In contrast, Hadley was raised in the spotlight of Hollywood, her young adult life defined by her leading role in a popular YA film series until a scandal threatened to topple her into obscurity. Marian grew up in squalor in Montana, able to pursue her passion for flying planes only because of an amorous - and abusive - patron and bootlegger named Barclay Macqueen.

The differences between the women are chasmic. This book, with its heft rivaled only by its depth, follows two parallel narratives: One is that of Marian Graves, a fictional Earhart-esque pilot who disappeared over the Arctic in the 1950s the other, set in modern-day, is that of Hadley Baxter, a disgraced actress trying to salvage her career by starring in a biopic about Marian. Paradoxically, I’ve only come to realize this while trying to write a review of Maggie Shipstead’s “Great Circle,” shortlisted for the 2021 Booker Prize.

Is it even possible to write a book review? Or, a review of anything, for that matter? As a writer for The Michigan Daily, I review books regularly, so this was a troubling question to ponder, but the impossibility of distilling anything into a review has become increasingly clear.

The great circle book review