Here One Moment – Liane Moriarty

If you could know how and when you were going to die, would you want to? It’s a great dinner party question, but the characters in Here One Moment don’t get a choice either way. This is one of the most anticipated Australian book releases of the year, Liane Moriarty’s 10th novel for adults, and Macmillan Australia were kind enough to send me a copy for review.

Everyone boarding the delayed flight has their own mini-drama going on. There’s the man who’s going to miss his daughter’s concert, the couple who have just taken their first twilight-years trip together, the newlyweds setting off on their honeymoon, the flight attendant having a secret affair with a pilot. Moriarty goes into great detail describing all of them in the opening chapter Here One Moment, contrasting them to the appearance of the character she calls the Death Lady – it’s a slightly less snappy opener than you might expect, but Moriarty’s earned our trust.

Gradually, the story takes off, with the Death Lady predicting the age and cause of death of every person on board (including an infant child in his mother’s arms, which is pretty rough). Here One Moment eventually settles into a Big Little Lies-style rhythm, alternating chapters from the point of view of the Death Lady and those of the people she predicted would die.

It’s a slower burn than some of her other novels, and it doesn’t land quite as firmly, but it’s still a solid beach read – albeit one that will make you contemplate your own mortality.

Read Here One Moment on audiobook via Libro.fm here. (affiliate link)