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ATMOSPHERE
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Ballantine Books
June 3, 2025
352 pages
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This is Joan’s story, personal and professional. The setting is mostly NASA in the very early 1980s. At that time, women were fighting their way into the space program and faced many challenges.
The story starts at the end, with a dramatic crisis in space and Joan at Mission Control at NASA. Then, it flips back about 4 years with everything leading up to it.
While some parts involving the space program were quite interesting, some of it made me glassy eyed. There was a fair bit of technology and too many acronyms. It is obvious that TJR immersed herself in ra ton research in order to write this book. And, I must mention, that if the book did not involve the space program, the plot could not have evolved the way it did.
I loved Joan’s character. Many, many sides to Joan. She is very driven, introspective, smart, yet insecure in some ways. Part of the storyline involves her young niece, Francis. I loved that part. It was very endearing.
The personalities of her fellow rookie astronauts seemed realistically portrayed. There was pushback from towards the women from some of the men, there was friendship from others.
For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I skimmed over the few parts that did not interest me. The themes are relationships, obstacles, romance, family.
And then there was the ending……probably the most dramatic ending I have ever read in a book. They may have been a few tears.
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