Ever since she was a child, Joan Godwin wanted to be among the stars. She dreams of being an astronaut and studies astrophysics, eventually becoming a university professor. In 1980, when NASA was recruiting for women to join the space program, Joan jumps at the chance and begins her training at Houston's Johnson Space Center. Here she meets Vanessa Ford, an aeronautical engineer, Hank Redmond, a charismatic Top Gun pilot, and mission specialists John 'Griff' Griffin, Donna Fitzgerald and the highly competitive Lydia Danes. These six people will become deeply entwined as they undertake the challenging training needed to become astronauts.
Author Taylor Jenkins Reid's
Atmosphere (2025) begins Joan's story a few years later, in December 1984. The astronauts have completed their training and some members of this group are in space on mission STS-LR9. But there is a problem aboard space shuttle Discovery, and from Mission Control back on Earth, Joan has to support her colleagues in space to safely get home. Time is not on their side and it is not certain that they will all make it.
While
Atmosphere is a gripping novel about astronauts and the space program, it is subtitled 'A Love Story'. This is likely referring to the blossoming relationship between Joan and Vanessa, but there is also the deep affection Joan has for her niece Frances, the commitment each of the astronauts has for their work, and the love Joan has for the cosmos.
Joan is a wonderful protagonist - intelligent, calm, kind, loyal, and continually seeing the best in everyone around her. She has a fraught relationship with her only sibling, Barbara, and is utterly devoted to Frances. As Joan comes to understand her sexuality and falls in love with Vanessa, she is acutely aware of the pressure on them both. While they want to be everything to each other, this is the 1980s and they must keep their relationship secret or they risk losing their jobs. It is already hard enough for the female astronauts, as they all know that if anything goes wrong they will be blamed and it will be another decade before the next woman is allowed into space.
I read the book alongside listening to the audiobook narrated by Julia Whelan who perfectly captured Joan's voice and brilliantly embodied all the other characters. Her narration built the tension and left me sobbing as the story reached its gripping conclusion.
It is hard to imagine another author being able to combine a tender queer love story and a gripping space thriller in one page-turning novel. Taylor Jenkins Reid is a wonderful storyteller who understands pacing - speeding up and slowing down to create dramatic tension. She is also gifted with writing dialogue that is realistic for each character.
Jenkins Reid is best known for The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (2017), Malibu Rising (2021), Carrie Soto is Back (2022), and Daisy Jones and the Six (2019). I previously read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and loved it. Like that novel, I will be recommending Atmosphere to anyone who wants to touch the stars!
