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Gravity Is the Thing: A Novel Kindle Edition

3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 867 ratings

One of Real Simple’s Best Books of the Year

“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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A quirky novel with a lot of heart.”
— Real Simple, “Five Books That Won’t Disappoint”

“[A] hilarious, incandescent novel. . . . Moriarty’s originality and humor flow on every page of this wise take on loss and healing.”
— Minneapolis Star Tribune

“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.”
— Shelf Awareness

“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.”
— BookPage (starred review)

“Quirky and beguiling, this witty quest for the truth will delight anyone mending their own broken life.”
— Kirkus Reviews

“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.”
— Booklist

“A thoughtful, beautifully written, truly original, and often hilarious meditation on loss, hope, the self-help industry, and the difficulties of navigating life on earth.”
— Emily St. John Mandel, author of Station Eleven

“GRAVITY IS THE THING is one of the most magical, different, interesting, likable, lovable, beautiful, sad, lovely, immensely uplifting books I have ever read. I read it in an agony of loving it but also being so humbled by the fact that if I lived to be 7,022 years old I would never be able to write a book as good as this. You will adore it—it’s an instant classic.”
— Marian Keyes

“Here, Jaclyn Moriarty has given readers a tender and exhilarating tale of what becomes possible when you dare to believe in the impossible. GRAVITY IS THE THING brims with mystery and enchantment on every page. This book will leave readers breathless and aching for more.”
— Meghan MacLean Weir, author of The Book of Essie

“I am in love with this hilarious and tender story about characters who enchanted and surprised me up to the last page. GRAVITY IS THE THING will lift you up and leave you wondering if the most impossible ideas are actually the heart of everything.”
— Mary Adkins, author of When You Read This

PRAISE FOR A CORNER OF WHITE:
“A marvelous novel—in every sense of the word... A Corner of White slips through a previously unnoticed crack in the reader’s heart and changes everything.”
— Deborah Harkness, New York Times bestselling author of A Discovery of Witches

“Jaclyn Moriarty makes me laugh, hysterically—and cry, unexpectedly... Startlingly original fantasy.”
— E. Lockhart, New York Times bestselling author of We Were Liars

From the Back Cover

A frequently hilarious, brilliantly observed novel that follows a single mother’s heartfelt search for greater truths about the universe, her family, and herself

Twenty years ago, Abigail Sorenson’s brother, Robert, went missing one day before her sixteenth birthday. That same year, she began receiving scattered chapters of a self-help manual in the mail, The Guidebook, whose mysterious authors 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 her 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 her missing brother must be linked.

What follows is the complete opposite of what Abi expected––but it will lead her on a journey of discovery that will bring a disparate cast of characters into her life and change it forever. 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.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07D6NHJWK
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper (July 23, 2019)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 23, 2019
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3697 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars 867 ratings

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Jaclyn Moriarty
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Customer reviews

3.9 out of 5 stars
867 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the writing style inventive and poetic. They love the characters and find the book humorous and full of wisdom. However, opinions differ on the story quality - some find it interesting and delightful, while others feel the storyline is weak and the characters are unlikable.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

6 customers mention "Writing style"6 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style. They find the story interesting, well-written, and inventive. The descriptions of food, Australia, and humanity are also appreciated.

"...I found the style, issues raised, character development and the gentle winding trip to the end, to be exemplary...." Read more

"Interesting story, well written, good characters with situations I could identify with. I laughed out loud - something I seldom do with a novel" Read more

"...Beautiful descriptions of food, Australia, and humanity. I've never written a review before, but this book moved me...." Read more

"...It’s really, really wonderful. It’s so well-written that you don’t even know you’re reading...." Read more

5 customers mention "Character development"5 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the character development. They say the characters are well-developed and love them.

"...I found the style, issues raised, character development and the gentle winding trip to the end, to be exemplary...." Read more

"Interesting story, well written, good characters with situations I could identify with. I laughed out loud - something I seldom do with a novel" Read more

"...It was delightful and warm hearted. I loved the characters." Read more

"...Just open it, love all its characters, and sigh when it’s over. Do it." Read more

3 customers mention "Humor"3 positive0 negative

Customers enjoy the humor in the book. They find it quirky and funny, making them laugh out loud, which is not often the case with novels.

