Great Circle

In the wake of her scandal, Hadley is forced to meet with studio executives and Gwendolyn, the author of the Archangel books. Gwendolyn still mistakes Oliver for the “dorky sex fantasy” (89) whom he plays in her stories, so she does not forgive Hadley’s infidelity. The meeting ends badly, but Hadley gifts Gwendolyn a flash drive as “a memento” (91). The flash drive contains blurry, amateur sex tape featuring Hadley and Oliver. Hadley decided to share the tape while up late at night, drunk and thinking about her brief affair with Oliver’s married agent, Alexei. She still has feelings for Alexei, who refused to leave his wife for her. 

In Missoula in March 1929, the 14-year-old Marian works as a delivery driver for a local bakery. She also delivers the bakery’s alcohol; this part of her job is technically illegal due to prohibition laws. With her short hair and predilection for physical work, many people mistake Marian for a boy. She drops out of school and begins paying rent to Wallace as she saves up for flying lessons. Marian makes an alcohol delivery to Miss Dolly’s brothel. The sex workers employed by Miss Dolly intrigue Marian, who also thinks about Caleb. He still cuts her hair, though the kiss he charged her has turned into more serious sexual explorations. The sex workers teach Marian about womanhood, including lessons that Wallace never thought to teach her. One night, they dress her in makeup as entertainment. Marian is intrigued by the prospect of making more money by following in their footsteps. While dressed in the sex workers’ clothes, Marian meets a famous wealthy rancher and bootlegger named Barclay Macqueen. She shares a meaningful moment with Macqueen, and the memory of him winds “through her like a serpent” (105).

Two months later, Wallace stumbles home on a Sunday morning. Jamie listens to his uncle’s hungover grumblings about a local trapper named Lena, who he says is “burly as a man and wears men’s clothes” (106). Wallace played poker with Lena, and he worries that Marian will follow in Lena’s footsteps of unconventional gender presentation. He cannot bring himself to tell Marian that he gambled away his sportscar. He leaves Jamie to relay the bad news to Marian, who reacts angrily. Marian uses a portion of her savings to buy a car of her own, but the increased police crackdown on liquor sales means that she replaces the spent money very slowly. Lately, her thoughts are complicated by romantic daydreams about Barclay Macqueen and Caleb. One day, she goes swimming with Caleb and they nearly have sex.

A month later, Marian visits Macqueen’s house with a delivery. She knows that Macqueen is a bootlegger; he only ordered the bottles to meet Marian again. They speak on the porch. Macqueen tells Marian about his loneliness, and he admits that he knows about her past, including her father’s crimes and her mother’s death. Macqueen explains that he likes Marian and wants to help her. After conducting his own investigations, he believes that she wants to be a pilot. Even though he is right, Marian denies this. Macqueen explains how he empathizes with Marian’s problems and that he wants to be her friend. Marian refuses him again, and, on leaving the house, she discovers that Macqueen is the mysterious stranger who won Wallace’s car in a poker game. When she asks her boss not to make deliveries to Macqueen’s house anymore, he tells her that she must; otherwise, the more powerful bootlegger will ruin his small business. That night, still thinking about Macqueen, she visits Caleb and loses her virginity to him. The next day, she menstruates for the first time.

In September 1929, Marian makes a delivery to a mysterious new pilot named Trout Marx at the local airfield. After noting her fervent interest in planes, Trout agrees to give Marian a free lesson. They go up in the plane, and Marian is given control for the first time. Trout calls her “a natural” (125), and she feels genuine joy. He also reveals that an anonymous benefactor has offered to pay for further lessons. Marian is horrified; she knows that her benefactor is Barclay Macqueen. She turns down Trout’s offer, as she understands that Macqueen wants her to know that she is “beholden” (126) to him. She drinks a beer with Trout to celebrate her first flight as they write the first entry in her flight log. He explains that he smuggles alcohol for Macqueen but that she would be helping Trout stay in business if she would allow him to teach her aviation. She accepts on the condition that, when she knows how to fly, she will go to work for Macqueen as a smuggler; she wants to repay Macqueen for his benefaction, as she hates being indebted to anyone. 

