Love story of two women aspiring for the stars but whose dreams return to Earth
Taylor Jenkins Reid has become a publishing phenomenon. She has a cult followings online, she has attracted rave reviews across the media, and there have been Hollywood adaptations of her work. Based on the success of novels Daisy Jones and the Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, it would be naive to think that her new novel Atmosphere will be anything less than gripping.
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Irish Independent
5 days ago
- Irish Independent
Love story of two women aspiring for the stars but whose dreams return to Earth
Taylor Jenkins Reid has become a publishing phenomenon. She has a cult followings online, she has attracted rave reviews across the media, and there have been Hollywood adaptations of her work. Based on the success of novels Daisy Jones and the Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, it would be naive to think that her new novel Atmosphere will be anything less than gripping.
Irish Times
07-06-2025
- Irish Times
Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid: An imperfect addition to the lesbians-in-space genre
Atmosphere Author : Taylor Jenkins Reid ISBN-13 : 978-1529152975 Publisher : Hutchinson Heinemann Guideline Price : £20 It's been a good year for lesbians in space. First, the Australian animated film Lesbian Space Princess made its world premiere at the 2025 Berlinale. Now, Taylor Jenkins Reid's ninth novel depicts a – literally – cosmic disaster steered by lesbian astronauts. Set in the early 1980s, Atmosphere follows Joan Goodwin and Vanessa Ford, two fictional women joining Nasa not long after the first American woman on the moon, Sally Ride. As Joan fulfils her dream of training at Houston's Johnson Space Centre, a wave of gay realisation hits her hard and fast. Just as her early infatuation begins to raise questions about how to live with a same-sex partner in a viciously homophobic world – 'You do realise bringing a woman as your date will make you look like a … you know …" – a 1984 mission threatens to take an apocalyptic turn. There's much talk these days about the screenplayification of novels, the claim that writers are replacing interiority with action and dialogue in a bid to get lucratively optioned. Less discussed is the increasingly default presence of cinematically non-linear narratives. What was once an experiment has become the done thing: 1. opening teaser as close to the end as possible, 2. cut to much earlier in the story, 3. interweave the pursuit of both threads until they join definitively at the end. Atmosphere follows this formula. READ MORE I doubt it would bother the author to have this pointed out. In her recent cover interview with Time, Jenkins Reid shot back at critics who assumed she'd ever been trying to write literary fiction: '[M]aybe I love being Candy Land [Jonathan] Franzen.' The novel's feminism operates at a similar emotional temperature: friendly, with a tendency to flatter the 21st-century reader's existing sensibilities She's not a stylist, and that's fine. Franzen can write Franzen's books. Jenkins Reid's job is to write her own. Her sentences convey character, setting and plot without drawing attention to themselves. Unhindered by the road bump of experimental prose, a casual reader might breeze past the insight often packed into short strings of words. But dialogue like this will seep into you if you let it: 'Have you ever been in love?' 'No, I don't think so.' 'Well, it's like a bad cold: it's miserable and then, one day, it's gone.' The humour is gentle rather than uproarious. Only once did I laugh aloud: '… Hank was the recipient of a very large trust fund. It was a fact that Hank wore with complexity." But there are moments that will elicit a soft smile, as when none of Joan's male colleagues make Nasa's final selection: 'No men from our group, huh?' 'No […] I am afraid they were not up to snuff." [ Taylor Jenkins Reid: 'Marriages are messy. Our lives are messy. Convenient truths don't exist' Opens in new window ] The novel's feminism operates at a similar emotional temperature: friendly, with a tendency to flatter the 21st-century reader's existing sensibilities, rather than to prompt any startling self-interrogation. 'Don't thank me for doing the bare minimum,' a male astronaut tells Joan. 'It does a disservice to us both.' I don't disagree. Does anyone reading this? One could reasonably rejoin that Jenkins Reid had never been trying to prompt any ideological awakening. The greater issue is how present-day online the phrase is. 'The bare minimum' has been kicking around the English language for ages, of course, but its application to men being called feminist pioneers for acts of ordinary decency is distractingly contemporary. 'Thank you for your excellent notes on how I can be scared in a less vulnerable way,' Joan says. 'Did she fumble?' she wonders. She's several decades too early for 'vulnerable' to readily signify performatively confessional femininity, and back in the innocent 1980s the verb 'to fumble' still needed an object. The scattering of these moments is too uneven for it to read as an intentional gesture to modern readers. When the language does embody the context, it's thrilling. Here's a liaison with ground control: 'We are go.' 'Guidance?' 'Go.' 