"...I laughed out loud - something I seldom do with a novel" Read more

"...I thoroughly enjoyed this quirky funny book so full of wisdom. Cried my heart out." Read more

"This book is a gem, it is written with humour, the story is extraordinary, the insights are numerous...." Read more

3 customers mention "Wisdom"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book full of wisdom and insights. They appreciate the story and existential questions raised in it.

"...I thoroughly enjoyed this quirky funny book so full of wisdom. Cried my heart out." Read more

"Slow to get into but, in the end, really lovely. The existential questions, the seeking, seeing and surrender all hit at the appropriate moments...." Read more

"...it is written with humour, the story is extraordinary, the insights are numerous...." Read more

11 customers mention "Story quality"7 positive4 negative

Customers have different views on the story quality. Some find it interesting, delightful, and fun. Others feel the storyline is weak, the characters unreliable, and the book lacks meaning.

"Interesting story, well written, good characters with situations I could identify with. I laughed out loud - something I seldom do with a novel" Read more

"...I thought the book was weird and it was a disappointment." Read more

"I nearly gave up on this book but then I became hooked! It was delightful and warm hearted. I loved the characters." Read more

"Slow to get into but, in the end, really lovely. The existential questions, the seeking, seeing and surrender all hit at the appropriate moments...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2019
    I love Jaclyn's books and this was no exception. It is supposedly her first Adult book, but having read the Spell Book and the Colours trilogy, I can never understand how or why these categories are used. Having heard Jaclyn speak with her two writing sisters a year or two ago, I find the three sisters share some of their skills (according to them, from their father who had them write stories to be read by him from a young age). Although different in their style, they all get children better than most, as well as motherhood (ironically the most disappointing thing for me about Liane's 9 Perfect Strangers, was the lack of children (other than a 21 year old daughter)).

    I found the style, issues raised, character development and the gentle winding trip to the end, to be exemplary. I only felt she wandered a bit towards the end with her philosophical musings.

    Highly recommended.
    8 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2019
    Interesting story, well written, good characters with situations I could identify with. I laughed out loud - something I seldom do with a novel
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on February 4, 2020
    'Gravity is the Thing' by Jaclyn Moriarty...an interesting read which initially grabbed me, but gradually lost me. It's a quirky read based around main character Abi, a single mum who has never recovered from the mysterious disappearance of her brother just before her 16th birthday. The action is set very much in the moment, with flashbacks to past events which have shaped Abi's future. The story revolves around a mysterious 'guidebook', chapters of which appear from time to time through the post...and which don't actually appear to make much sense!
    Jaclyn's writing felt very like the modernist 'stream of consciousness' to me, otherwise known as 'a person's thoughts and conscious reactions to events, perceived as a continuous flow', and a style of writing that I never really got to grips with.
    For me, the book seemed too long for its plot and my attention did wane as I progressed through it.
    I give this book 3 stars.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2023
    Don’t give up on it, it grows on you more and more and you will thank me in the end. I thoroughly enjoyed this quirky funny book so full of wisdom. Cried my heart out.
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2020
    I nearly gave up on this book but then I became hooked! It was delightful and warm hearted. I loved the characters.
  • Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2019
    Slow to get into but, in the end, really lovely. The existential questions, the seeking, seeing and surrender all hit at the appropriate moments. It left me in tears with its wistfulness but also with a kind of wisdom. The voices of both mother and child are true-to-form, as are the reality and magical-realism of loss and the subsequent grief. Beautiful descriptions of food, Australia, and humanity. I've never written a review before, but this book moved me. As someone who reads and rips apart text for a living, I can't speak more highly than that.
    5 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2019
    Gravity Is the Thing by Jaclyn Moriarty is a highly recommended novel about a woman's search for universal truths and happiness.

