Marian Graves writes in her logbook from Antarctica, contemplating her final, possibly fatal flight over the open sea.

Hadley Baxter rises to fame as part of a wildly popular fantasy film franchise called Archangel.

The ocean liner Josephina Eterna strikes a mine and sinks; Captain Graves saves the twin infants but is imprisoned for cowardice.

After his release from prison, Addison Graves visits his children briefly but vanishes permanently out of shame.

Marian watches a barnstorming airshow and becomes completely determined to become a pilot.

To save money for flying lessons, Marian disguises herself as a boy and works as a bootlegger's delivery driver.

Marian meets powerful bootlegger Barclay Macqueen at Miss Dolly's brothel and is instantly captivated by him.

Pilot Trout Marx agrees to teach Marian to fly, revealing that Macqueen has been her secret benefactor.

Pressured by Macqueen's manipulation, Marian agrees to marry him and endures a miserable honeymoon in Scotland.

Macqueen rapes Marian in a violent attempt to force a pregnancy.

Marian steals away in a plane, throws her wedding ring into a lake, and flees Macqueen for good.

Marian reports Macqueen's crimes to federal authorities and establishes a new life in Alaska under a false name.

Jamie Graves's ship is struck by Japanese torpedoes and he drowns, devastating Marian.

Marian and co-pilot Eddie Bloom depart on their attempt to circumnavigate the globe over both poles.

Managing a fuel leak and flying alone, Marian deliberately crashes her plane into the sea and fakes her death.

Pool 1 follows the biggest turning points in Marian Graves's story, from her origins to her final flight. The novel opens with Marian preparing for the last leg of her polar circumnavigation in Antarctica, then traces her roots back to the doomed ocean liner that shaped her destiny. From her abandoned childhood in Montana through her determination to fly despite every obstacle, Marian's life is defined by struggle and defiance. Her abusive marriage to Macqueen drives her to escape and rebuild, while World War II brings both love and devastating loss. The pool closes with the circumnavigation attempt itself and Marian's deliberate decision to fake her own death and disappear into a new life.

The headline events of Marian Graves's extraordinary life.

The christening bottle fails to break against the Josephina Eterna's hull at the ship's launch, an omen of bad luck.

As the Josephina Eterna sinks, Annabel Graves abandons her newborn twins in their cabin and refuses to leave the ship.

Lloyd Feiffer reveals he secretly smuggled weapons aboard the Josephina Eterna, and their explosion caused the ship to sink.

Hadley Baxter is photographed with musician Jones Cohen and loses her coveted role in the Archangel film franchise.

Caleb cuts Marian's hair short like a boy's and shares the Native American story of Sitting-in-the-Water-Grizzly.

Neighbor Hugo Woolsey introduces Hadley to a book about Marian Graves and offers her the lead role in a biographical film.

Trout Marx dies in a flying accident, leaving Marian bereft and unable to repay her debt to her mentor.

Jamie runs away to Seattle and falls deeply in love with a wealthy young woman named Sarah Fahey.

Sarah's father rescinds his offer to fund Jamie's art education after discovering that Jamie is a vegetarian.

Marian secretly obtains an abortion with the help of Sarah Fahey's mother, freeing herself from any tie to Macqueen.

Aviator Jacqueline Cochrane recruits Marian into a wartime program that uses female pilots to ferry military aircraft.

Ruth confesses to Marian that her marriage to Eddie is a front designed to conceal their true sexual orientations.

Jamie and Sarah reunite during the war, skip lunch, and have an affair in his Seattle hotel room.

Adelaide Scott reveals to Hadley that her biological father was Jamie Graves.

Hadley visits Caleb's adopted son and discovers a newspaper clipping with evidence suggesting Marian survived her crash.

Pool 2 covers the significant secondary events that illuminate the lives surrounding Marian and connect her story to Hadley's modern timeline. Beginning with the ill-fated launch of the Josephina Eterna and the suppressed truth about who caused its sinking, the pool moves through Marian's formative years with Caleb, Hadley's Hollywood downfall, and Jamie's devastating love affair with Sarah Fahey in Seattle. As World War II transforms every character, Marian joins the women's pilot program and Jamie volunteers as a war artist before his death at sea. The pool ends in Hadley's timeline as she pieces together the hidden truth about whether Marian truly perished in her famous crash.

The surrounding moments and revelations that flesh out the world of Great Circle.

Captain Graves and passenger Annabel begin a secret affair in his cabin aboard the Josephina Eterna.

Marian flies for the first time at the Brayfogles airshow and feels an overwhelming, transformative sense of freedom.

Marian loses her virginity to Caleb Bitterroot and experiences her first menstruation the following morning.

Macqueen surprises Marian with a first kiss but immediately pulls back, telling her they cannot go down that road.

Marian admits to Caleb for the first time that she has fallen in love with Macqueen.

Macqueen confesses to Marian that he has set some terrible, unstoppable thing in motion and cannot take it back.

Macqueen discovers Marian's hidden diaphragm and responds with violent abuse, forcibly removing it and raping her.

Uncle Wallace dies in a hospice and leaves all his possessions to Jamie and Marian.

Macqueen is killed by an unknown assailant shortly after his release from prison, with suspicion quietly pointing to Caleb.

Marian realizes she has fallen in love with Ruth, stunned to discover she can love anyone after her marriage to Macqueen.

After learning of Jamie's death, Marian takes a plane into dangerous weather and nearly crashes before hearing his voice and turning back.

Mathilda Feiffer seeks out Marian and agrees to sponsor her attempt to circumnavigate the globe by flying over both poles.

Eddie tells Marian he cannot continue their flight and chooses to stay behind alone in Antarctica rather than return to society.

Marian sends Caleb a photograph of herself living as a man, with the words Sitting-in-the-Water-Grizzly written in the margin.

Marian Graves dies of old age on her farm in New Zealand, living peacefully under her assumed identity.

Pool 3 focuses on the hidden revelations and irrevocable choices that steer Great Circle's characters toward their fates. From the shipboard affair that produced Marian to her first taste of flight and the tangled beginnings of her relationship with Macqueen, each event marks an emotional or moral threshold. Macqueen's escalating violence, Wallace's death, and the quiet killing that finally frees Marian reshape her world entirely, while her wartime love for Ruth transforms her understanding of herself and whom she can trust. The pool closes with the novel's most decisive moments: Eddie's refusal to continue the flight, Marian's coded message to Caleb confirming her survival, and her peaceful death in her adopted homeland.

The pivotal decisions and emotional revelations that define the characters of Great Circle.