In Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Anyone who knows Joan Goodwin knows that she is an astronomer through and through. Some of her earliest memories were of lying out in the 
backyard at night, studying the stars and trying to capture them with her tiny hands. As an adult, Joan is now a physics and astronomy professor at Rice University. She loves her job but if she’s honest, she dreamed she would someday fly into space, maybe even land on the moon. Her chance to make that all come true is as unexpected as it is exciting. Because as the 1970s rolls into the 1980s, women are finally allowed to apply to become a NASA astronaut. And as she mails out her credentials, Joan sends out a silent plea to the universe to be allowed into the program.
‘NASA is a team. Joan had never before in her life felt the sense of belonging that she has with the people here at NASA.’
Eventually chosen out of hundreds of applicants, Joan makes her way to Houston to begin the many, many months of training and endurance testing. She knew it would be difficult. But she finds herself fascinated by everything and everyone there. For the first time she feels like she’s with like-minded people who, yes, are competitive with each other, but who also will make terrific team members toward a common goal. Even being around her colleagues, commanders and instructors, Joan is comfortable in her own skin for a change. And that allows her to open herself up to friendships–and even a potential romance–the likes of which she never dreamed. But then it’s finally time for an important mission aboard the space shuttle. And as things go wrong, one piece at a time, Joan and her fellow astronauts will need to draw on each other’s strength and expertise to make it through.
‘This wasn’t romance–Joan was sure of it. It was something much deeper. Something that, unlike every other thing in the known universe, Joan suspected, could last forever.’
A compelling, emotionally charged novel by master storyteller Taylor Jenkins Reid, ATMOSPHERE explored the soaring highs and lows of women in the early 1980s Space Race as well as a taboo romance that was written in the stars.
“Two astronauts in love.”
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Taylor Jenkins Reid is known for her immersive character-driven books. The types of stories that will pull you in right away and won’t let go even after the final page is read. ATMOSPHERE was certainly that. But it was so much more. Even if astronomy and space exploration is not your thing, I think with the amount of detail TJR included as well as the sense of awe and wonder she portrayed through main characters Joan and Vanessa, it will have readers on the edge of their seats. I know I was completely swept up with the events as they unfolded.
While the majority of the story was more about Joan and her fellow astronauts working their way through the requirements of the NASA program and a tragic event that happened in 1984, the friendships and romance that blossomed were truly at the heart of it all. Readers will probably glean from the book synopsis that Joan and Vanessa fell in love. But…it was the 1980s. And given that they were in the public spotlight as astronauts–as well as just the time period they were in–their relationship had to be kept secret. My heart went out to them. After a very, very subtle slow burn, their connection proved to be ultra strong and lasting. Vanessa and Joan’s demanding careers pulled them apart a lot. But I just couldn’t get enough of the stolen moments they shared and how in tune they were as a couple.
The twists and turns. The unfettered emotions. The dreams that were realized, the ones that were dashed. It made ATMOSPHERE a page-turner that showcased the hard work women endured to prove themselves as worthy as their male counterparts. It also showed that compassion and care does not make you weak. And that while being part of a team can create friction at times, it can also be what raises you up.
QOTD: Have you ever watched a space shuttle launch, in person or on TV?
Book Info:
Publication: Published: June 3rd, 2025 | Ballantine Books |
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones & The Six comes an epic new novel set against the backdrop of the 1980s Space Shuttle program about the extraordinary lengths we go to live and love beyond our limits.
Joan Goodwin has been obsessed with the stars for as long as she can remember. Thoughtful and reserved, Joan is content with her life as a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University and as aunt to her precocious niece, Frances. That is, until she comes across an advertisement seeking the first women scientists to join NASA’s Space Shuttle program. Suddenly, Joan burns to be one of the few people to go to space.
Selected from a pool of thousands of applicants in the summer of 1980, Joan begins training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center, alongside an exceptional group of fellow candidates: Top Gun pilot Hank Redmond and scientist John Griffin, who are kind and easy-going even when the stakes are highest; mission specialist Lydia Danes, who has worked too hard to play nice; warm-hearted Donna Fitzgerald, who is navigating her own secrets; and Vanessa Ford, the magnetic and mysterious aeronautical engineer, who can fix any engine and fly any plane.
As the new astronauts become unlikely friends and prepare for their first flights, Joan finds a passion and a love she never imagined. In this new light, Joan begins to question everything she thinks she knows about her place in the observable universe.
Then, in December of 1984, on mission STS-LR9, everything changes in an instant.
Fast-paced, thrilling, and emotional, Atmosphere is Taylor Jenkins Reid at her best: transporting readers to iconic times and places, with complex protagonists, telling a passionate and soaring story about the transformative power of love, this time among the stars.
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