    Abigail (Abi) Sorenson’s brother Robert went missing twenty years ago. It was the day before her sixteenth birthday, a day the two had a special on-going birthday ritual. The two were very close but she has heard nothing from him since that day and he never shared his plans with her. She has been looking for him ever since and his absence from her life has had an lasting impact. That same year, she began receiving chapters in the mail of a self-help manual called The Guidebook and has received the chapters ever since. The Guidebook has been a constant through her life as she went through various changes and trials.

    Now, twenty years later, Abi has been invited along with twenty-five other recipients of The Guidebook to an all-expenses paid weekend to Taylor Island, off the southeast coast of Australia by Wilbur, the son of the authors. She hopes to learn the truth behind The Guidebook. Sure, she's intrigued, but it is also a vacation. Her mother is watching her four-year-old son, Oscar and her Happiness Café can run itself in her absence. What The Guidebook was purposing to teach the recipients is surprising and surrealistic, but perhaps Abi does have something to discover through the lessons.

    This is a rather quirky, amusing, diverting novel that tells Abi's story, past and present, through first and second person points-of-view in chapters that vary widely in length. Chapters from The Guidebook are interspersed throughout. Abi is a well-developed character and her journey through life is filled with wit, humor, stress, heart-break, and problems. She does learn some unexpected lessons as she further explores what the authors of The Guidebook intended and looks into the sometimes absurd advice from other self-help books in her search for happiness.

    Moriarty is a YA author and this is a successful first foray into adult fiction. She does an excellent job telling Abi's story. The dramatic difference in the length of chapters along with switching between past and present and the inclusion of chapters from The Guidebook to tell Abi's story is used quite effectively by Moriarty. Above all, the characters are searching for a connection, something to complete them and provide the happiness and fulfillment that seems to be missing in their lives. Readers won't learn why Abi and the other recipients of The Guidebook were chosen until almost the end, but it makes sense. The answer of what happened to Robert is also provided for closure. Basically, this is a novel about a woman's life and her quest for answers, happiness, and fulfillment.

    Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on January 20, 2021
    I HIGHLY suggest you do not listen to this as an audiobook. I don’t know how many times I had to go back and re-listen because there are so many times the main character just seems to ramble. But the writing is smart and the story was enjoyable; I just think a lot of the ramblings could have been reduced and the book could have gotten the same point across with many less pages.

Top reviews from other countries

  • Year 6 student Kingston
    5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I have ever read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 24, 2023
    From the moment I started this book, I absolutely loved it! I have been in a book club for 20 years and this is the first time that I have written a book review - the way the author describes everyday life struggles is beyond compare. You must read this book.
  • Snapdragon
    5.0 out of 5 stars Sensational
    Reviewed in Australia on April 6, 2019
    I’ve read a lot of good books over the decades, but not since my teenage years one that moved me as much as this one. It’s narrated by Abigail Sorenson - Abi - and it’s a tour de force at sizing up life and how to live it. Abi suffers two great losses: her beloved brother Robert, only 11 months younger, disappears just before her sixteenth birthday and her beloved husband Finn turns out to have feet of clay. The marriage breaks down in Montréal and Abi becomes pregnant to a one night stand, giving rise (back in Sydney) to Oscar, who turns five during the course of the novel. Starting at age 16, Abi starts receiving the eccentrically numbered chapters of an even more eccentric self-help book called The Guide. Twenty years later, when the novel starts, Abi joins other receivers of The Guide on an island in Bass Strait to receive the truth. It’s a weird weekend, led by Wilbur, the son of The Guide’s authors.

    What captures a reader’s attention straight away is the startlingly quirky style of writing. When super sensitive Abi describes a kettle as shy, it’s odd, but you know what she means. As the novel progresses, the writing style becomes more straightforward, but what doesn’t change is Abi’s desire to understand - well - everything: causation, love, why Robert disappeared and so on. She has a period of reading all the major self-help books she never read before and makes entertaining and sometimes acidic comments about them. When talking about “I’m OK - You’re OK”, she mentions the two possible responses given in the book that a husband might give to his wife about dust on the coffee table. (The thought that the husband might dust the coffee table himself isn’t one of them.)

