Atmosphere: A Love Story; The Number One Sunday Times Bestseller
Taylor Jenkins Reid has built a devoted following with her sweeping romantic fiction, and her latest offering gives readers plenty to talk about. Set against the exhilarating world of NASA's 1980s space shuttle programme, this is a story about ambition, sacrifice, and the kind of love that reshapes a person entirely. Joan Goodwin arrives at Houston's Johnson Space Centre in the summer of 1980, one of a remarkable cohort of astronaut candidates pushing themselves to their absolute limits. As she prepares for her first mission, she discovers both a vocation and a connection she never anticipated, and begins to rethink everything she thought she knew about herself and where she belongs. Then comes December 1984, and mission STS-LR9, which changes everything in a single, shattering moment. Reid writes about falling in love with a precision that few authors can match. She captures that particular dizziness, the way it sits alongside professional drive and personal doubt, without ever letting the romance swamp the story. The 1980s setting feels genuinely lived-in rather than decorative, and the space programme provides a backdrop that is tense, thrilling, and quietly poignant. Readers have responded with real emotion, describing moments that left them unable to speak, and critics have praised the novel as richly drawn and beautifully written. Andy Weir and Kristin Hannah have both offered warm endorsements, which tells you something about its crossover appeal. It's a big-hearted, emotionally forceful book. Bring tissues.
- Author: Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Publisher: Penguin
- Genre: Historical Fiction
- ISBN: 978-1804941430
- Pages: 352 pages