The Review of Contemporary Fiction

Microgravity by Beth Partin
Alan Tinkler

Beth Partin. Microgravity. Livingston, 1998. 128 pp. Paper: $9.95.

In her first novel, Microgravity, Beth Partin provides a smart investigation into both the realm of cults and the realm of the mind by exploring the societal structures that allow cults to exist. A cult, Partin recognizes, is not simply individuals acting in concert, but rather an aggregate of individuals acting under the providence of a “higher authority.” The authority in Microgravity is blood. Theresa, a scientist who has discovered how to use hormones to increase red blood cell production, and her husband have been murdered, presumably by a cult obsessed with blood.
Microgravity follows Justine, Theresa’s daughter, and Margaret, Theresa’s sister, as they unfurl and reorder their lives while coming to terms with the unsolved cult murder. Margaret and Justine, who are both photographers, deal with the deaths by employing techniques of classification and collage, respectively. Margaret, who had earlier in her life toured the country with a lover while working on a story about evangelism in America, wonders why she was not aware enough to prevent the murders. Justine, who has fewer experiences to help her cope with the loss, closets herself to make a collage out of photos taken from her aunt’s stockpiles. Together, they follow the blood trail to a fringe group within the Last Faith Church of Love. Lucy, the congregation’s leader, provides additional clues while admitting, “I have spent my whole life doing nothing but staring,” not unlike, of course, photographers.
While Microgravity is overwritten at times, the inventive structure provides support for Partin’s investigation into cults and, more importantly, the workings of the mind. [Alan Tinkler]