I am so happy to hear it, Mary Jo! It is one of my favorite books of all time. I hope so much you love it as much as I did. I’d love to know what you think of it! xo

I agree with you there, Jennifer. If that person already wrote a first-person account, then it is pretty weird, in my opinion, if it’s written first-person as historical fiction. Now if Beryl had never written a thing about her story, perhaps it would be different… By the way, did we talk about Africa House? If you like the one, you’ll probably like the other.

Hi Sine! It is always so terrific to hear from you at Bacon! I’m glad you feel as passionately about West with the Night as I do! Just to clarify – Circling the Sun is historical fiction. The choice that I suppose I had so much trouble with is that McLain wrote it as if Beryl were telling her own story (in first person). And it just doesn’t compare – in my mind – with how Beryl told her own story.

Re Hemingway’s quote – I also mentioned that in my review I think. You may have seen that I’m on a bit of a Hemingway bashing trip these days as I’ve written several blog posts about him. I think he is actually absolutely right in what he says, even though he meant it as praise. He IS indeed a mere carpenter putting together words as compared to Beryl Markham. There is nothing in his books (the ones I attempted and didn’t put down in utter boredom) that compares to her prose, her sense of plot, her imagination. They ARE dull in comparison.

As to whether she’s the original author or not – it just seems to me that that is a sign of the times back then, that a rumor was started about her not having written it. How could a woman possibly write so well? It was a man writer’s world, after all. I like to think that she DID write it, and that she was far ahead of some of her male contemporaries.

John, I think you will absolutely love it! Thank you for the very kind words. xo

Yes!! xo