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For 20 years, Abigail Sorenson has been receiving occasional chapters (not in order) of a kind of self-help book called the Guidebook in the mail. She has no idea where it came from, why she was chosen to receive them, or what the ultimate purpose is. But she has made sure over the years to send in the assignments it’s given her, as well as change-of-address forms when she’s moved.
The same year Abi got the first part of the book, when she turned 16, is when her brother Robert disappeared. The two were not even a year apart in age and very close. It was mystifying when he just didn’t come back from staying at a friend’s house, and then heartbreaking when days and weeks and months went by without any clue of what happened to him.
Now, Abi has received an invitation to attend a free weekend retreat that will finally share “the truth” behind the Guidebook. Not at all sure what to expect, she has her mother babysit her 4-year-old son and heads off to the retreat. There, rather than having all her questions answered, she gets more mystery. But the weekend introduces her to new people and sets her on a quirky journey of discovery with several others who also received the book.
The book hops around through Abi’s life, from her present as a single mom and owner of a café, back to the year she lost her brother and started receiving the Guidebook. In between, it includes her meeting her husband, moving to Canada, experiencing the end of her marriage, and moving back to Australia. It also shares excerpts of the writing assignments she completed when she was younger and memories she has as an adult, looking back at her earlier years. The loss of her brother, the perplexity and the grief, underlie all she experiences and feels in those two decades.
As she attends the offbeat but enjoyable class that follows the retreat, Abi works through the things that have crippled her, eventually finding herself set free from the weights that have held her down.
Gravity Is the Thing is a poignant fiction book that is at times just as off-the-wall and whimsical as the creators of the Guidebook and the class that Abi attends. It tackles difficult subjects but with heart and lightness. It’s never cloying and doesn’t necessarily wrap things up the way readers may expect, but the end is beautiful and satisfying just the same. Jaclyn Moriarty has a deft touch, and I enjoyed getting to read this novel. While the topic is different and mostly a different genre from the young adult book of hers that I read some years back, A Corner of White, the style is still distinctly hers and the writing well done.
Rated: Moderate. Profanity includes 6 uses of strong language, about 5 instances of moderate profanity, about 5 uses of mild language, and about 5 uses of the name of Deity in vain. Sexual content includes mentions of sex but not much detail past kissing. There are a few crude sexual references.
