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.