Circling the Sun - Paula McLain

I received a free copy of this book. Could it be because I loved McLain's Paris Wife so much I named my daughter after the main character? Maybe. 

Where to start with Circling the Sun? I'd never heard of Beryl Markham prior to reading the description on Goodreads. I had read, however, Out of Africa, which although the author was originally penned as "Isak Dinesen," this person was later revealed to be Karen Blixen.

While Blixen appears heavily in Circling the Sun, Beryl Markham is absent from Out of Africa. It's an interesting aspect of memoir and the things Karen Blixen chose to remember. By historical accounts, Beryl and Karen were in love with the same man, Denys Finch Hatton, a safari hunter, pilot and basically all around gorgeous human being. To say they were involved in a love triangle would be inaccurate and inadequate at the same time. Both women loved Finch Hatton fiercely, and he, in turn, seemed to be faithful and in love with both women.

Wasn't she gorgeous?

 
The circles in which Beryl moved in Kenya are fascinating and the social decorum required within are dizzying.

Beryl grew up abandoned by her mother and parented by a distracted father. Wild and stubborn, Beryl found her own way until her father's bankruptcy when she was 17 led her into a hastily agreed to marriage with an almost complete stranger.

Unhappy playing wife in her marriage, Beryl sought out an opportunity to be independent and became the first certified female horse trainer. Over the years of her young adulthood she is constantly thrown down in poverty and disgrace only to come back fiercer than ever and more dedicated to being her own woman. She was not afraid to go after what she desired. Her affair with Finch Hatton led to her interest in flying, and even though a crash would take her lover from her, right on the cusp of their rekindled romance, she continued to fly and became the first woman to make a solo flight across the Atlantic (East to West).

McLain's writing is, as expected, spot on. She weaves Beryl's story into the backdrop of Kenya so well it's obvious that Beryl and Africa were inseparable - almost as if Africa is a characteristic of Beryl's personality, like being strong willed, or even having blonde hair. The book left me wanting to know more about Beryl. The book ends following Beryl's solo flight, but she's only in her early thirties as this point.

Beryl went on to write her own memoir - West with the Night (which I will be reading tout suite - you can now read that review here). Despite it getting rave reviews, it was not a hit like Out of Africa. When it was discovered by someone looking through Ernest Hemingway's letters in the 1980s, and ultimately entered into republication, Beryl was living in poverty in Kenya, in her 80s. She was able to live the rest of her life in relative comfort thanks to the success of this second printing.

What a fascinating person and life. I refuse to believe the second half of her life wasn't just as interesting as the first part which is included in Circling the Sun. I wish I knew more about her and the fate of her family.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a little slow in parts and took a while to turn some plot corners and therefore gets a 4 star rather than a 5 star rating, but I'll definitely be recommending this to basically everyone.

4/5 Stars.