Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

A

As a person who is older than I would like to admit some days, if you mention the words space shuttle, then there are probably two places where my mind goes straight away. First, the iconic images of the shuttle piggybacking on a jumbo but secondly it is the video of the Challenger exploding. Given that event happened 40 years ago this year, it does seem timely that this book, which was released last year,  tells the story of a fictional shuttle called Navigator and the lives of the men and women who were part of the space program in the early 1980s.

The story centres on a female astronaut by the name of Joan Goodwin. The story starts in late 1984. Joan is working in Mission Control where she is CAPCOM, the only person who can speak directly to the crew on board the Navigator when things go wrong. She needs to be the rational and calm voice as she talks to her crew while they deal with a terrible incident.

Through a series of flashbacks we follow Joan's journey from the time that she was one of the earliest women accepted for the space program, through training and more training and more training. On a personal front, we watch as Joan is the stabilising figure in her beloved niece Frances' life and as she falls in love. However, the woman that Joan falls for is another astronaut and they must keep their relationship secret.

There were so many layers to this book from moments where the characters are looking at the stars and contemplating the meaning of life, to the strong friendships and rivalries which grow as the team learn about each other. After all, they are part of a very select group and there could be situations when you are relying on each other in life and death situations

I experienced a rollercoaster of emotions throughout this book. I laughed, I cried, I was prompted to think deep, I got angry at the double standards, and at Joan's sister for the way she treated Frances, and I learnt some things as well!

I am not much of a science fiction reader, so it seems kind of ironic that while I was reading this book I was also listening to the audio book of Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. What these two book have in common that while they are filled with science and space talk, they are both really accessible and have a great deal of emotional depth. This is a very sciency historical fiction book.

I know I am very late to the party,  but this was my first ever read from Taylor Jenkins Reid. I have intended to read other books from here, especially books like Daisy Jones and the Six, but I haven't gotten to them yet. Given how much I enjoyed these I am going to try to read more from her soon. The reason why I picked this one up now is that it helped me cross off two different categories in the Goodreads Spring Challenge.

I am sharing this review with the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge which I host here.

Rating 4/5