Atmosphere is the story of Joan Goodwin, a scientist who has always felt the pull of the stars. An astronomer and professor, she never felt an inclination toward romance, instead focusing on her career. She is thrilled to discover that NASA is now recruiting women in 1980. Her second application is accepted, and she leaves behind her sister Barbara and her beloved niece Frances in order to pursue her dream. She works to balance her family life with astronaut training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center. Unlikely friendships spring up between the ASCANs (astronaut candidates) despite the competition between them to be chosen for upcoming missions. Joan is especially drawn to engineer Vanessa Ford, an enigmatic woman with a quirky smile.
Joan discovers that she is passionate about something other than space as her relationship with Vanessa deepens into a full-fledged romance. They must keep their involvement secret to avoid being labeled “sexually deviant” by NASA. Despite her history of keeping things casual, Vanessa allows herself to be drawn into Joan’s life with Frances when Barbara prioritizes her new marriage with a wealthy man over her own daughter.
The book flips back and forth between “current day” and a future mission in 1984, where Joan is the CAPCOM at Mission Control and Vanessa is onboard the space shuttle Navigator. The two timelines eventually converge with a fast paced ending that left me surprisingly emotional.
Highlights:
I’ve done a bit of reading on astronauts and the space shuttle program (see below), and Reid does a great job capturing the intensity of their training without getting bogged down in the details.
While Barbara and Joan’s relationship isn’t the driving force of the novel, it is very fleshed out and satisfyingly drawn.
Criticisms:
The basic outline of this plot happened on For All Mankind, the Apple+ TV show about the space race between the US and Soviet Union, so it didn’t feel particularly original.
The scene where Joan realizes she’s a lesbian doesn’t feel organic at all.
Rating: 3 stars out of 5. It was a fun read and a nice break from . . . everything . . . going on in the outside world. I still prefer The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, if I had to pick a favorite by Reid.
Further Reading:
A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts by Andrew Chaikin
Bringing Columbia Home by Michael D. Leinbach and Jonathan H. Ward
Challenger by Adam Higginbotham
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