Bestselling author Taylor Jenkins Reid is sharing something deeply personal as she prepares for the release of her new book Atmosphere. In a recent interview with Time magazine, Reid revealed that she is bisexual, a part of her identity that many fans didn’t know about.
Reid, 45, is best known for books like Daisy Jones & The Six and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. While her novels often feature complex and diverse love stories, readers often assumed she was straight because she is married to a man. But as she shared with Time, that’s not the full story.
“It has been hard at times to see people dismiss me as a straight woman, but I also didn’t tell them the whole story,” Reid said.
She explained that people made assumptions about her even in her teenage years—judging how she dressed, talked, or behaved. Some assumed she was gay because she didn’t fit traditional gender expectations. But Reid said she never felt fully seen in those labels because she was attracted to both men and women.
“This was the late ’90s, so nobody was talking about bisexuality,” she said. “The messages about bisexuality were: you just want attention, or it’s a stop on the way to gayville. I found that very painful because I was being told I didn’t know myself—but I did.”
Reid’s new novel Atmosphere, releasing on June 3, explores a love story between two women—one in outer space, and one on Earth. She says writing this book helped her connect more deeply with her own identity.
“It just felt like time for me to write a very high-stakes, dramatic love story,” she shared.
Reid’s husband, screenwriter Alex Jenkins Reid, has always been supportive. He once described sexuality as being like a house with many rooms. For Reid, her attraction to women is one of those rooms, and Atmosphere was her way of spending more time in it.
“He was so excited for me,” Reid said. “He helped me get the book to be as romantic and beautiful as it could be.”
She also acknowledged the unique position she’s in, being in a heterosexual marriage while identifying as bisexual. This has given her what she calls “straight-passing” privilege, and she wants to speak about her identity while still respecting others’ experiences.
“I can talk about who I am,” she said. “And then people can think about that however they want.”
With Atmosphere, Reid continues her tradition of telling bold, emotional, and inclusive stories—this time by drawing even closer to her own truth.