Title: HERE ONE MOMENT
Author: Liane Moriarty
Read: September 2024
Expected publication: out now
My Rating: all the stars! π
Book Description (Goodreads):
If you knew your future, would you
try to fight fate?
Aside from a delay, there will be no problems. The flight will be smooth, it
will land safely. Everyone who gets on the plane will get off. But almost all
of them will be forever changed.
Because on this ordinary, short, domestic flight, something extraordinary
happens. People learn how and when they are going to die. For some, their death
is far in the future—age 103!—and they laugh. But for six passengers, their
predicted deaths are not far away at all.
How do they know this? There were ostensibly more interesting people on the
flight (the bride and groom, the jittery, possibly famous woman, the giant
Hemsworth-esque guy who looks like an off-duty superhero, the frazzled,
gorgeous flight attendant) but none would become as famous as “The Death Lady.”
Not a single passenger or crew member will later recall noticing her board the
plane. She wasn’t exceptionally old or young, rude or polite. She wasn’t drunk
or nervous or pregnant. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable. But what
she did on that flight was truly remarkable.
A few months later, one passenger dies exactly as she predicted. Then two more
passengers die, again, as she said they would. Soon no one is thinking this is
simply an entertaining story at a cocktail party.
If you were told you only had a certain amount of time left to live, would you
do things differently? Would you try to dodge your destiny?
My musings:
I just finished reading and had to sit quietly for
a little while to collect my thoughts on this heartfelt, poignant story. The
thing I LOVE about Moriarty’s books is the way she makes me care about her
characters, and HERE ONE MOMENT was a prime example. At work, I caught myself
wanting to discuss Sue’s terrible predicted fate, and how Paula could possibly
protect little Timmy, and that of course Leo would have to give up work
immediately. I remembered just in time that these were just fictional
characters, even if they felt so very real to me. At this point, I also want to
give credit to Caroline Lee and Geraldine Hakewill for their brilliant audio narration!
For a book that heavily featured
death and dying, it left me feeling warm and optimistic, even if there were
many themes I will undoubtedly ponder for a while. Surely everyone has at one
stage contemplated their own mortality, and the things that really matter in
the big scheme of things. Perhaps it is a sign of growing up or ageing (or
becoming a bit wiser and wearier) that we find it easier to focus on the things
that are important to us, as the sand in our hourglass is steadily making its
way down the tube. I know that this theme is not new, but what would you do if
you knew how long you had to live? Would you change anything? How would you
want to spend the time you had left?
Sometimes having to keep track of a
multitude of characters can dilute their emotional significance, but not so
here. I just LOVED these people and found myself caring very deeply about their
fate. And as in a magic trick, Moriarty takes it one step further, slowly
unveiling the identity of the “death lady” and the events that have led to
those fateful hours on the delayed flight. As the novel was steadily nearing
the end, I found myself fervently wishing to spend more time with these
characters who I felt I knew so intimately by now. To be able to elicit such
strong feelings for such a large group of people is proof of the skill of
Moriarty’s writing. It offers just the right selection of snapshots out of everyone’s
lives that let me fill in the rest and make these fictional characters appear
real. I certainly felt like I knew everyone quite intimately by the time the
story concluded.
I’m not sure what else I can say,
except that I loved everything about this book. With just the right balance between
intrigue and heart, and a multitude of themes relevant to our times (across a
wide range of age groups, demographics and genders) it utterly captivated my
attention. I feel that my words are inadequate to describe the book’s emotional
impact on me and highly recommend it to anyone who has ever contemplated their
own mortality. Such a wonderful, deep and touching read, a definite favourite
for me!