> Skip to content
Read an extract
Play sample
  • Published: 12 April 2022
  • ISBN: 9781529176643
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 688
  • RRP: $26.00

Great Circle





A breathtakingly powerful epic that weaves together the astonishing lives of a 1950s vanished female aviator and the rebel-hearted Hollywood millennial who plays her on screen. A New York Times bestseller for fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid, Ann Patchett and ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr

THE EPIC AND EMOTIONAL NEW YORK TIMES AND TIMES BESTSELLER

Shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction
Shortlisted for the Booker Prize
Amazon Book of the Year
Time Magazine Book of the Year
Waterstones fiction Book of the Month
______________

'A GRIPPING HISTORICAL ADVENTURE' STYLIST

'SO BEAUTIFUL, SO DARING, SO COMPLETE' TAYLOR JENKINS REID, author of Carrie Soto is Back

'A MASTERPIECE' NIGELLA LAWSON

EXTRAORDINARY' NEW YORK TIMES

'ONE OF MY ALL-TIME FAVOURITE NOVELS' READER REVIEW *****
_______________________

A soaring, breathtakingly ambitious novel that weaves together the astonishing lives of a 1950s vanished female aviator and the modern-day Hollywood actress who plays her on screen.

Marian Graves is driven by a need for freedom and danger. From her days as a wild child in prohibition America to the blitz and glitz of wartime London, she is determined to live an independent life.

But it is an obsession with flight that consumes her most.

Having become one of the most fearless pilots in her time, she sets out to do what no one has done before: to circumnavigate the globe from pole to pole.

But shortly before completing the journey, her plane disappears, lost to history.

Over half a century later, troubled film star Hadley Baxter is offered to play Marian in the comeback role of a lifetime. From the first pages of the script, Hadley is drawn inexorably to the female pilot.

It is a role that will lead her to an unexpected discovery, throwing fresh and spellbinding light on the story of the unknowable Marian Graves.

_______________________

WATERSTONES FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH JUNE 2022
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2022
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2021
A ROYAL READING ROOM PICK 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE HWA GOLD CROWN 2022
TIME MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2021
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER MAY 2021
TIMES BESTSELLER JUNE 2022
_______________________

'Full of adventure, passion and tragedy' THE TIMES

'Soars from the very first page' SUNDAY EXPRESS

'Luminous, masterful. Glides seamlessly through the 20th century' TELEGRAPH, Best Fiction of 2021

'Breathtaking' OBSERVER

'Truly exceptional storytelling, combining a sweeping arc of history with writing that, at sentence level, is near-flawless.' THE BOOKSELLER

'A tour-de-force' DAILY EXPRESS

'Impressive and gripping' SUNDAY TIMES

'Surprising and moving at every turn' GUARDIAN

'Audacious and Immersive' DAILY MAIL

'Accomplished and ambitious' FINANCIAL TIMES

Readers love GREAT CIRCLE:
***** What a read! Immense story with beautifully created characters
***** The story is so well researched and planned; historical fiction standing side by side with history itself
***** This is a stunning achievement, my perspective feels fundamentally transformed through reading it
***** A wonderful saga, covering a large chunk of the twentieth century

  • Published: 12 April 2022
  • ISBN: 9781529176643
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 688
  • RRP: $26.00

About the author

Maggie Shipstead

MAGGIE SHIPSTEAD's debut novel SEATING ARRANGEMENTS was a New York Times bestseller and winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize and L A Times Book Prize for First Fiction. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Guardian, Conde Nast Traveller, The Best American Short Stories and elsewhere. She is a graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop, a former Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford and a two- time National Magazine Award finalist for fiction. Her latest novel GREAT CIRCLE has been seven years in the writing and is due to be published around the world. Maggie Shipstead grew up in California and lives in Los Angeles, California.

Also by Maggie Shipstead

See all

Praise for Great Circle

A brilliant saga of a book. It will absolutely captivate you

JANE GARVEY, Fortunately Podcast

Discover more

Article
The 2021 Booker Prize shortlist revealed

The shortlist for the 2021 Booker Prize has been announced, with four Penguin Random House novels named.

Article
Maggie Shipstead Q&A

The Great Circle author on inspiring travel, research and spending seven years on her latest novel.