 The Calculating Stars, by Mary Robinette Kowal.
It's 1952, and the story begins with a meteorite wiping out part of the United States and altering the global climate. Elma York, a physicist and former WW2 pilot, figures out that it could be an "extinction event," which means that humans need to colonize the moon to survive. But no one seems to treat this as particularly urgent, and the tone problem frustrated me throughout the book. No one grapples with the problems of how to move the entire human race to the moon, or how such a large population would eat or breathe. I get the parallel with modern climate change denialism. But even Elma and her husband seem primarily concerned with Elma becoming an astronaut, struggling against the sexism of the era. The sexism is mainly demonstrated through Stetson Parker, who's in charge of training the astronauts. He's enjoyably hateable, and definitely due for a comeuppance. It's hinted that there's some sort of mystery involving Parker's wife; presumably it will be explained in the next book. Elma also struggles with anxiety: she's fine with flying a plane, but terrified of public speaking. Her panic attacks are vivid and easy to empathize with. I just wish the characters had shown more anxiety about the possible end of the world. Popsugar Reading Challenge: About women astronauts. 52 Book Club: Includes a natural disaster. Booklist Queen Challenge: Alternate history. This Challenge Killed the Bookworm: Space travel. Around the Year Challenge: Related to a Van Gogh painting (Starry Night).
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