To be an astronaut – to be myself – without the weight of everything that came before.
Steph’s memories are a little hazy but she knows that she and her mother escaped a car crash along with her little sister Kayla, and found their way to Tahlequah, Oklahoma where Hannah had once lived, thrown out by her parents when she was pregnant. As they grow up, Hannah desperate to instil pride in their Cherokee identity, Kayla happily fits in while Steph single-mindedly focusses on her ambition, encouraged by her mother’s new partner. Their violent, unstable father, they’re told, died in an accident. Steph knows her ambition will be well nigh impossible to attain but persistence and hard work pay off: she’s accepted as an astronaut candidate, the first step on a long arduous path that will see her family and her ambition clash in a way that endangers both.
Our mother had come here looking for our nation and ancestors, for the purity of a story to save her. Or to tell her who she was, and then forgive her for it. It doesn’t exist.
There’s rather more to this ambitious novel which explores many forms of identity than that brief synopsis suggests. Ramage has woven a great deal of research both about the space programme and the Cherokee Nation to which she belongs through this story of three generations of women told primarily through Steph. She’s a hard character to like – self-absorbed, seemingly oblivious to the sacrifices that others make for her not least the women who fall in love with her, eyes set on an apparently unattainable aim. It’s a tribute to Ramage’s characterisation that I came to hope that she’d get there. Woven through her narrative is her complicated family story in which Kayla plays a large part, forging her own identity online as a proud stay-at-home Cherokee mother, her uncomfortably authentic Instagram posts scattered through the text. From her author’s note, it’s clear that many of the incidents in Ramage’s novel are based in fact and although I enjoyed her novel, I felt her research got the better of her hence its length. Worth reading but bear that in mind.
Doubleday: London 9781529939576 416 pages Hardback (read via NetGalley)
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I’m currently reading this, but the length is getting to me – especially in the first half – final third to go. I was spoilt by loving Atmosphere so much last year, which has some similarities, notably the space ambition and a queer love story.
I imagine Atmosphere was a page-turner, too. I’m glad I read it but felt it was weighed down by research.
I do like the sound of this one but slightly intimidated by the length of most books at the moment so I think I’ll have to wait to read it for the time being. Great review
Thank you! There do seem to be lots of doorstoppers around at the moment. Hope you enjoy if you get to it.
Sometimes research can feel forced into a narrative, rather than running along side it. Notwithstanding, this does sound interesting
I’m sure it’s hard to let go of research when so much effort has gone into it but this one felt weighed down at times. I didn’t regret reading it, though.
I think sometimes authors are sorry to let go of all their hard work and can’t bear to leave out the research – but if it’s not serving the story I wish they would edit!
Me, too! It says something about her writing that I kept going with the book.
Did it do the job of distracting from you from the state of the world though?
Ha! Not entirely but it did help a bit.
I’m about halfway through this at the moment and am mildly surprised by you calling it a doorstopper – I’m reading an ARC on Kindle so I don’t have any page numbers, and I’d no idea it was particularly long. I guess that must be a positive sign? I am enjoying it so far although I utterly loathed Della (or possibly Della’s treatment by the narrative), so am relieved to see from reading spoilers that she’s on her way out! I’ve not noticed too much research so far, except Della’s biology bits (which were a bit forced), so I’m assuming that’s to come when Steph’s astronaut career kicks off – although I could read about astronauts all day so I’ll probably be OK with it.
As the originator of Doorstoppers in December, you’re probably better equipped than me for this one! I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
I enjoyed this, though perhaps not as much as I expected to (I’d had it in my NetGalley queue for ages and was hotly anticipating it for ages!) and I didn’t realise it was long as I was reading the e-book. It did nearly lose me at THAT BIT (you know the bit I mean, right?!) which I had to race through. But I did ultimately find it absorbing and memorable. My review was here: https://librofulltime.wordpress.com/2026/03/11/looking-at-two-different-cultures-eliana-ramage-to-the-moon-and-back-and-ela-lee-minbak/
Thanks for the link, Liz. I do know what you mean! I decided to avoid mentioning it. It felt to me that there were several books wrapped up in this one which was weighed down by her research.