Notes from Jan 2016 group

Circling the Sun by Paula McLain - Discussed on Jan. 6, 2016 at Geneseo Public Library

Paula McLain, author of the phenomenal bestseller The Paris Wife, now returns with her keenly anticipated new novel, transporting readers to colonial Kenya in the 1920s. Circling the Sun brings to life a fearless and captivating woman—Beryl Markham, a record-setting aviator caught up in a passionate love triangle with safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and Karen Blixen, who as Isak Dinesen wrote the classic memoir Out of Africa.
Brought to Kenya from England as a child and then abandoned by her mother, Beryl is raised by both her father and the native Kipsigis tribe who share his estate. Her unconventional upbringing transforms Beryl into a bold young woman with a fierce love of all things wild and an inherent understanding of nature’s delicate balance. But even the wild child must grow up, and when everything Beryl knows and trusts dissolves, she is catapulted into a string of disastrous relationships.
Beryl forges her own path as a horse trainer, and her uncommon style attracts the eye of the Happy Valley set, a decadent, bohemian community of European expats who also live and love by their own set of rules. But it’s the ruggedly charismatic Denys Finch Hatton who ultimately helps Beryl navigate the uncharted territory of her own heart. The intensity of their love reveals Beryl’s truest self and her fate: to fly.

Set against the majestic landscape of early-twentieth-century Africa, McLain’s powerful tale reveals the extraordinary adventures of a woman before her time, the exhilaration of freedom and its cost, and the tenacity of the human spirit

Our group thought that this book was well written and descriptive pertaining to Africa – its wilderness, animals, culture, and natives.   Natives were displayed as noble, caring, and faithful people.  It was a wonderful glimpse into a different culture.  However, we did not like the main character, Beryl, although we could sympathize with her issues of abandonment by her mother and father, her lack of good role models, and lack of moral training. The story left us with too many unanswered questions and the characters were not fully developed.  We were left wondering as to motives, consequences, and the future.  Our group had very mixed opinions on this book.