Review of Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty

Now Liane Moriarty is known for domestic dramas and in the majority of her novels there is always a twist. If there is anything that stands out about Moriarty is LM’s ability to capture the secrets, enmities and loves that underpin the otherwise mundane lives of her characters… LM’s books appeal to readers who would love to read between the lines and into the hearts of men. Thus, in Here One Moment, Moriarty creates yet another engrossing read, which is filled with suspense, emotion and a handful of twists, when the external picture of seemingly ideal lives turns out to be rather grim and becomes exposed to other people’s view.

In one of her short stories Here One Moment Moriarty paints a picture that exemplifies the essence of both the transitoriness of life and moments as well as the evanescence of relationships and moral perception of both self and others. As always, the readers are presented with Moriarty’s humour, deep understanding of people’s emotions, and incredible ability to make the story feel familiar while keeping its readers on the edge of their seats.

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Plot Overview: And I Have Some Of Those Moments/Those Moments That Change Everything

Here One Moment focuses on a group of friends, and the things that they have come through together come to bear fruit when the group is reunited after 20 years. The beginning of the novel reveals itself in a way of a death during a usual vacation at a fancy resort. When a set of several friends wants to have a great time in a house on the shore during the summertime, they certainly do not expect it to turn into a traumatic event during which all the past regrets, resentments, and sins will be revealed. While reading the story, one gets into a time machine and follows the relationship changes of the friends, wives and husbands, and overs of the show’s participants.

The main circle of friends includes five characters and each of them has his own story and his point of view on what happened in the time before the moment when the investigated incident occurred. We have Alice, a career woman who looks very independent and often core because she is a businesswoman she might show you a fake life behind the scenes. Tom is her husband and a calm and rather equitable man, but a secret discontent and desire to change the situation appear in him. Lucy, Alice’s best friend is another representative of a happy marriage and a happy life but her life is shown to have its secrets as well. Ben, Lucy’s husband is hiding something about himself that threatens not only his relationship with his wife but also every other character in the series. Lastly, there’s Sarah, now Sarah has always been rather or rather strange and distant, especially since Boyson often could not keep up with her, it was not long before her past is gradually unveiled towards the middle of the story.

The plot of the novel is structured in two timelines, switching from past to present and back, gradually disclosing the way and the reason these friendships occurred along with the threats that have been concealed throughout the years. The author employs the use of suspense in each revelation of the life of every character to unveil secrets that have been unknown to the entire group and, in most cases, even to themselves.

The central event of the play – sudden death – can be viewed as the trigger that makes the characters reflect upon their experiences, their loved ones and themselves. Following the catastrophe the members of the group face multiple challenges concerning their friendships as they have to deal with the implications of the death process. It is a film filled with guilt and grief, the attempt to find out what exactly had occurred and who is to blame.

Character Development: They are flawed and complex, but they are real and thus people can relate to them.

Like with the majority of Moriarty’s books, characters are the main focus of Here One Moment which adds layers of depth to them. The protagonist of each of the central characters has his/her problem, which is gradually disclosed in the process of the story. Moriarty is especially good at making his characters ‘living’: most of them are complex individuals with complicated personalities and hundreds of secrets.

Alice is a character, who from the face value seems to have made it in life as a businesswoman. She has her own company that has grown from a small organized business and she is always eyed by her fellow businesswomen. But suddenly as readers travel through the novel it emerges that Alice is even not happy with her life. She has been portrayed as a charming attraction and yet her soul is filled with profound insecurity and the desire for the more. Her conflict in the movie is in family life with Tom, they seem to be working and struggling to keep up the picture-perfect happy marriage but things are tense between them. Thus, Alice’s story is a journey of the main character’s emotional growth as she admits her weakness and realizes the walls she has built between her and the people she has been close to.

Tom however is a character of the novel who has always been jovial, user and friendly but this novel depicts a character who seems unsatisfied in life. later on, Tom’s psychological struggle rises to the surface of the story due to the moral conflict his character is at: is the life he built right for him or not? Alice plays a significant role in the story, and Moriarty manages to create a very believable picture of their marriage in the course of the story.

Lucy and Ben are presented as a perfectly happy couple who are married yet Moriarty never lets the reader forget the fact that things are not always as they seem. A woman named Lucy has always thought that she is the perfect wife and a mother but she is yet to learn the cost of perfect looks. It is a character development of letting go of control and perfection perhaps due to dealing with the fact that her ‘’picture-perfect’’ life is a facade based on lies.

