Here’s what you need to know about Atmosphere: A Love Story, the latest novel from book club powerhouse Taylor Jenkins Reid:
-the main character is Joan Goodwin. She is Good, and not just in the sense that she always thinks, feels, and does the right thing. She is also a talented pianist, artist, and cook. She is also the Bestest Aunt Ever. And, oh yeah, an astronaut. One of the first female astronauts, in fact. I’m going to give Jenkins Reid the benefit of the doubt and assume that giving Joan the surname Goodwin was a subconscious decision and not blatantly obvious nominative determinism.
-Joan’s sister, Barbara, is Every Bad Single Mom From a TV Show. Does she blame her child for ruining her life, to her face? You betcha. Does she abandon her child for any man who comes along, even ones who clearly aren’t good for her and wouldn’t be good for her daughter. Yep. Does she depend on her sister Joan for child-care to an absurd extent, and guilt-trip every time Joan tries to establish healthy boundaries? C’mon, do you even have to ask?
-Joan’s niece, Frances, is a kid. That’s all you really get out of Frances. Sometimes, she is Brat. Other times, she is Sweet Natured Kid.
-Joan’s fellow class of trainee astronauts can be broken down as follows: Lydia is Cutthroat Bitch, Donna is Gonna Be a Mom, and Vanessa is Hot Pilot, who like Joan, is also Good. The male trainees? They can be divided into two groups: the guys who are Nice, and the guys who are Not Nice. The guys who are Nice are okay with Joan being an astronaut, and the guys who are Not Nice are not. Within these subgroups, each individual guy is Exactly the Same, so good luck keeping them straight the few times it becomes necessary to do so.
Joan and Vanessa, who are both Good, (though Vanessa has a vague “bad girl” past that doesn’t at all feel realistic) find themselves strongly attracted to each other. Which, given that this is the 1980s, is kind of a problem, not for them, of course, but for the men who are Not Nice. The small amount of friction between Joan and Vanessa comes down to the fact that Vanessa has known she was a lesbian for years, and is thus used to keeping relationships a secret, even from her family, while Joan, who has never been in any relationship at all, is not. But Jenkins Reid is too invested in them being obviously meant for each other to really mine their differences for conflict.
The main conflicts in the novel are about the women trying to achieve their goals despite the obstacles placed in their way by the patriarchal system at NASA, and whether or not Joan can protect her niece from her sister’s neglect without also sacrificing her career. For both, Jenkins Reid mainly relies on cliched story elements that have been done to death, and whose only impact on the reader is due to the extreme emotional manipulation she uses. It’s not enough for Barbara to be a flawed mother, so eventually she becomes the Worst Mother on Earth. When it’s time for Joan and Vanessa’s sexuality to become a problem, it is introduced by turning a NASA administrator into Mustache Twirling Villain. It’s trite.
In theory, two gay female astronauts hiding their love while trying to get to outer space should be a fairly exciting story. It’s a testament to how bland the prose and characters are that Atmosphere is not. Atmosphere isn’t really much of a novel at all. It feels more like a pitch to Netflix for a ten-episode limited series, which I’m sure will happen relatively soon. And who knows, if they get some writers in there who can make a character who is Interesting rather than Good, they might have a hit on their hands.