Circling the Sun: by Paula McLain | Summary & Analysis

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 Beryl’s 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 father’s 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 neighbor’s 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.