Great Circle

Great Circle is a 2021 novel by Maggie Shipstead. The novel interweaves two timelines: One portrays the tragic life of a pioneering female aviator, Marian Graves, who attempts to fly over North and South Poles in the middle of the 20th century; the other follows an actor named Hadley Baxter, who attempts to make a film about Marian’s life in the modern day. This guide uses the 2021 eBook version of Great Circle.

Plot Summary

Marian Graves is a female aviator who attempts to fly a plane between both North and South Poles in 1950. However, her plane will crash on the final leg of the journey. The novel opens on 2014, as Hadley Baxter, a young actor, is removed from a popular film franchise after being photographed with a musician who is not her boyfriend. Following her departure from the franchise, Hadley is given the chance to play Marian Graves in a biographical film based on the scant information that is available about Marian’s life.

In 1927, Marian and her twin brother, Jamie, are abandoned by their father, a disgraced sea captain named Addison Graves. Their mother died by suicide by remaining on a sinking ship, and Addison was sent to prison. The twins are raised by their uncle, Wallace, who is a painter with alcoholism. When Addison is freed from prison, he is too ashamed to face his children, and he vanishes. His children never see him again. Marian and Jamie become friends with a local boy named Caleb Bitterroot. Marian and Caleb develop an early romance, but this never turns into a relationship, as both are fiercely independent. After witnessing an airshow, Marian becomes determined to be a pilot. However, she is told that women cannot be pilots. She dresses as a boy and works for a local bootlegger in the prohibition era, trying to earn money for flying lessons.

One day, she meets a local gangster named Barclay Macqueen. Though Marian is still a teenager, Macqueen becomes fixated on her and finds a pilot named Trout Marx who is willing to teach Marian. Macqueen becomes Marian’s benefactor, hoping that she will eventually fall in love with him. Marian learns to fly but resents her debt to Macqueen. After Trout’s death, she is determined to repay him by becoming a smuggler. Meanwhile, Jamie runs away to Seattle and falls in love with a girl named Sarah. Though her rich father wants to help Jamie, he finds Jamie’s vegetarianism insulting. Jamie leaves Seattle but never stops thinking about Sarah. Hadley prepares for her role as Marian but develops a romantic interest in the film’s producer, Redwood Feiffer.

In 1931, after receiving numerous threats, Marian eventually agrees to marry Macqueen. Their marriage is unhappy, and Macqueen abuses Marian. He wants her to have a child, and she refuses. She occasionally meets with Caleb, who becomes her only way to communicate with the outside world. Eventually, Marian grows tired of the abuse and escapes in a plane. She hides in Canada and then Alaska, taking on a new identity and becoming a professional pilot. She writes to the American government to tell them about Macqueen’s crimes. Macqueen is arrested, and, shortly after he is released, he is killed by an unknown gunman. Marian rebuilds her life in Alaska while Jamie develops alcoholism after returning to Montana. He begins to build a career as a painter, and his works become increasingly coveted. Wallace seeks help for his alcoholism and eventually dies in a hospice. Caleb visits Marian intermittently, and they rekindle their romance, though they never entirely commit.

At the outbreak of World War II, Marian becomes a pilot for the military and serves in England. There, she meets a woman named Ruth and falls in love. Ruth is married to a gay man named Eddie; their marriage distracts people from their true sexual orientations. After briefly reviving his relationship with the now-married Sarah (with whom he fathers a child), Jamie works as an artist for the military. He travels the world painting the war until his ship sinks, and he is killed. Marian is distraught at her brother’s death. She rejects Ruth and returns to Caleb. Ruth dies a short time later, and Marian never forgives herself.

Hadley begins to film her movie about Marian. She slowly uncovers more about Marian’s life, and she realizes how much of her film is actually inaccurate.

After the war, Marian accepts sponsorship to fly around the world. She chooses Eddie as a co-pilot, and in 1949, they attempt to circumnavigate the globe, passing over both poles. As their flight reaches the final stage, they land in Antarctica. Eddie does not believe that they will survive and chooses to stay behind. Marian continues, but her plane develops a leak. She deliberately crashes the plane and lets the world believe she is dead. She travels to New Zealand and assumes a new identity.

Years later, Hadley visits Caleb’s adopted son. She discovers the secret of Marian’s survival and learns that Caleb visited her several times.

Marian dies of old age.