Circling the Sun by Paula McLain
from amazon; This powerful novel transports readers to the breathtaking world of Out of Africa-1920s Kenya-and reveals the extraordinary adventures of Beryl Markham, a woman before her time. Brought to Kenya from England by pioneering parents dreaming of a new life on an African farm, Beryl is raised unconventionally, developing a fierce will and a love of all things wild. But after everything she knows and trusts dissolves, headstrong young Beryl is flung into a string of disastrous relationships, then becomes caught up in a passionate love triangle with the irresistible safari hunter Denys Finch Hatton and the writer Baroness Karen Blixen. Brave and audacious and contradictory, Beryl will risk everything to have Denys’s love, but it’s ultimately her own heart she must conquer to embrace her true calling and her destiny: to fly.
takes a very interesting fictional look at the life of beryl markham (i recommend her memoir west with the night, BTW) from her childhood in kenya to just before her largely forgotten flight across the altantic from east to west. explores her relationships, both platonic & romantic, in including one with denys finch hatton who was made famous by the novel out of africa written by karen blixen under the name isak dinesen. (and what was it about DFH that made women want to jump him 5 minutes after meeting him? booklender has a bio on him, so i may find out.)
the whole happy valley heyday of the late 1920s to late 1930s is really interesting to me in a sort of "wow! people lived like that, huh?" kind of way. i recommend the book the ghost of happy valley if you want to learn more about some of the major players & history of the area.
takes a very interesting fictional look at the life of beryl markham (i recommend her memoir west with the night, BTW) from her childhood in kenya to just before her largely forgotten flight across the altantic from east to west. explores her relationships, both platonic & romantic, in including one with denys finch hatton who was made famous by the novel out of africa written by karen blixen under the name isak dinesen. (and what was it about DFH that made women want to jump him 5 minutes after meeting him? booklender has a bio on him, so i may find out.)
the whole happy valley heyday of the late 1920s to late 1930s is really interesting to me in a sort of "wow! people lived like that, huh?" kind of way. i recommend the book the ghost of happy valley if you want to learn more about some of the major players & history of the area.