Samantha Harvey wins Booker Prize for novel exploring life on the International Space Station

Samantha Harvey's novel *Orbital* won the Booker Prize, marking a significant achievement for the author. The book, set on the International Space Station, explores the lives of astronauts while reflecting on Earth's beauty and the loss felt due to environmental issues. Harvey initially struggled with writing the novel, feeling out of place in the space genre. However, she returned to the project, inspired by her own experiences with anxiety and insomnia, which influenced her writing style and themes of time and existence. Written during the pandemic, *Orbital* combines mundane tasks in space with profound reflections on Earth. Harvey's work invites readers to consider the balance between hope and despair regarding humanity's future and environmental challenges.