“Here One Moment” opens on a flight from the Tasmanian capital of Hobart to Sydney. It would have been a short trip, except there is a two-hour delay for departure. The passengers are getting restless and anxious. Everyone is frazzled about being late, or missing an important event. Or, like the young mother of two small children, knows that soon her children will have reached their limits and will have a come apart before they reach their destination.
Adding to the stress is a nicely dressed woman with silver hair who stands up and begins addressing the passengers. She points at a 50-something-year-old man and says, “I suspect a massive stroke at age 72.” She walks down the aisle telling everyone her predictions of age and cause of death. Heart disease, age 84; cardiac arrest, age 91; diabetes, age 79. The passengers predicted to die after living a long life are not as bothered by the woman’s predictions. But the passengers given an early or violent death are extremely bothered. They were told things like workplace accident, age 43; assault, age 30; intimate partner homicide, age 25. And perhaps worst of all, the screaming baby on the plane is told drowning, age 7.
The majority of the passengers continue on with their lives as if the predictions from who they call the “Death Lady” have never been said. But the mother of the infant enrolls her baby in three swim classes per week. The sleepwalking husband handcuffs himself to the bed so he will not accidentally kill his wife. The wife of the man who was predicted as dying in a workplace accident wants him to quit his job. After a short time, they begin to think it might be an unusual party trick.
That is, until a 19 year old is killed in an automobile accident (that was recorded and posted on the internet). Soon after, a very old couple dies from old age on the same day, which was predicted on the flight. Then everyone begins having second thoughts about their futures.
The novel addresses the age-old question of free will versus determinism. Alternating chapters are narrated by the “Death Lady,” whose name is Cherry. This allows the author to fill in some of the blanks of her life and perhaps why she made the predictions on the plane. The other chapters are about the passengers on the flight and how they are dealing with the bizarre plane ride.
I have read several of Liane Moriarty’s books. I found them captivating. “Here One Moment” is not her best work. The novel has a large number of characters. I found it difficult to remember who was who. The book is slow and it seems too miss the mark in telling the story and grabbing the reader’s interest. Perhaps other readers will enjoy it more than I did.
Liane Moriarty is the author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers “Big Little Lies,” “The Husband’s Secret” and “Truly Madly Guilty;” the New York Times bestsellers “Apples Never Fall,” “Nine Perfect Strangers,” “What Alice Forgot” and “The Last Anniversary;” “The Hypnotist’s Love Story” and “Three Wishes.” She lives in Sydney, Australia, with her husband and two children.
Cathy Lay Mayor grew up in Cullman and graduated from Cullman High School in 1976. She says when she writes book reviews, she tries to remember what Mrs. Gilbert taught her in 11th-grade English. She lived in Dothan for more than 30 years and is married with three adult children and six grandchildren. She retired to Panama City, but still calls Alabama home.
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