About Books: ‘Here One Moment’ is a pensive, emotionally charged novel

Liane Moriarty is the Australian bestselling author of 10 novels, three of them have been adapted for TV shows. I have read most of her books and have become a big fan so couldn’t wait to dive into her latest novel.

Do you believe your fate is predetermined? Would you change how you live if you knew when you would die?

“Here One Moment” is a pensive and emotionally charged novel that takes readers into the lives of a handful of people who are linked to one plane ride where a woman feels the need to tell passengers the age and manner in which they will die, causing their lives to change forever.

The flight from Hobart to Sydney Australia is ordinarily a short uneventful one but on this day there is a delay and the passengers are left waiting on the tarmac for quite some time. A baby cries, a child vomits, a dad is upset that he is missing his daughter’s play performance. Typical frustrations. This diverse unique group of people all on their own journeys never noticed the small elderly woman boarding the plane. Her appearance and demeanor were unremarkable, but she would have an extraordinary effect on their lives.

Making her way down the aisle, as if in a trance, she tells passengers the age they should expect to die and how it will happen. Some people dismiss these predictions as the ramblings of a crazy person. But then some of these predictions come true.

In short chapters, readers follow five people who learned when and how they would die: a teen girl predicted to die in a car accident, an overworked husband and father predicted to die in a work-related accident, a young man predicted to die from an assault, a mother who was told her son would drown at age seven, and a flight attendant predicted to harm herself. A few months later one dies as predicted. Others start living their lives differently to avoid their predictions from coming true.

Readers learn that the lady on the plane is Cherry Smith, now known as the “Death Lady”. Her back story is revealed from her childhood through the present. Her mother was a fortune teller although Cherry doesn’t consider herself one. She is a mathematician and believes in the theory of probability. Is she the voice of gloom and doom or is she giving people a chance to review their life choices?

This intriguing novel tends to be a little on the long side. The characters are complex, conflicted and genuine. I found it interesting what adjustments some of them made to prolong a longer life. There are different choices and paths our lives can take that can control some things, but maybe not everything. Ask yourself if fate can be fought. The young mother whose son was predicted to drown certainly thought so and prepared her son accordingly. The epilogue highlights this story and leaves us with an encouraging note about this quirky woman from the plane.

Let’s face it, dying isn’t something most of us like to think about. This engaging story will force you to think about your own life and hopefully control things that you can control, but for those things you can’t, just try to live your best life every day. That is all any of us can do. I think this book will be another best seller for Liane Moriarty and will probably make it to the TV screen.

FYI: Definition of an actuary

An actuary is a professional who uses mathematics, statistics, and financial theory to assess the risk of potential events. They deal with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. Cherry refers to herself as a retired actuary not a psychic.