Great Circle

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ΓÇó A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK ΓÇó The unforgettable story of a daredevil female aviator determined to chart her own course in life,at any cost: an ΓÇ£epic tripΓÇöthrough Prohibition and World War IIfrom Montana to London to present-day HollywoodΓÇöand youΓÇÖll relish every minuteΓÇ¥ (People). After being rescued as infants from a sinking ocean liner in 1914Marian and Jamie Graves are raised by their dissolute uncle in MissoulaMontana. There–after encountering a pair of barnstorming pilots passing through town in beat-up biplanes–Marian commences her lifelong love affair with flight. At fourteen she drops out of school and finds an unexpected and dangerous patron in a wealthy bootlegger who provides a plane and subsidizes her lessonsan arrangement that will haunt her for the rest of her lifeeven as it allows her to fulfill her destiny: circumnavigating the globe by flying over the North and South Poles. A century laterHadley Baxter is cast to play Marian in a film that centers on Marian’s disappearance in Antarctica. Vibrantcannydisgusted with the claustrophobia of HollywoodHadley is eager to redefine herself after a romantic film franchise has imprisoned her in the grip of cult celebrity. Her immersion into the character of Marian unfoldsthrillinglyalongside Marian’s own storyas the two women’s fates–and their hunger for self-determination in vastly different geographies and times–collide. Epic and emotionalmeticulously researched and gloriously toldGreat Circle is a monumental work of artand a tremendous leap forward for the prodigiously gifted Maggie Shipstead.