Imagine you are sitting on an airplane minding your own business when a sweet little old lady comes up and tells you when and how you are going to kick the bucket. Is she a crackpot or let her prognostication change everything? That’s the unique premise of Liane Moriarty’s brilliantly constructed recent novel, Here One Moment.
Set aboard a delayed flight from Hobart to Sydney, Australia, this inventive tale introduces a vivid cast of characters: a newlywed couple still glowing from their vows, a tired mom wrangling two kids, a pregnant woman, and a brooding hipster. No one notices the unassuming elderly woman in the aisle seat.
Dubbed “The Death Lady” by the media, Cherry Lockwood delivers eerie predictions for a handful of passengers. Assault, drowning, and terminal illness are among the fates she foresees. Is she a fraud? A psychic? Or something else entirely? But when her predictions come true, the passengers must reckon with their foretold fates.
Moriarty masterfully weaves humor and tension into a narrative that’s both philosophical and gripping. The richly developed characters, especially Cherry, draw you in, each responding to their impending demise in ways that feel achingly real. The author’s exploration of mortality and meaning hits hard, but it’s her hopeful undercurrent about the value of living fully that lingers. 
** Thanks to the publisher for a comp of this book for an honest review.