Circling the Sun by Paula McLain

A review of Circling the Sun by Paula McLain.  Post may contain affiliate links. 

When I first started reading Circling the Sun: A Novel and saw that they setting was colonial Africa, I paused and tried to remember why I chose this book.  Not that anything was bad, but I couldn’t remember what had tempted me about it.  Then I noticed the author was Paula McLain, the author of The Paris Wife.  Ah, that cleared that up.  I love The Paris Wife and expected to love Circling the Sun.  I did.

Like The Paris Wife, this story is about a real woman in history.  A woman you may not know much about, but should.  This is the fictionalized story of Beryl Markham.  Beryl is a truly outstanding woman.  After her mother leaves, she is raised by her father in colonial Africa.  She runs with the young African children and is allowed to do pretty much whatever she wants.

Her life runs the gamut from being the first woman horse trainer to flying solo across the Atlantic in 1936.  Along the way, she marries, hob nobs with the elite of Kenya - notably Karen Blixen author of Out of Africa.

The story flowed smoothly for me and I loved learning bits about colonial Africa.  I definitely want to read Beryl’s own book,  Best with the West.

I received a copy of this book for review.  All opinions are my own.