She started work on the novel in the 2010s, but stopped writing after about 5,000 words, as she was experiencing feelings of inadequacy regarding her limited knowledge of the complex subject matter of space travel.

[5] The novel, told over the course of 24 hours, follows six astronauts and cosmonauts from Japan, the United States, Britain, Italy, and Russia, four men and two women, aboard the International Space Station as they orbit Earth.

In addition to detailing the official duties and tasks of the astronauts aboard the spacecraft, the novel also features their reflections about humanity and subjects including the existence or nature of God, the meaning of life, and existential threats such as climate change.

[15] Writing for The New York Times, Joshua Ferris said that the position of the astronauts high above the Earth, their relative isolation from the rest of humanity, gave their reflections, their "transporting riffs, those fine rhapsodies!"

"[16] In The Guardian, Alexandra Harris stated that the astronauts' introspection and meditation on humanity was the strength of the novel: "The beauty of the book is at work less in its explicit hymns of praise than deep in its rhythms and structures.

"[1] Writing in the Los Angeles Times, Bethanne Patrick said that in featuring the six characters in such close proximity to one another, the work seeks to promote humans' mutual dependence.

Patrick concluded: "Harvey manages to bring readers back down to Earth, astounded that they've traveled so far in such a short period of time, having finished their own orbit through the realms of her rich imagination.

The Japanese female astronaut glances at the Kurils and dubs the archipelago "no man's land", though in Japan these islands are known as the Northern Territories under Russian occupation.

Mykytenko also cited the reference to real-life former cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev and his present-day links to the Russian annexation of Crimea and Vladimir Putin.