    Back in Sydney, the group of very disparate individuals meet weekly in Wilbur’s flat to learn about all things “flying”. Abi, once a lawyer and now owner/manager of the Happiness Cafe finds parenthood a joy and a frustration and herself longing for love and companionship. Moriarty very skilfully adds layers of incident and meaning from the past and the present to build a complex picture of Abi’s interior life and by extension, our appreciation and understanding of life as well. For a while it looks like she’s going to get it on with red-haired flipper of properties Niall. Later in the book she remembers Niall saying that he was OK with her having Oscar, and realises the subtext: it’s as though he felt entitled to demand that she ditch the kid if it didn’t suit him to have Oscar around. Much later, Oscar has a medical emergency and Abi is desperate that the Rule of Three (losses) not apply (one of the book’s many themes. It is full of a lot of knowledge. I got a lot of good Trivia questions out of it). It’s Wilbur in the end who helps Abi to see that though she’s been blaming herself for Robert and Finn, there are other ways to interpret the same information.

    As others have said, this is often a very funny book. Oscar says a lot of funny 4 yo things. When told that Wilbur was named after one of the Wright brothers a character says “Which one?” Reply: “It wasn’t Orville.” It’s also a book that will have tears coursing down your cheeks and warmth in your heart and mind. Six stars.
  • Nicky Hudson
    4.0 out of 5 stars I believe I can fly?
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 12, 2020
    I enjoyed this book. It’s certainly a quirky read, and definitely different!

    It’s the story of 30 something Abi, single mum, ex lawyer and cafe owner. Abi’s life has been dominated by two events - the disappearance of her brother as a teenager and the collapse of her marriage. Since her teenage years, Abi has received regular (random) chapters of a self help book “The Guidebook” in the post. She’s used some of the random wisdom in there as her signpost in life.

    The story begins when Abi is invited to an all expenses paid trip to discover the secret behind “The Guidebook”. She goes along, not sure if she’ll be lured into a cult, sold a time-share or parted with her life savings. The truth, when is comes, is totally off-the-wall, leaves the Guidebook followers reeling, but also bonds them together in unexpected ways.

    This is a tale about Abi and her path to moving through life and moving on from tragedy. It’s also a wry observation on the cult of self help books, and the impossibility of taking on all the advice on offer!

    In all honesty, I found the book slow going for the first half. But, once we started to learn more about Abi, her failed marriage and all of the threads woven into the story came together, I was hooked! And by the end, I absolutely loved it

    Give it a try if you’re looking for something a bit different!
    One person found this helpful
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  • Bluebell Hill
    3.0 out of 5 stars Needed cutting by about 30% - particularly the self-help guff at the end
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2020
    I bought this because I love Liane Moriarty's books and another author I like - Marian Keyes - raved about it. I'm not going to lie; it was in many ways a tough read. I found myself looking at my progress and thinking Christ, I'm only halfway? Which is not something I've ever felt with Liane Moriarty's books.

    Jaclyn Moriarty is a gifted writer, no doubt about that. She is at her best in characterising the narrator's little boy Oscar. There was one passage that made me laugh out loud and was so funny I highlighted it in my kindle so I could read it again - not something I have ever done before.

    The main reason I read to the end was to find out what happened to the main character’s brother - a clever plot hook that meant I had to finish the book.

    However.

    Goodness there was a lot of guff! Especially about 75-80% of the way through when I felt I was wading through a swamp. All the italicised self-help preachy nonsense really spoiled it for me. Such a shame! It needed a good editor to slash it by about a third; at the moment it's like an uncut diamond. You could have cut about 100 pages and not lost anything. I don't know why she had to frame it with the self-help narrative as it wasn't necessary.

    I wondered whether this was her first book and she lacked confidence so had to use this prop of the self-help stuff as she didn't believe in her story without it. But then again I realised that she must be an established - and successful - author because a new novelist would have had the guff edited out down to the bone.

    Overall a strange book that is well-written by a gifted writer. A shame about 30% of it was so swampy.
  • Bess Brooks
    3.0 out of 5 stars It was an OK read
    Reviewed in Australia on May 14, 2019
    There was a lot going on and I did lose track from time to time. The end was as bit lost on me.....

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