WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE: THE THIRD SPACE
The book is set in 1950s Hong Kong and the descriptions of Wan Chai, where
the main characters live, are integral to the book and feel extremely authentic.
Since its release the book has been adapted for the stage and made into a film.
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Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
Reviewed by ALYSON HILBOURNE
I read this book thinking it was pure fiction without
realising it was actually the story of Beryl Markham—the
first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic from east to
west. Not until the end did I see the references and
author's note and realise it was about a real person.
Beryl has an unconventional upbringing in Kenya when
her mother leaves her alone with her father, taking her
brother to England. Beryl is allowed to run free and mix
with the local tribes people. She is wilful and
uncontrolled and when her father brings home a new
housekeeper/wife who tries to limit Beryl and mould her into a young woman,
Beryl rebels. She marries early and rather quickly as her father's horse
breeding and training business goes into bankruptcy and the marriage is a
mistake. She then embarks on a series of affairs and another disastrous
marriage and moves between England and Kenya trying rebuild a horse
training business of her own. When she falls for the charismatic Denys Finch
Hatton she learns to fly in order to emulate him, and although it is not really
covered in the scope of this book, this leads to her transatlantic journey.
I loved the beginning of the book with its rich description of Kenya, the land
and the people. I also felt it moved along at a reasonable pace. However at some
point in the middle it stops being about the country and becomes totally
involved with the social scene of the 1920's. The descriptions of houses,
clothing and lifestyle are fascinating but Beryl's wild lifestyle becomes very
unlikeable. Too many people are introduced to handily keep track of and the
movement flits quickly from one thing to another. Perhaps this is Beryl's life but
it didn't make a good second half to the book. I found Beryl increasingly
annoying and selfish and the last part of the book a disappointment.
I do give the story full marks however for a sense of place, and the wonderful
descriptions of the countryside, the people and the lifestyle. If nothing else this
book has prompted me to reread Out of Africa written by another of the
characters in the story, Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen).
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43 | MAY 2017