off a box on Montana Book Company's reading challenge list. I am SO glad I did! Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead is the type of read where you think, "Oh, one more chapter..." and in a blink, you've read another 50+ pages.

Also, though that part of the story occurs during Prohibition, Shipstead writes about Montana correctly! The scenery feels real without being romanticized as something exotic. I think longterm MT residents can tell when our state is portrayed as an idea of a place rather than how it is, and this book doesn't fall into that trap. I can't speak to the other locations in the book (of which there are many), but I imagine they're fairly spot-on too.

There's so much feeling and subtext to the title itself, an expansiveness that really conveys the themes within. I won't say more, for risk of spoilers, but Marion's eventual globe-circling flight is just the scaffolding for so much more. I really, really recommend this one.

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