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Great Circle

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Great Circle

By: Maggie Shipstead
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Alex McKenna
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2021

Shortlisted 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.

©2020 Maggie Shipstead (P)2020 Penguin Audio
20th Century Historical Fiction World Literature Fiction Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Aviation War Native American Mystery

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Critic reviews

"Ferociously clever." (Guardian)

"Joyously good." (Daily Mail)

"Impressive." (Jeffrey Eugenides)

All stars
Most relevant
I never wanted this audiobook to end; the characters are fascinating and I cared so deeply about all their individual histories, which are followed across many long lifetimes....I couldn't stop telling people about it and have recommended it to everyone!

When the bottle fails to smash on an ocean liners maiden voyage, could it really be a bad omen? Let this swirling history be the judge, as it paints a picture of bootleggers during Prohibition, of the first women, and men, to fly and the contribution those women made to the war effort, intertwined with a modern tale of a lost actor trying to find her real self within the Hollywood-franchised version she's currently battling with. There's just so much here to enjoy! Marian Graves feels like a heroine to me, fiction or no.

Super long audiobooks, when this brilliant, are an absolute joy...I left my bike at home & walked an hour each way to work, just to give myself more time to listen!

WHAT A JOY!!

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Thanks Audible for this. I loved the epic story of the life of Marian Graves and the characters that were part of her amazing life
Performed by two women who bring the story to life and make Great Circle one of Audible’s very best.
It is totally involving and I was very sorry when I got to the end

Beautiful story, outstanding performance

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I was totally immersed in the character's lives, particularly the descriptions of flying a small aircraft. Will definitely listen to the story again.

Absorbing story

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I love the style if this author. Totally absorbing. Do not miss this. I've ridden swimming horses..that was a small highlight for me amoung many others to numerous to mention!!

Brilliant

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A complex, expansive saga which feels daunting at the outset but swiftly sucks you in. The odd digression feels a little much but come the end everything makes perfect sense. Narration works well, with the two different voices separating the time lines neatly. Neither should have attempted an English accent, frankly, but luckily that's a very minor quibble. Excellent and likely to stay with me for a long time.

Compelling, immersive and satisfying

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