Author : Paula McLain
Genre : Historical
Publisher : Ballantine
Pages : 400
Rating : 2.5/5
Beryl Clutterbuck is a rancher’s daughter in 1920s Kenya. Brought up by her father, after her mother, sick of the hard-scrabble life of the farm, ups and leaves with her younger brother, Beryl grows up with very few restraints, running wild and free with the local children, and learning to ride and hunt like a man would – in those times. She finds her independence severely curbed when her father’s farm goes belly-up and she must, at 16, make a marriage of convenience. Life is rocky and uncertain when Beryl, unable to keep up the “homely” act and hankering for the land and the horses, returns to working for an acquaintance as a horse-trainer.
Buffeted by unfortunate circumstances, Beryl goes from job to job, and into different personal relationships developing a reputation in the British colony’s small social circle. She remains focussed on her work however, striving to keep her love for her horses above it all.
Circling The Sun was a quick, placid read. It read almost like a memoir or a personal journal, with Beryl at the center of it all. The writing is good and the descriptions lyrical, giving us a feel of the land and the people that inhabit it. While I understood Beryl’s need for independence, and her quiet rebellion against a society which severely penalized women for not kowtowing the line, she did come across as calculating and grasping. It’s not that I don’t sympathize with her – being thrust into a marriage and fending for oneself at 16 will probably make one grow up fast – but her actions seemed self-centered and dilletante-ish.
This book is not feel-good or fantasy, it is a chronicling of the real world, where it is all a give and take. While our heroine does have a few wins, the overall tone is one of gloom especially after she falls in love with Denys Hatton Finch, a man she can never have. Beryl is celebrated as the Kenyan aviatrix and was the first person to fly solo non-stop from Britain to North America. Despite her spirit and her many accomplishments, she is a hard heroine to root for.
