Shipstead also experiments with point-of-view and timelines. Marian cares nothing for what society thinks of her. She loves women and men, and is often mistaken for a man, with her choppy short hair and masculine dress. Marian is not of the modern era, yet she evolves into a character who would today be referred to as gender-fluid. Soon, she is a pilot for a bootlegger who's also her lover, piloting small planes filled with contraband into remote territories, at times through rough weather that would have grounded a more cautious pilot. But Marian is determined, fearless, wild, and her first flying lesson is a liberation. This is in the early part of the 20th century, when such dreams for women were seen as sheer fantasy. But whatever hardships Marian suffers over the course of the next years, what gets her through is her dream of becoming an aviator. Marian and Jamie are left in the wilds of Montana to be cared for by an eccentric, alcoholic uncle who gambles away every spare penny. I have made a promise to myself: My last descent won't be the tumbling, helpless kind but sharp gannet plunge-a dive with intent, aimed at something deep in the sea." I was shaped to the earth like a seabird to a wave. By the first lines, I was all in: "I was born to be a wanderer. I brought the backup reads in case Great Circle fizzled in the middle, but no alternates were needed. But each of those were contemporary novels, modestly proportioned in contrast to her latest-a work of historical fiction that clocks in at 589 pages. I'd really liked Shipstead's previous novels, Seating Arrangements (2012) and Astonish Me (2014). I brought it with me to Key West on my first vacation since the Covid lockdown began in March 2020, along with about eight other options-just in case. Maggie Shipstead's sumptuous epic, Great Circle (Knopf, May 4) is the one. Oprah and Jenna Bush Hager Talk Book Clubs.
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