Maggie Shipstead’s “daringly ambitious” new novel tells the story of a fictional aviator named Marian Graves, and her attempt, in 1950, to become the first person to fly round the world, said Stephanie Merritt in The Observer. Not only does it take in the history of early 20th century aviation, but it also covers “Prohibition, the Great Depression and the Second World War”.
And as if that weren’t enough, Shipstead throws in a parallel 21st century narrative, said Erica Wagner in The Guardian: that of a “Hollywood ingénue” who is trying to make a film about Marian. The result is an “intricate and rich” novel that is as “beautifully built as it is elegantly written”.
At times this “sprawling epic” – loosely inspired by Amelia Earhart – struck me as “too long a journey to make”, said Melissa Katsoulis in The Times. Yet so vivid is Shipstead’s writing – and so well-drawn are the parallels between the two central characters – that she always “pulls it back together”. If you like “full immersion in a minutely described world”, then this book is “worth sticking with”.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Doubleday 608pp £16.99; The Week Bookshop £13.99
The Week Bookshop
To order this title or any other book in print, visit theweekbookshop.co.uk, or speak to a bookseller on 020-3176 3835. Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am-5.30pm and Sunday 10am-4pm.
-
Taking the low road: why the SNP is still standing strongTalking Point Party is on track for a fifth consecutive victory in May’s Holyrood election, despite controversies and plummeting support
-
Has the Gaza deal saved Netanyahu?Today's Big Question With elections looming, Israel’s longest serving PM will ‘try to carry out political alchemy, converting the deal into political gold’
-
French finances: what’s behind country’s debt problem?The Explainer Political paralysis has led to higher borrowing costs and blocked urgent deficit-reducing reforms to social protection
-
The delightful, smutty world of Jilly CooperIn the Spotlight Millions mourn the ‘Mrs Kipling of sex’
-
Lee Miller at the Tate: a ‘sexy yet devastating’ showThe Week Recommends The ‘revelatory’ exhibition tells the photographer’s story ‘through her own impeccable eye’
-
6 eye-catching rounded homesFeature Featuring a central spiral staircase in Michigan and a Balinese-style estate with ocean views in Hawaii
-
A House of Dynamite: a ‘nail-biting’ nuclear-strike thrillerThe Week Recommends ‘Virtuoso talent’ Kathryn Bigelow directs a ‘fast-paced’ and ‘tense’ ‘symphony of dread’
-
The Finest Hotel in Kabul: a ‘haunting’ history of modern AfghanistanThe Week Recommends Lyse Doucet’s sensitively written work traces over 50 years of Kabul’s ‘Inter-Con’ hotel
-
The Smashing Machine: Dwayne Johnson is ‘magnetic’ in gritty biopicThe Week Recommends The wrestler-turned-Hollywood-actor takes on the role of troubled UFC champion Mark Kerr
-
Shadow Ticket: Thomas Pynchon’s first novel in over a decadeThe Week Recommends Zany whodunnit about a private eye in 1930s Milwaukee could be the 88-year-old author’s ‘last hurrah’
-
Southern barbecue: This year’s top threeFeature A weekend-only restaurant, a 90-year-old pitmaster, and more
