I also read and really liked the novel. Orbital: one day, sixteen auroras by Samantha Harvey (translated by Claro) at Flammarion, which takes place on the international space station.
It follows 6 astronauts who try to continue their work while wondering about very mundane things in life such as marriage, children, mourning. It is very beautiful. Very slow, with little action, but lots of emotion.
This book did me good, because today everything must be quick, efficient, instantaneous (and the same in literature). But it’s good to take your time sometimes, to sit down and think, question yourself. A very nice discovery.
The reading notes are offered by the Un livre à soi bookstore.
Inside the International Space Station, six astronauts are busy with their tasks, overwhelmed by existential questions. One worries about his marriage, another dreams of taking his daughter into space, while another mourns the loss of her mother.
So far and yet so close to Earth, these astronauts have never felt so strongly that they belong to our planet, while seeing themselves as its guardians. Time passes to the rhythm of the orbits around the Earth, the main actress in this novel which oscillates between contemplation, melancholy and subtle humor. Six characters in search of meaning…