'FIDO?', and on for another 20 lines. I had only the vaguest clue what was happening and I loved it; the texture and energy mattered more than the exact meaning. [ Daisy Jones & the Six: Everyone looks perpetually glamorous, but it's a soulless jingle Opens in new window ] I imagine it will divide gay readers that the HIV epidemic is mentioned only once. 'At that very moment, people all over the country were convinced that Aids was a punishment for moral failing,' muses the narrator in autumn 1983. Two paragraphs later, Joan has returned to wishing she could get married. There is little sense of a broader queer community for the astronauts. Their romance takes place in an intergalactic vacuum – or a near-vacuum, to deploy the scientific precision that Joan would want – while gay people at home die en masse. Some will hate this. Others will respond that we already have enough books on the trauma of those years. Even readers who find the intimacy myopic will, I think, be moved by it at the same time: 'Joan had had no idea how quickly you could learn another's body. How swiftly their legs become your legs, their arms your arms.' May the lesbian space genre continue to boom. This book is an imperfect addition, but one that floats. Naoise Dolan's latest novel is The Happy Couple
Irish Independent
20-05-2025
- Irish Independent
Wicklow teen who performed at Ed Sheeran show to star at Cruinniú na nÓg
The national day of creativity for children and young people features a diverse and extensive line-up of events, activities and workshops – and better still, all events and activities are free. Talking place across the county on Saturday, June 7, the many events aim to enable, celebrate and encourage the creative potential of young people through creative activities. The theme for this year is 'Unleash Your Creative Spark!' and children and young people can look forward to engaging in a day of music, dance and song performances, as well as creative workshops throughout the county. One of the stars this year is 14-year-old singer-songwriter Fionn Whelan, who is Wicklow's ambassador for Cruinniú na nÓg 2025. He began playing the bodhrán and tin whistle at age five, picked up the guitar two years later, and busks on Grafton Street whenever he can. Fionn's creative hero is Ed Sheeran, and he had the opportunity to perform at Ed Sheeran's concert in the Czech Republic in 2024. Fionn believes creativity is about 'expressing yourself in your own way and using your imagination to turn your ideas into something real.' When asked about the best aspect of Cruinniú na nÓg, Fionn said: 'It is giving kids an opportunity to show off their talents and creativity. A lot of the young people participating might not be experienced in performing or standing in front of a crowd, and I think it's a great way to build their confidence.' There are more than 30 events, performances, and workshops taking place in 12 locations across the county, with some of the highlights including: Mr Sands Youth Theatre will host an open day drama session at Wolfe Tone Community Centre, in Bray, where children can play games, interact with theatre members and experience the excitement of youth theatre first hand. Music Generation will visit Rathdrum Hall to showcase two special performances by local children, featuring original poetry and music created during workshops with poet Colm Keegan. The premiere of Rathdrum Rhapsody by composer Fionn Foley will also take place. Arklow Library will be facilitating workshops promoting various aspects of the arts for young people for young people, including song, music, dance and drama. Dunlavin Library will host as a 'Gothic Fiction Creative Writing Workshop' with author Caroline Busher, which will allow children to explore how classic gothic novels influence children's books and learn to create a gothic atmosphere by focusing on setting and character development. Enniskerry Library will be home to a musical theatre session with Róisín Bullock, which will encourage children learning a dance routine and singing together as a group. The Courthouse Arts Centre is the venue for 'Atmosphere', a musical workshop led by Irish/Dutch singing duo Juliana and Remco, where children will collaborate to create a song before performing at the end of the workshop. Meanwhile, to celebrate 'Creative Places Baltinglass', a community-led three-year project that celebrates Baltinglass people and place, Wicklow County Council's Arts Office has curated a unique Cruinniú na nÓg programme for the area. This includes Giant Dreams, an enchanted performance featuring magical music and dancing fairies, along with local students and a special guest. Other local artists will lead workshops and activities, such as 'Bubbleéire's Bubble Show', the 'Battle of the Baltinglass Fairies', an open painting workshop, and an 'Archaeology Egg Excavation'. Alongside performances by Fionn Whelan, concerts will also include the Gohery School of Irish Dancing and the Slaney Court Drummers. All activities will be held in the beautiful surroundings of the Tearmann Community Garden. Later that evening, 'Cinema Night', a local youth-led initiative, will screen Sing Street and showcase the winner of the West Wicklow Short Movie Competition at The Lalor Centre. Some events require advance booking while others are drop-in activities. To see the full programme go to:
