The Gravity of Love

by Noëlle Harrison

Could Joy have been a different kind of girl, another woman, if her mother hadn't given her up?

"From the arid desert of eighties Arizona to swinging sixties London, Noëlle Harrison connects her beautifully drawn characters and weaves them into a story that entangled, enchanted and entranced this reader."
LIZ NUGENT, author of Lying in Wait

"So rich in love, loss, blame, misunderstanding, secrets and betrayals this book has everything."
SINÉAD MORIARTY, author of The Good Mother

"From big sky Arizona to an Ireland of 'corners and clouds', Noëlle Harrison leads us on a hypnotic dance across the decades. A vivid, gripping tale of family secrets and lost love."
SANDRA IRELAND, author of Beneath the Skin

Arizona, 1989

Joy Sheldon loves the plants that bloom in the desert but dreams too of the sea's elemental wildness. Now, riven by terrible secrets, Joy embarks on a journey to seek her identity and to discover why the sea pulls at her heart.

London, 1967

Lewis Bell, a young graphic designer, is aiming for the big time if only he can keep his creative spark. But, as his talented girlfriend Marnie adds her own pressures, sixties Soho fast shows its darker side.

Ireland, 1989

Drawn together, Joy and Lewis fly across the Atlantic to the Irish coast. She's in search of a lost mother; he's looking for a lost love. They need to make peace with the past, themselves and others. But the truths they encounter will transform everyone's lives forever.

Bold, intimate and joyful. This glorious novel tells an unforgettable story of love's true gravity.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, Literary Fiction

396 pages, Paperback

Published May 24, 2018

About the author

pseudonym: Evie Blake

Born in London, I moved to Ireland in 1991, shortly afterwards setting up the theatre company Aurora. I have written four stage plays, Northern Landscapes, Black Virgin, Runaway Wife and The Good Sister, and one short film, Blue Void. I have also written extensively on visual art in Ireland, contributing to various journals and artists’ catalogues over the years.

In August 2004 my first novel Beatrice was published by Tivoli/ Pan Macmillan. My second novel, A Small Part Of Me, was published by Tivoli / Pan Macmillan in September 2005. My third novel I Remember was published by Pan Macmillan in September 2008. The Adulteress an erotic ghost story set now and in 1941 in Ireland was published by Pan Macmillan in September 2009. The Secret Loves of Julia Caesar is an illustrated limited edition novella, a companion book to The Adulteress as well as a novel in its own right. It is published October 2012.

I currently live in Bergen in Norway. In September 2012 Beatrice was published by Juritzen Forlag in Norwegian. My books have also been translated and published in Italy, Germany, Holland, and Hungary.

I offer a critiquing service for budding writers and teach various creative writing workshops through Inkwell Writers.

I also write under the pen name of Evie Blake, author of Valentina published by Headline in October 2012, Valentina on the edge (March 2013) and Valentina Unlocked (October 2013). The Valentina Trilogy will be translated and published in Italy, Germany, Holland, Spain, France, Portugal, Brazil, and Serbia.

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know the old adage says to never judge a book by its cover but in the case of The Gravity of Love we can. It has a vintage, classy distinctive feel which mirrors the book perfectly.

The book focuses on Lewis and Joy, two souls who are lost in their own life’s. Lewis’s life is turned upside down by the arrival of a postcard in his mailbox. With Joy, we go on a journey with her to discover her own worth and is all that it seems in her life?

The book flip-flops back and forth giving us the present day dilemma and then the solution in the flashback chapters. I was confused at the start of the book as to who was who and it was my own fault for trying to play reader detective and work out the story. It hindered my start of the journey with the book but that isn’t a reflection of the book it was my need to know. Once I relaxed into Noelle’s writing style I really enjoyed my journey and submerged fully into the atmospheric scenes that soak you in and linger long after you turn to the next page.

There is a thread of music throughout the book. With nods to song lyrics which I thought was really beautiful and at one point when they played a tape in the car, I went and put it on as I read and it was a pretty awesome experience.

The Gravity of Love is jam-packed with life lessons for us all. Secrets and lies are really what is at its very core. The horrendous and painful consequences that they can have at the time and years later.

I highly recommend Noelle Harrisons, The Gravity of Love. It is an emotional journey start to finish and one you won’t want to miss.

[Liz Treacher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is magical. Once you start it’s impossible to put down – I read it in a day! The story weaves together two different times, the sixties and the eighties, and two different places, the Arizona desert and the Irish coast.
The Gravity of Love traces the story of two people: Joy, an Arizona housewife, and Lewis, an English graphic designer, as they both search for pasts they lost a long time ago but had never quite forgotten.

The plot has a great pace with lots of twists and turns. The writing is very visual and evokes people and places with startling immediacy. I loved the descriptions of hot, dry Arizona with its ‘blameless blue sky’ and rainy Ireland with its sea of ‘night navy.’ The ending is unexpected and very moving and I found myself reading it again and again. An enchanting book.

[Kaisha (The Writing Garnet) · Rating 5 out of 5]

All reviews can be found on my blog at https://thewritinggarnet.wordpress.com

In the past I have been compared to an ice queen, whilst dubbing myself as the ‘most unromantic person on the planet’. After reading ‘The Gravity of Love’ however, I am not too sure whether I am 100% committed to my long standing nickname, and I’ll tell you why.

Set over two different timelines, featuring two different main characters, ‘The Gravity of Love’ had something special about it from the get go.

Joy Sheldon is struggling to live up to her name and isn’t quite finding the ‘joy’ in her life, especially after the passing of a well loved family member. For years, Joy has always seen herself as an outcast and, thanks to the passing of the family member, Joy’s life got turned upside down by just three words. According to Joy’s mother and husband, those three words mean diddly squat, but to Joy, those three words have unknowingly become the key to the truth about her life. Does Joy listen to her heart and search for the truth? Or should she just take the easy way out because her mother and husband disapprove?

The other main character is a gentleman called Lewis Bell. Most of his ‘getting to know him’ chapters are set in the swinging sixties where he is struggling to choose between becoming a famous graphic designer, and actually doing the right thing by someone close to him. From an outsiders point of view, it’s far too easy for us readers to make that decision when, as it later becomes clear, there is more to Lewis’ life that meets the eye, and it’s threatening to break his heart in two, all over again.

We are nearing the end of May and, with 163 books read so far this year, I am spoilt for choice in regards to my favourite book of the year so far. Well, I thought I was. This story captivated me almost straight away with its simplistic tales of love, and its complex tales of family heartache mixed in with the uncertainty of grabbing life, and the ‘what ifs’ that go along with it. Never have I ever, until now, finished a book and sat hugging it to my chest because I didn’t want the spell to break as soon as I put the book down. But, due to Noelle Harrison’s enchanting and mesmerising story telling, I just could not help myself, feeling devastated that Joy and Lewis’ story had come to an end.

The way the two characters stories collided multiple times throughout the book, was simply outstanding and took my breath away. I always thought fate to be a load of tosh, but Lewis and Joy made me believe that fate was real, that true love is worth waiting for, and that the best things in life appear when you least expect it. Simplistic yet life changing – ‘The Gravity of Love’ is just that.

Reading ‘The Gravity of Love’ made me feel as though my body was being re-engerised, creating an image which was not only surreal, it was the most beautiful thing my mind has ever captured. Noelle Harrison told a story to my soul and my heart, a story which blew me away to the most special place I could ever imagine going.

‘The Gravity of Love’ is, hand on heart, my most favourite book of 2018, and probably my most favourite book of all time. I wish I could bottle the feelings I revealed whilst reading this book, yet I don’t think anyone could ever afford the price of them. This book is such an incredible, life affirming and heart-wrenching novel which made me feel, after 28 years of life on this planet, that I finally deserve to be here. I urge you all to get a copy of Noelle Harrison’s thought-provoking and ornamental read – you will NOT be disappointed.

[Helena Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

It has been years since I last read a new Noëlle Harrison novel, but this book proves it was well worth the wait. The Gravity of Love is a stunning, intriguing and exquisitely plotted story that held me spell-bound from start to finish. It’s a story about the ties that bind us, despite life and fate doing its best to keep or tear us apart. It’s a tale about coming to grips with the past in order to open the future up to new possibilities. And it tells of finding courage in times of despair so that it may lead you to the life that was always meant to be yours

I don’t want to say a whole lot about the plot beyond what you can read in the blurb. This story unfolds slowly, moving back and forth between 1967 and 1989, revealing a little more about the past and with it, clarifying the ‘present’, with each subsequent segment. I have to say that the revelations in the end didn’t come as a huge shock to me, but I’m not sure they were meant to be. After all, this is a contemporary novel, not a mystery.

I do have to admit that I had one or two issues with Lewis’s behaviour in the past, until I would remind myself of the time that part of the story was set in, and the way society operated in those days. In fact, it was exactly because neither Lewis nor Joy (or anybody else in this story) is faultless, that this story worked for me so well. At no point did this plot sound far-fetched, while I absolutely adored the way coincidences gave meaning to both the storyline and the character’s actions and reactions.

While I wouldn’t call this book a romance, the story comes with strong romantic themes and storylines, not to mention tasteful yet hot sexy scenes. The theme of this book is that some things are meant to be, that some connections exist even before the people involved are fully aware of each other’s existence. This means story has strong leanings toward determinism. Every act in the past is not only linked to what happens in the present, but also crucial for events in the present to be able to occur. A leads to B, which pushes the characters towards C, but not always in the way they imagine.

I want to end this review with a word about Noëlle Harrison’s writing because she creates beautiful images with her words. Vivid descriptions pull the reader in, create a tangible atmosphere and place you in the moment so well that you can almost see that Aurora Borealis with your own eyes. You’ll feel the rain and experience the wildness of the Irish west coast as you read these pages. The aroma of flowers and fruit will tease your senses and fully emerge you in this story. Just as you will leave the book feeling that you got to know Joy and Lewis so well that you would recognise them if you met them on the street. And such a meeting would not surprise you, because Lewis and Joy are so alive on the page it seems possible that they would jump off it and enter the ‘real’ world.

Long story short: The Gravity of Love is a well plotted, beautifully told, and intriguing book that left me delighted and enriched by the time I finished it. I highly recommend this book, as well as everything else, by Noëlle Harrison.

[Clair · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Gravity of Love is a beautiful read about just that, all consuming love in different forms and that 'in love, there's no such thing as coincidence' and this book conveys that wonderfully.
The story is told through the voices of the two main characters, Joy and Lewis, across different timelines. The present time is 1989 and we meet Joy and Lewis, both living in a small Arizonian town who instantly strike up a friendship when they meet whilst watching the amazing sight of the Northern Lights.

Joy is married to Eddie, who she married very young following an unexpected pregnancy however they were two people very much in love and went on to have another child. Roll forward when both her children are adults, Eddie is always working and Joy is a housewife and feeling unfulfilled in life. Everything that she does seems to be to please others. When Joy's beloved father dies she is rocked by his deathbed confession that she was adopted, Joy begins to question who she really is and who is the mysterious woman who abandoned her miles away in Ireland?

Back in the late 1960's, Lewis was carving a successful career as a graphic designer, on the cusp of becoming partner in the firm with a massive deal. He is also in the middle of a passionate affair with Marnie....it is clear from the outset that all did not end well considering he is now living in Arizona with Samantha. When postcards start to arrive from Ireland, Lewis is convinced that Marnie is reaching out to him all these years later.

What I absolutely adored with this book was hearing from both Joy and Lewis as well as the various timelines that beautifully weave together to the overall story. Alongside this, Noelle Harrison also conveys brilliantly the various settings of the book - we have the stifling dry heat of Arizona as well as the wet, cold (by comparison) and dull weather of Ireland. Mixed in we also have London in the 1960's - a brilliant combination of times and countries which add to the overall effect of this story.

The Gravity of Love is a stunning exploration into just that, the gravity of love that spans time and countries as well as different kinds of love. Before I knew it, I was half way through and I was sad when I came to the end. Beautiful from start to finish!

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gravity of Love is just my kind of book, moving back and forth in time, weaving together the various characters' stories. Lewis was a young graphic designer having a passionate affair with Marnie in 1960s London. She was also a talented designer but he let her down badly and they parted acrimoniously. Years later, now married to Samantha and living in Arizona, mysterious postcards arrive from Ireland which he knows must be from her. 

Joy also lives in Arizona. She married Eddie when she became pregnant at 17. Two children later she is a housewife who has never had the chance to follow her own dreams. She feels like her family doesn't know her especially when they tear up her beloved garden and replace it as a surprise. On his deathbed, her father revealed she was adopted but her mother won't talk about it.  All she knows is that her birth mother was Irish. With another revelation in her homelife, she feels even more rootless.

Joy and Lewis meet by chance on several occasions and sense a kindred spirit. Both seem to be searching and yearning for something. The front of the book says "In love, there is no such thing as coincidence." There are many coincidences throughout the book and yet they all seem very plausible. Coincidences do happen in life and sometimes feel like they are just meant.

The author has conveyed her settings wonderfully from the dry heat of the Arizona desert, to London in the swinging sixties, to the English home counties in the 1950s where Lewis and his sister Lizzie are passed from one relative to another which has a profound impact on their lives, and finally to a wet and stormy Ireland perhaps reflecting the inner turmoil of the characters. Is the rainbow a symbol of hope for Lewis and Joy? 

I really enjoyed The Gravity of Love and found it a very compelling read. It shows how issues from the past must be resolved to move on in the present. The ending was unexpected but uplifting and perfect.

[Janasbuecherliebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Klappentext: Die achtunddreißigjährige Joy liebt die flirrende Hitze ihrer Heimat Arizona, die blühenden Kakteen und den unglaublichen Sternenhimmel über der Wüste. Doch als sie nach dem Tod ihres Vaters herausfindet, dass sie adoptiert ist, fühlt sie sich entwurzelt und einsam. Bis sie in einer besonderen Sternennacht Lewis kennenlernt und sofort eine Verbindung zwischen ihnen spürbar ist. Fortan kreuzen sich ihre Wege immer wieder – so auch am Flughafen, als beide sich auf die Suche nach ihren irischen Wurzeln begeben. Gemeinsam machen sie sich auf die Reise und erkennen, dass das Schicksal sie nicht zufällig zusammengeführt hat.

Dieses Buch habe ich vor einigen Monaten schon mal begonnen, es konnte mich aber nicht direkt überzeugen. Da ich es aber geschenkt bekommen hatte, und solche Bücher quasi unmöglich weggeben kann, habe ich dem Buch noch eine Chance gegeben. Der Anfang war wieder sehr verwirrend und ich kam sehr schwer in das Buch rein. Ich habe mir sogar eine Art Stammbaum aufgemalt, um mir die Namen und Beziehungen der Personen merken zu können. Dazu kamen noch verschiedene Zeitebenen und es wurde abwechselnd von den zwei Hauptfiguren erzählt, was die Sache nicht leichter gemacht hat.

