In conversation with TAYLOR JENKINS REID

The global bestselling novelist talks to Zoe West

- ZOE WEST. PHOTO: MICHAEL BUCKNER

Literary phenomenon Taylor Jenkins Reid first entered our consciousness with the hedonistic novel Daisy Jones & The Six. Following a fictional rock band inspired by Fleetwood Mac, it was later turned into a successful TV series starring Elvis' granddaughter, Riley Keough. So far, so cool. But it was The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo she wanted readers to discover.

Her vivid stories, set in key historic moments, feature unforgettable characters grappling with their past. Her latest novel, Atmosphere, set in the 1980s, is a love story set against the backdrop of the memorable space-shuttle programme.

When I finished Carrie Soto is Back, I wanted to do something different and go somewhere I'd never been before.

I had delved into all these male-dominated spaces and enjoyed writing about the females who occupy them. I thought, 'What's a male-dominated environment that makes me curious about the women who thrive in it?' It was then I wondered what it would be like to navigate NASA as a woman and be aboard a spaceship.