Federation Book Club Reads Here One Moment by Liane Moriarity

Thanks to this past Sunday’s Taste of Chugim Community Club Fair held at the Federation, we may have as many as five new members joining our monthly sessions on Zoom. I warmly welcome you all, if you’re reading this, and apologize to those of you who were interested but unable to meet by video chat. Since the pandemic, this group has spread out far and wide; so unless we have a special in-person event, we will probably remain online.

The novel we read for our February session starts off eerily with a woman we come to know as Cherry. Unnoticed on an airline flight at first, she rises at one point and pronounces unwarranted death predictions to random passengers, setting everything in motion. The novel is a suspenseful, intriguing weave of past and present, addressing loss, fate, mortality, intuitive abilities, and gratitude for life. While you might read this book afraid of what’s to come, I recommend ignoring that sense of dread and trust that the outcome will be both satisfying and realistically explained. You may even hate Cherry to begin with because of the negative impact she has on those whose deaths she predicts, but the more you learn about her past, the more this woman becomes an endearing character. One criticism was that at times, we had to reread portions to keep so many characters straight.

A few of us look forward to reading more of this Australian author’s novels, but one didn’t finish Here One Moment, saying, “Not my type of book.”

With one of us not completing the book, I’m leaving off on averaging a star rating, but would personally give it five out of five.

Beth Buechler
Community Contributor

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Federation Book Club meets via Zoom at 4 PM on the 2nd Thursday of the month. Contact info@thejewishfed.org with “Book Club” in the subject to get involved.

Upcoming Book Discussions:

• March 13: The Cemetery of Untold Stories by Julia Alvarez

• April 10: The Bird Hotel by Joyce Maynard

• May 8: Bridgerton (The Duke & I) by Julia Quinn