Die Geschichte war relativ vollgepackt mit vielen Ereignissen, aber dennoch mochte ich die Story gerne. Es kamen immer wieder neue Wendungen und Aspekte. An manchen Stellen war es mir zu traurig, ständig ist gefühlt jemand gestorben, was die Geschichte abgekürzt hat. Am Ende ging es mir zu schnell und einige Fragen sind offen geblieben. Was ich aber toll fand, dass es hier darum geht, wie zwei Menschen in ihrer Ehe leben und (un)glücklich sind damit. Oftmals wird in Büchern dargestellt, wie Menschen sich kennenlernen und zueinander finden, aber hier war es eher andersrum und das fand ich eine gelungene Abwechslung!

[Sandra Ireland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This compelling new novel by Irish author Noelle Harrison explores relationships, and the raw, elemental power love has over us. In the grip of passion, humans can make unexpected moves and questionable choices. The inevitable repercussions, across time and space, are wonderfully laid bare in this engrossing page turner. The main characters, Joy and Lewis, are finally drawn, thrown together by a random set of circumstances. Both searching, both on different trajectories- I was thoroughly intrigued by how their stories would play out. The novel’s sense of place too is beautifully wrought; from the heat of Arizona, the drizzle of Swinging Sixties London, and the lush green lanes of Ireland. Grab this book, a suitable cocktail and settle down for a cracking read!

[totesintobooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

i can’t seem to put book down the moment i started reading it. i have no words to even begin to describe my
profound love for this book. the whole spin to the story from troubled childhood to troubled marriages and everything in between - the loss, blame, misunderstanding, secrets and betrayals. fates intertwined so effortlessly. this book is such a delight! i think i’m going to have a book hangover. i’m so happy for the ending. like i can scream for joy and at the same time be in tears from it.

[Caroline Byrne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful story which takes us from the searing heat of the arizona desert to the swinging 60s of a Soho London ad agency. Identity is the key theme. What happens when family secrets are buried deep from a sense of shame and wanting to spare the next generation pain? Secrets have a way of surfacing and surprising when the next generation want to know the truth, at any cost. A vivid excavation of hidden agendas leads us to a gut punching revelation.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the 60s in London and the 80s in Arizona, we follow the relationships and love among several people where love sometimes fizzles and new one blossoms. I love the descriptions of several places while reading this book, and I could transport myself there while watching all the events unfold. Delightful read.

[Melanie McAinsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating story, which moves between the characters beautifully, with a feeling of the ebb and flow of the sea. The sea and contrasting desert have a strong presence in the book, reflecting the characters. And the starry sky which encompasses everything. Really enjoyed it and looking forward to reading more.

[Cristina Reid · Rating 5 out of 5]

tHE IRISH SPREAD FAR AND WIDE, ENCHANTING PEOPLE with great music art and writing shown in this book of people who return to the place to find their roots and to find themselves who they truly are , depth in this story, and development of individuals with chance meeting, and love is in the air. Well worth the read

[Lars · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure. Easy read, probably a fair account of how people are and choices they make at different times of life. Nice happy ending maybe not so realistic. (Note to remind me what read and whether liked.)

[Katherine Hayward Pérez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come. Thank you to Noëlle Harrison and publisher for my ARC in excahnge for an honest and voluntary review.

[Paula Janssen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, loved it.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this story, it was a wonderful read

[Katherine Trail · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was not what I expected but I found the story compelling and moving.

[Oisin O'Brien · Rating 2 out of 5]

SHLIGO SHTYLE BBY

[Sal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, an enjoyable story, although some of the coincidences were a bit fanciful.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to make of this book when I first started it and I started it twice and put it away twice before I thought I give it one last go before I delete it off the kindle and WOW thank god I did. Its a book full of coincidences but its well written, with great characters and a story that makes us all believe in love again and that some things are simply meant to be and if they are meant to be they will happen.
In the end I read this book in 2 days with just taking breaks to feed the kids and do some laundry.
The flashbacks are well written and merge perfectly into the flow of the book without disrupting the flow of the "current" storyline. I'm looking forward to reading many more books from this author,