Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love this book! What a great story about Beryl Markham, a horse trainer and aviator. I wasn’t aware of Beryl Markham before reading this book but in the author’s note at the end, she says that Markham wrote her own book which I’d like to read.
Beryl was raised in Africa by her father after her mother left, taking her brother, when she was 4. Her father was a horse trainer and she grew up learning everything at his side. She was friends with the local African children, her best friend being Kibii.
The story takes us through Beryl’s life which wasn’t an easy one. She married at 16 after learning that her father was losing his farm and horses and taking a jo elsewhere. She felt it was the right thing to do but she didn’t know her husband at all and it was a very difficult relationship which she eventually fled taking almost nothing with her but her horse.
She went to a family friend and learned how to be a horse trainer under his tutelage and was the first woman ever to hold a license to train horses.
Beryl eventually marries again but it also ends on a sour note after her baby. Gervase, is born with defects. Her husband and the babe stay behind in London while she eventually goes back.
Throughout her life, there is Denys who she comes together with periodically until his death.
Eventually, Beryl learns to fly and becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from East to West.
This is a wonderful story that will suck you right in. I didn’t want it to be over and I highly recommend it! 😀