Gravity Is the Thing : A Novel
Author(s): Jaclyn Moriarty
One of Real Simple’s Best Books of 2019
The adult debut from bestselling, award-winning young adult author Jaclyn Moriarty—a frequently hilarious, brilliantly observed novel—that follows a single mother’s heartfelt search for greater truths about the universe, her family and herself.
“I loved this book. . . .Funny, heartbreaking and clever with a mystery at its heart.” -Jojo Moyes
“With an eye as keen for human idiosyncrasies as Miranda July’s, and a sense of humor as bright and surprising as Maria Semple’s, this is a novel of pure velocity.” -Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Twenty years ago, Abigail Sorenson’s brother Robert went missing one day before her sixteenth birthday, never to be seen again. That same year, she began receiving scattered chapters in the mail of a self-help manual, the Guidebook, whose anonymous author promised to make her life soar to heights beyond her wildest dreams.
The Guidebook’s missives have remained a constant in Abi’s life—a befuddling yet oddly comforting voice through her family’s grief over her brother’s disappearance, a move across continents, the devastating dissolution of her marriage, and the new beginning as a single mother and café owner in Sydney.
Now, two decades after receiving those first pages, Abi is invited to an all-expenses paid weekend retreat to learn “the truth” about the Guidebook. It’s an opportunity too intriguing to refuse. If Everything is Connected, then surely the twin mysteries of the Guidebook and a missing brother must be linked?
What follows is completely the opposite of what Abi expected––but it will lead her on a journey of discovery that will change her life––and enchant readers. Gravity Is the Thing is a smart, unusual, wickedly funny novel about the search for happiness that will break your heart into a million pieces and put it back together, bigger and better than before.
Review(s):
“I loved this book. . . . Funny, heartbreaking and clever with a mystery at its heart.”
“A quirky novel with a lot of heart.”
“[A] hilarious, incandescent novel. . . . Moriarty’s originality and humor flow on every page of this wise take on loss and healing.”
“This intelligent, quirky epic is multidimensional in its treatment of existential life crises. . . . [a]multifaceted, masterful new work. . . . The book is riveting, and it resolves with a delightful series of twists. By the end, it is likely to have readers dabbing their eyes and smiling, surprised at how it all came together and convinced of Moriarty’s genius.”
“A powerful meditation on loss, grief, self-help and life. . . . Gravity Is the Thing sneaks up on readers, plucking their heartstrings while they’re distracted, chuckling over Moriarty’s intimate observations of the everyday peculiarities of life.”
“Moriarty soars in this raw, dryly funny adult debut. . . . At its heart, Moriarty’s complex and nimble plot serves as a vehicle for a deeper story. . . . Redemptive and hopeful, Gravity Is the Thing announces the arrival of a fresh, funny and perceptive voice in adult fiction.”
“Jaclyn Moriarty brings her unfettered imagination and a buoyant sense of humor to Gravity Is the Thing. . . . As Abi accepts an invitation to re-examine her life, readers may laugh, cry and even reflect on their own paths of discovery.”
“Quirky and beguiling, this witty quest for the truth will delight anyone mending their own broken life.”
“An utterly unique story of one woman’s journey of self-discovery. . . . Moriarty’s characters are delightfully fun and quirky. . . . Though this book may beg comparison to the suspenseful work of her sisters Liane and Nicole, this Moriarty’s graceful discourse on joy is more likely to please readers of Marian Keyes and Maria Semple.”
“Has the fresh, crinkling lilt of a storybook. . . .This book is a joy and rush of fresh water for the soul.”
ISBN: 9780062883735