Ben, the easy-going man, the loving husband, has something which, if revealed, will doom his marriage and friendships. Moriarty uses suspense in regards to Ben’s secret and when it finally comes out it places the entire group in danger. Ben’s character is guilty and wants redemption for his mistake and the movie’s message is about keeping secrets from the ones that you love the most.

This death is connected with Sarah who is one of the characters who is depicted as mysterious and nearly elusive: she is depicted as the outsider of the company. little is known about her previous life and it is obvious as the story unfolds the secret that Sarah has for her friends that might alter the kind of friendship they have for her. It was a rewarding story of the healing of Sarah’s character who at last face her traumas and learn to accept herself and let people in.

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Themes: it discusses little secrets, friendship, and the vulnerability of life.

In general, I would like to note that Here One Moment is a work, which deals with the subject, as vulnerable as life itself and the moments, which make the difference. Moriarty reveals how one event: a tragedy, betrayal, or a discovery changes the course of people’s lives, and they can never go back to the way they were before. It also has a significant focus on the fact we hide something from our beloved ones not because we are evil, but because we are afraid, or ashamed, or we want to spare them the pain we feel in our hearts. Still, as Moriarty shows in his story, secrets have a nasty habit of surfacing at the wrong moment; moreover, their disclosure can lead to terrible results.

Love is another recurring motif of the novel To be friends is another major theme in the novel. All of the friends of the main characters know each other from an early age and their friendship is based on trust and close communication. However, it is only in the course of the novel that one comes to know that these friendships are not what they seem. Finally, Moriarty describes the problem of jealousy that can undermine friendships, resentment that can develop between people, betrayal that can occur even in closest friends, as well as influence of time that can corrode even the strongest relationships between friends and the importance of secrets that can ruin people’s friendships.

Other themes highlighted in the novel include those of grieving and guilt, especially following the sudden death that takes place at the beginning of the novel. All the characters of the drama deal with grief in their unique ways, and Moriarty captures this process quite authentically. The novel shows how grief can present itself in a person by anger and how guilt can consume the best of a person if they feel that they in some way are to blame even when they had no direct involvement.

Moriarty’s Writing Style: As tension, humour, and insight are processed by the brain, they are not allostatic and cannot be regulated in the same way.

One of the features of the books by Liane Moriarty that can be noted is the narrowly given combination of the elements of thriller and grotesque with the elements of comedy and philosophical reflection. The work Here One Moment contains her usual style of humour to analyze some issues that human beings go through in contemporary society most especially the roles that people play to live an ideal life. This outlook of hers gives the book a realistic touch when it comes to marriage, friendship, and the problems one faces in one’s adult life.

Moriarty is also great at setting up expectations and Here One Moment is a good example of that. In the course of the novel, numerous events take place with surprises and intrigues being revealed throughout the novels. Moriarty always maintains the suspense and the reader will not know what will happen next as the novel leads to its climax. I was pleased with the pacing of the story; each flash either contributes to the increasing uncertainty the story gives off or is set up in a way to immediately leads to one.

Another thing that Moriarty has going for her as the author is she explores the characters’ psyche and defines the characters’ fears, wants, and needs comprehensively and convincingly. She proactively interacts with human relationships even with different characters and it is coloured with full-dimensioned personalities. All the characters, even the most evil ones, are described in great detail and their point of view is shown to the reader, so despite their wickedness, their actions and their choices can be explained.

Conclusion: It can be said that ‘37 Paces to Infinity’ is a rather thought-provoking and suspenseful novel.

In Here One Moment, Liane Moriarty narrates a story that is both philosophical and full of suspense The character development in the book is unique and has been portrayed at its best The suspense element in the novel has to be commended as the writer has been able to hold the suspense till the last page of the book. The theme of friendship and secrets makes the narration sentimental and the unexpected plot twists make the reader become more The use of shockers and mystery as well as friendship and life frailty as the major themes make the novel both heartwarming and thrilling.

People who read Moriarty’s previous books ought to have a good taste of what they are to expect from Here One Moment since the author exercises her typical senses of humour, intelligence, and suspense. Those who are now familiarising themselves with this author’s work will find this novel to be a perfect example of how she is capable of delving into intricate layers of human interactions with great sensitivity. Thus, it is crucial to state that Here One Moment is a novel about moments, loneliness, lies, and love that may turn into hate. It was mighty an interesting and rather an emotional one and I am sure that it will leave its readers with a certain aftertaste that will linger even after the last page has been read.

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