Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

5 stars

Another amazing novel by Moriarty- this time honed in on our often contradictory beliefs about fortune telling. An older woman starts walking the aisle on a flight within Australia to Sydney and while pointing to each passenger in turn calls out what she expects them to die from and the date of their death. Passengers react from dismissive scoffs to horror as the cabin crew comically fights their way to thwart her.

She’s initially passed off as mentally ill, until one of her predictions of the time and type of death come true. Then everyone’s rattled: form the young mother of a child supposed to drown to newlyweds who she predicted their marriage will end in intimate partner homicide. As everyone reaches out for support and scrambles to change their lives to stop the fated pronouncements from coming true.

Underlying all the tension and the powerful stories of the people on the flight, there’s much philosophical consideration of the power we place in fate and determinism versus the free will be captains of our destiny. Moriarity casts a detailed light on all the “fortune-telling” people overall turn to, from psychics to astrological signs to tea leaf readings. You cannot help but we swept into a thoughtful and revealing self-examination of your own beliefs on the subject.

Thanks to Crown Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.