Play Book Tag discussion

It is 1952 and Elma York and her husband, Nathaniel, are taking a well deserved trip to the mountains. A meteorite strikes the eastern coast of the United States, causing a potential extinction level event. Plans are made to send astronauts into space to colonize new planets. Nathaniel is a famous and sought after physicist and Elma, a former war pilot and brilliant mathematician, does the necessary calculations.

While that world-ending scenario sets the stage, it’s the underlying social issues, from race relations to gender equality, that really drive the plot. I also thought it was interesting that Elma suffered terrible panic attacks and struggles with the stigma of taking medication for it.

As the characters and the country begin to deal with the aftermath and work towards a space program, the story lost some of its urgency and momentum. It seemed to slow down and become repetitive. This may be partially due to the fact that it is the first in a series. I plan to read the next volume in this series, but with much lower expectations.