Orbital – Samantha Harvey

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One day in the life of six astronauts in a space station, hurtling around earth 16 times. They admire and ponder life from afar, considering humanity from the Big Bang, current environmental crises through to thoughts on where humanity might end up.

The earth, from here, is like heaven. It flows with colour. A burst of hopeful colour. When we’re on that planet we look up and think heaven is elsewhere, but here is what the astronauts and cosmonauts sometimes think: maybe all of us born to it have already died and are in an afterlife. If we must go to an improbable, hard-to-believe-in place when we die, that glassy, distant orb with its beautiful lonely light shows could well be it.

● I am unsure how this author (who I am guessing has not been to space) managed to give this reader (who has also not been to space) a deep comprehension of what life on a space station is like. I somehow now feel mentally prepared should I ever get the call-up from NASA – how the hell has Samantha Harvey done this?! This book doesn’t have too much of a plot/storyline, but rather has a ‘vibe’. I can’t sustain ‘vibe’ books for very long, but Orbital was beautifully written and the perfect length. – Suzy

● Orbital is an examination of humanity, of our past, our current and our future. By placing a select few people in space, watching over Earth in all its beauty and destruction, as humans go through the steps of life, Harvey provides an ethereal observation of existence. There is not much of a plot yet there is always something happening, and what happens is profound and beautiful and thought provoking. – Rachel

Published 2023
Atlantic Monthly Press
207 pages