Circling the Sun by Paula McLain

 Beryl Markham (1902-1986) was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1936. She was the first female horse trainer in the world, producing one of the greatest victories in the history of racing. She was a free-spirited character. She may not be someone you identify with, but she was full of passion and worth of attention. “A woman who lived by her own code instead of society’s.”

Beryl is brought to Kenya as a child. But the rough kind of life isn’t meant for her mother and brother, who go back to England. Beryl stays with her father, who falls in love with the wild side of Africa.

At sixteen, she is forced to start making decisions for herself as her father is moving south to Cape Town. Against her better judgement, she marries Jock, a landowner, who isn’t “afraid to dirty his hands” as her father puts it.

As she suffers “an illness of the spirit,” she lifts herself up by becoming a horse trainer. Something that comes naturally to her.

She also experiences more than one man, which only reminds her that she needs to find her own way, to know what she stands for.

Beryl is a likeable character. I loved her pure nature and her forging her own path, “out of brokenness, learning to love wildness instead of fearing it.” She is not “cut out for sameness or routine, the pinchings of domesticity…” Her pure and natural instincts lead her to become one of the most successful horse trainers.

The historical background also involves the bohemian community of European expats. “Colony life was so small and confined the same people kept popping up in different combinations.”

What hooked me to this story was the author’s compelling writing. The story progresses interestingly at good pace. It’s not descriptive, but at the same time events and characters are presented with such prose bringing the fullness and complexity of both. The engrossing dialogue propels the story forward. The sense of place shines with the African sun, dry ground dusting your shoes and wilderness lurking around. The dimensions are outstanding thanks to the very skillful and beautiful writing. A page-turner stunningly written.

Released in 2015

Publisher: Ballantine Books