Its Shifting Beauty and Silent Drama

Orbital by Samantha Harvey
‍Atlantic Monthly Press, November 2, 2023

Set entirely within a hermetically-sealed satellite orbiting Earth, Samantha Harvey’s Booker-Prize-winning “space pastoral,” Orbital, transmits a message of wonder and warning to readers. In short chapters packed with poetic descriptions of the singular planet we call home, Harvey logs 16 Earth orbits in a 24-hour period through the points of view of six astronauts from different countries who observe Earth through a portal window, its shifting beauty and silent drama on full display below. Although they often think about their lives on earth – their entanglements, achievements, and losses – these travelers are grateful for their fascinating perch just above the fray. Their experiences embody the fact that people learn a great deal through contemplative observation, reflection, and distance from the subject at hand. With so many philosophical provocations, poetic descriptions, and vivid images of Earth’s magnificence and endangerment, Orbital is an excellent teaching text in a variety of interdisciplinary settings.