Gravity Is the Thing

This was a really unique book, unlike any others I've ever read before.

It was both humorous and heartbreaking at the same time, with some wonderful characters namely Abigail, her son, Oscar and Wilbur.

The heartbreaking was Abigail's struggle in dealing firstly with the disappearance of her brother, Robert and later, ending up as a single mother after her husband leaves her. She blames herself for both, that is until she is invited to a retreat organised by the people behind The Guidebook.

Attending the weekly meetings leads her to a path of self discovery and slowly she learns to come to term with her grief and heartbreak. I really liked her character because despite her struggles, she was still managing to bring up her son and run a successful business.

I loved Wilbur too. He was such a sweet, kind hearted man! My favourite though was little 4 year old Oscar. He was hilarious and gave me so many laugh out loud moments, with his 4 years old logic and questions.

Thank you to PH and Jaclyn Moriarty for the chance to read this book.

This book won't be for everyone. It's very quirky, written in impressionistic fragments, and requires a definite suspension of disbelief. But for me it was just about perfect - funny, wise, sad, hopeful and completely unpredictable. I don't want to spoil the plot so I will just say it's about flying, causation and coincidence, being a parent, sex (good and bad), happiness, missing children, feminism, heartbreak, and the absurdities of the self-help movement. At times it is completely bonkers. Our heroine Abi Sorenson is a wonderful guide through all of this. She's snarky but vulnerable, searching for meaning and trying to survive the daily miracles and boredom of being a single mother to a delightful, exhausting 4 year old boy. Jaclyn Moriarty is the sister of the well-known author [a:Liane Moriarty 322069 Liane Moriarty https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1459827224p2/322069.jpg], but this book reads more like [b:Where'd You Go, Bernadette 13526165 Where'd You Go, Bernadette Maria Semple https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338822317l/13526165.SY75.jpg 17626728] or, going much farther back, the clever puzzle books of [a:Ellen Raskin 10074 Ellen Raskin https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1215658052p2/10074.jpg] such as [b:The Westing Game 902 The Westing Game Ellen Raskin https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1356850909l/902.SX50.jpg 869832]. I don't always agree with author endorsements, but I have to agree with [a:Marian Keyes 6104 Marian Keyes https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1239296146p2/6104.jpg] who describes Gravity is the Thing as “an instant classic.”