Circling the Sun

Beryl Markham arrives in Kenya from England as a small child, and her mother soon leaves her behind. She grows up on her father's estate, looked after by him and by the Kipsigis people who share the land. That upbringing gives her a daring streak, a deep love of wild places and a feel for how fragile the natural world is.

Adulthood arrives hard. Once everything Beryl has known and trusted falls away, she moves through a run of relationships that go badly. She makes her own way as a horse trainer. Her unusual methods bring her to the notice of the Happy Valley set, a bohemian community of European expatriates who live by rules of their own making.

Through that circle she meets Denys Finch Hatton, a safari hunter. Their bond becomes the force that draws out who Beryl really is and points her toward flying.

This is historical fiction told through the life of one woman in colonial Kenya. It follows her from childhood to young adulthood, so the pace is that of a life story. The wilderness and the expatriate social world are its two settings. The tone is romantic and personal, and it leans on the feelings of its heroine more than on plot twists.