Spanning Prohibition-era Montana， the Pacific Northwest， Alaska， New Zealand， wartime London， and modern-day Los Angeles， Great Circle tells the unforgettable story of a daredevil female aviator determined to chart her own course in life， at any cost。

After being rescued as infants from a sinking ocean liner in 1914， Marian and Jamie Graves are raised by their dissolute uncle in Missoula， Montana。 There--after encountering a pair of barnstorming pilots passing through town in beat-up biplanes--Marian commences her lifelong love affair with flight。 At fourteen she drops out of school and finds an unexpected and dangerous patron in a wealthy bootlegger who provides a plane and subsidizes her lessons， an arrangement that will haunt her for the rest of her life， even as it allows her to fulfill her destiny: circumnavigating the globe by flying over the North and South Poles。

A century later， Hadley Baxter is cast to play Marian in a film that centers on Marian's disappearance in Antarctica。 Vibrant， canny， disgusted with the claustrophobia of Hollywood， Hadley is eager to redefine herself after a romantic film franchise has imprisoned her in the grip of cult celebrity。 Her immersion into the character of Marian unfolds， thrillingly， alongside Marian's own story， as the two women's fates--and their hunger for self-determination in vastly different geographies and times--collide。 Epic and emotional， meticulously researched and gloriously told， Great Circle is a monumental work of art， and a tremendous leap forward for the prodigiously gifted Maggie Shipstead。