Instaread - Circling the Sun: by Paula McLain / Summary & Analysis

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Paula McLains

Circling the Sun

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Circling the Sun is a novelized account of the life of Beryl Markham written by Paula McLain. Beryl broke all the rules for a proper young lady as she grew up in colonial Kenya, then broke ground for women everywhere, first as a horse trainer and then as an aviator. Her headstrong determination did not serve her as well, however, when it came to her personal life. She plunged into two youthful marriages that imploded and one earth-shattering, but doomed affair. Paula McLain weaves all this together into a novelized biography of the first half of Beryls unique life that takes her from childhood to her attempt at age 34 to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from Europe to Canada.

In 1904, as a toddler, Beryl moved to Kenya, then known as British East Africa, with her parents, Clara and Charles Clutterbuck, and her older brother, Dickie. Her mother, who hated the heat and dust, returned to England with Dickie before Beryl turned five. Though puzzled and saddened by this abandonment, Beryl thrived on her fathers farm in Njoro, near the Great Rift Valley, where he raised thoroughbred horses. Charles let her run free. She spent much time in the nearby Kipsigis village with her best friend, Kibii. She did everything he did, such as hunting, wrestling, and spear throwing. The Kip women gave her a tribal name, Lakwet, meaning very little girl. Beryl developed a great respect and love for the land, the animals, and the native people.

When she was 11, Emma Orchardson, moved into their home as a housekeeper. Beryl resented Emma, who tried unsuccessfully to civilize the barefoot tomboy. Three governesses and various tutors quit in desperation. Beryl was sent to boarding school for her safety after she was attacked by a neighbors captive lion. After only two and a half years, she was expelled for starting some sort of revolt. It was after leaving boarding school that Beryl learned her father and Emma were lovers.

World War I broke out and there was fighting in Kenya that eventually took the life of Kibiis father. Many farm workers went to fight and her fathers horses were conscripted. Beryl worked alongside her father, but times were hard. Even so, at Emmas insistence, she had a coming-out party in Nairobi. She danced, drank champagne, and flirted with a neighbor, Jock Purves. When she went outside for some air, she encountered adventurer Denys Finch Hatton and his friend, Berkeley Cole. They were upper-class, sophisticated, and poetical, and they seemed like enchanted princes beckoning her to a larger world.

Her fathers business sputtered and he announced he was going to sell it and take a job training horses in Cape Town. Beryl was distraught at the thought of leaving Njoro and her father suggested she marry Jock. She went to talk it over with Kibii, but realized how far apart they had grown. He planned to go traveling to seek a wife and perhaps find his fathers killer. Feeling abandoned again, she married Jock at the age of 16, though she barely knew him and he was twice her age.

After a honeymoon in India, where Jocks family lived, they found the protectorate of British East Africa transformed into the colony of Kenya. The farm belonging to Beryls father was sold and the stock was auctioned, though Beryl was allowed to keep her horse, Pegasus. Beryl despaired as she watched her father disappear on a train as her mother had. She tried to make her marriage work, but felt estranged and powerless. Jock did not like her efforts to work at his side. He expected a pliant wife. The marriage was a disaster.

Beryl fled, finding work as a live-in assistant horse trainer for a wealthy neighbor, Lord Delamere, who was like a godfather to her. Jock let her go, but refused to give her a divorce and required her to make regular visits to keep up appearances. Beryl studied hard and became the first officially licensed female horse trainer in Kenya. On the day of her first big win as a trainer, Jock tried to claim her success as his own. At her victory party, Beryl met a woman who claimed to be a distant relative of hers, Cockie Birkbeck, and her companion, Baron Bror Blixen. Jock got drunk and nearly attacked Beryls co-worker, Boy Long, just for being near her. After Jock stormed off, Boy comforted Beryl and they became casual lovers.

Berkeley Cole visited Delamere and invited Beryl and Lord Delamere to a party at his place on the slope of Mt. Kenya. Denys was there, and Beryl was attracted to him, especially after he rescued her from a cobra. But he soon took off for Mbogani, a farm in the mountains owned by Brors wife, Baroness Karen Blixen. He told Beryl he often stayed there.

Beryls mother suddenly contacted her, asking for help finding her a place to live now that her second husband had died in England, leaving her with two young sons. Beryl was shattered by this information, since she did not know her mother remarried and had more children. Lord Delamere confessed that he should have told her the truth long ago.

Denys told Beryl that Karen had a vacant house on her farm. Beryl went there to arrange a rental for her mother. She also hoped to see Denys, but he was on a hunting trip. She became friendly with Karen and Bror, who seemed genial, though Karen confided that Bror was just there to seek a divorce.

Clara and sons arrived, but left the rented house quickly. Denys returned and seemed happy to find Beryl at Mbogani, but she soon realized he was sleeping with Karen. She went back to work. In December of 1923, Beryl met Denys again while visiting a neighboring horse farm. Beryl and Denys slept together. Beryl slipped out early in the morning to avoid scandal. She was so happy and fulfilled she felt like a new person. However, four days later, she saw Denys and Karen at a New Years Eve party. Beryl was paranoid around Karen, afraid she knew about her one night with Denys, but later realized Karen knew nothing of it. After the party, as Beryl walked home with Delamare and Boy, a drunk Jock came upon them and accused Beryl of infidelity. Jock beat Delamare severely. Delamare fired Beryl just as she was beginning to make a name for herself as a trainer.

Nearly broke, Beryl went to London and stayed with Cockie. She learned she was pregnant by Denys, so she quietly had an abortion. Cockie set Beryl up with an acquaintance, Frank Greswolde. Together, after six months in London, Beryl and Greswolde returned to Kenya. Beryl soon left Greswolde, arranged a divorce from Jock, and went looking for Kibii. She took a job training horses for Cockies cousin and his friends, but was soon fired because of an injured horse. Kibii, now using his grown-up name of Ruta, came to her looking for a job and they became independent trainers. They were successful and moved their operations to the Nairobi racetrack. In the city, Beryl ran into Denys. He told her Karen had gone to Denmark to visit her mother and Berkeley was dying of heart disease. Beryl visited Berkeley. After his death, Denys and Beryl had a rapturous, but brief, affair until Karen returned. Karen gave Bror his divorce and tried to wrest a commitment from Denys, but he kept refusing.