Cause of death, age of death. Would you want to know?
For some on one fateful domestic flight between Hobart and Sydney the prediction from one of the other passengers was a comfort. Long, healthy, full lives. For others, their predictions were not as lucky.
“I expect intimate partner homicide. Age twenty-five,” she tells a newlywed. “I expect drowning. Age seven.” “I expect self-harm.” “Assault.” How might you react hearing someone say this to you completely unprompted? A woman walked down the aisle of the airplane, pointing one at a time, cursing each person as she went with the knowledge of their manor and age of inevitable death.
Then again, how seriously could they take it? No one there knew about her mother’s past as a psychic. They didn’t know her from Eve. Just an eccentric older lady having some kind of episode, so far as they knew.
Until the first death happened, exactly how she predicted.
I am a great fan of Liane Moriarty. Her novels explore topics that are often uncomfortable, and always intriguing. This novel explored a great many avenues of thought to consider and leaves quite a bit of room for interpretation.
In her typical form, the points of view are plentiful. Between chapters of how ‘the death lady‘ arrived at that fateful moment are sprinkled narratives of various passengers from the flight in the months afterward. Some of them brush it off. Some of them can’t do much but wait for something they cannot control like an accident or a scary diagnosis. Still others are as proactive as they can be. The mother of the son destined to drown gets him into more swimming lessons than is probably healthy. Loved ones rally, social media pages are created, and time passes…more predictions come true.
If the topic of psychics, mediums, and the everyday supernatural appeal to you in any way, and even if they don’t particularly, this novel is a wonderful read. A lot is left up to your own interpretation of what may have happened that day on the plane. For that reason alone, this would make an excellent book club read. I also found the real human stories to be engrossing and sometimes quite powerful. Another hit from Down Under!
I have more to say about this book, but it contains spoilers. Click at your own risk 🙂
Spoilers/Discussion
My favorite part of the novel is how, even when all is said and done, we still don’t have any incontrovertible truth that what Cherry experiences on that plane isn’t a divine intervention or prediction. A true supernatural gift.
It was not lost on me that Cherry’s mother’s gifts were not developed until after she lost the love of her life. And now that Cherry has lost hers, this happens. It makes you wonder…and I love that.
Either way, it is hard to deny her mother’s own predictions for her. The little girl, the castle, the notebooks? Those are not random things that would apply to just anyone, as Cherry commonly believes about her mother’s readings. I believe she had the gift. Some kind of gift (maybe not all the time). But it is clear that Cherry (and her mathematical brain) is a die-hard skeptic to the point she denies her own possible inclination toward it.
Details
Title:: Here One Moment
Author:: Liane Moriarty
Genre:: Contemporary Fiction
Publisher:: Crown
Length:: 512 pages
Audio Length:: 15h 53m
Audiobook Narrator:: Caroline Lee & Geraldine Hakewill
Audiobook Publisher:: Random House Audio
Published:: September 10th, 2025
The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
If you liked this book, check out…
The Most Fun We Ever Had | Claire Lombardo
The Last Love Note | Emma Grey
Every Moment Since | Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
The Borrowed Life of Frederick Fife | Anna Johnston
Libby Lost and Found | Stephanie Booth
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