Orbital

Samantha Harvey's novel follows six astronauts and cosmonauts, four men and two women from Russia, Italy, Britain, Japan and the United States, through 24 hours aboard the International Space Station. Each chapter covers a single 90-minute orbit, sixteen in all. Between experiments, meals and exercise routines, the crew watch the planet below and reflect on God, the meaning of life and threats such as climate change. Harvey, who described it as a space pastoral, followed a live feed of Earth from the station as she wrote and draws on Carl Sagan's Cosmic Calendar. Published in 2023, it won the Booker Prize the following year and also took the Hawthornden Prize.

Barack Obama included it among his favorite books of 2024.