Gwendolyn does not leak Hadley’s sex tape, but Hadley is fired from Archangel and Gavin du Pre threatens to make sure her “career is over” (130). She uses physical exercise to distract herself from her collapsing life and then spends the afternoon with Hugo, who introduces her to Marian Graves’s book. Hugo’s production company has a script based on Marian’s aviation career, and he wants Hadley to play the lead role. The script is based on a book written about Marian by Carol Feiffer, the mother of Redwood Feiffer, who is a producer on the project. The writers and directors are “considered cool” (134) in Hollywood, so Hadley wonders whether they might help people see her in a new light, even if she will be paid only modestly.

Hadley reads Marian’s book. A brief introduction explains how Marian and her navigator, Eddie Bloom, vanished while trying to circumnavigate the globe by flying over both the North and South Poles. They were last seen in Antarctica. Marian’s journal was found at the final fuel stop in Antarctica, wrapped in a life preserver. 

When Marian is 15, innovations in flying technology allow pilots to use their aircraft even when harsh weather limits visibility. However, some pilots reject this technology as a substitute for true skill. At the same time, the Wall Street Crash and the ensuing Great Depression scuttles the country’s economy and increases the demand for alcohol. Marian continues her flying lessons with Trout. She speaks with Macqueen occasionally, but many subjects are left undiscussed in a “state of congenital denial” (141). The lessons with Trout soon involve long trips and solo journeys as she becomes a better pilot. When Wallace takes some of Marian’s savings, she puts her money in a bank. He begins to sell her father’s possessions as he struggles with alcoholism and gambling debts. Marian regularly meets with Caleb at night, and they have sex; she shares long conversations with Macqueen, though their relationship remains platonic. As women around the world set new aviation records in planes of their own, Marian learns to land the plane on skis, and at night, she learns to fly in the mountains. Her need to learn advanced aerobatics leads Macqueen to quietly invest in a brand-new biplane, and Trout teaches her stunts. Afterward, she kisses Macqueen, but he pulls away, telling her that they “can’t start down this road” (149). Later, she tells Jamie that she thinks Macqueen wants to marry her. She is unsure of how to respond to this.

By the age of 16, Marian flies every day. She shows a natural talent for stunts and aerobatics—but, despite her skills, she has no purpose. Months later, Trout dies in a flying accident. After his funeral, Marian demands to take over his routes so she can begin to repay Macqueen for the lessons. He refuses. That summer, Jamie disappears. He leaves a note explaining that he will be back in time for school, but Marian takes a plane and searches for him. She flies to Vancouver but finds no trace of Jamie. While returning, she passes over the mountains and nearly crashes. Macqueen reacts angrily to her impromptu adventure. She explains that she was not really searching for Jamie or running away; she “wanted to go somewhere” (158). He sympathizes with her, kisses her, but—just as they are about to have sex—Macqueen stops himself. He says he has “no right to compromise” (159) Marian. She responds that she wants to work for him as a pilot and that she wants to sleep with him. Macqueen says yes to both but insists that she must wait a little longer.

For the first time, Macqueen agrees to be a passenger in a plane. He dislikes the idea of flying, but Marian insists on his company. They have not yet had sex, but she now smuggles alcohol on his behalf. When Macqueen seems hesitant in the cockpit, Marian breaks into her aeronautic routine. Eventually, his anger gives way to awe. After they land, he takes her to his nearby office and they have sex for the first time. Afterward, Macqueen makes her promise “not to be with anyone else” (163), and she lies about her nights with Caleb. Much to her surprise, he also discusses the idea of children and marriage. She tells him that she cannot agree to anything yet. In the coming months, Marian continues to smuggle alcohol for Macqueen. She learns about his business, though he continues to press her about marriage, the one thing in his life that might be “respectable and official” (164). Marian continues to delay any decision. She misses Jamie but is unsure whether she wants him to return.