Circling the Sun by Paula McLain

On Monday, June 5th, the Booked for the Day Book Group met to discuss, Circling the Sun by Paula McLain.  Here are a few things we discussed during the meeting:

• The group thought the scenes of the Kenyan landscape were written beautifully. Two of our members went to Kenya and described their experiences to us.
• One member did extensive research on the real Beryl Markham and thought the book portrayed her in a better light than the real version. Some members said they did not understand why the author embellished her life when they had so many real facts to draw on.
• We talked about the book and movie, Out of Africa. Those that read it thought Out of Africa was by far a much better book than Circling the Sun.  We talked about Karen (Isak Dinesen). Even though the book portrayed her as the weaker of the two women we thought she was a strong character too and we liked her more than we liked Beryl.
• We wished that the book focused more on Beryl’s accomplishments rather than her love life. She was a women ahead of her time when she made history as the first women licensed racehorse trainer and as an aviator. The emphasis should have been more on her strengths and independence.
• Beryl was a tragic figure who was abandoned by her mother and then by her father at the age of sixteen, forcing her to marry at a young age.  We thought that Beryl handled the circumstances that were not within her control as best she could.
• We talked about the title of the book and what it meant. One member thought that is was Karen Blixen and Beryl drawn to the same unobtainable man, Denys, but never being able to completely catch him. Another thought it might be Beryl’s need to do things never done before, entering the male worlds of horse training and aviation. She seemed to have a need to achieve what no one else was able to do.
• A few members of the group would recommend this book. One member recommended reading Markham’s own memoir West with the Night if you wanted to get to know this woman. West of the Night was not a success until Ernest Hemingway said, “It really is a bloody wonderful book.” The member agreed with what Hemingway had said, she thought the writing was much better than Circling the Sun.

These are just a few things mentioned during the discussion. Please feel free to add any of your thoughts in the comment section.