What would you do if you woke up thirty years older than you were yesterday?
Brooklyn, 1982. Oona Lockhart and her boyfriend are about to ring in the New Year and Oona’s 19th birthday. But seconds after the New Year begins, Oona is torn from her life and everyone she loves, finding herself in her fifty-one year old body thirty-three years into the future. The life she had is gone, and all she is a letter from herself from the previous year to guide her.
Each year on the stroke of midnight she finds herself resurfacing in a different year of her own adulthood. Still a young woman on the inside, but ever changing on the outside, who will she be next year? Wealthy philanthropist? Club kid? World traveller? Wife to a man she’s never met?
The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita Montimore Review
A Truly Trippy Time Travel Treat!
Over the last few years, I have read quite a few time travel/time slip novels. Most have been good, many have been great, few have been truly fabulous. The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart falls into the latter category. In fact, I would go so far as to say that it is probably the very best example of a time travel/time slip novel that I have read to date.
How to Stop Time by Matt Haig set the bar high for me, but I can honestly say that Margarita Montimore has surpassed Haig in every way. Her execution is truly flawless.
This fabulous book is so structurally intricate but effortless, the characters are beautifully drawn and the plot keeps you turning that pages. My only criticism… I didn’t want it to end.
Oona Lockhart is a beautiful character. New Year’s Eve in 1983 sees Oona enjoying drinks with friends as she prepares to start her 19th year. With the love of her life by her side, her friends flitting around the room and the ball dropping in the background, Oona has her whole life ahead of her – only she doesn’t. Not really. Not the way we all expect our lives to play out anyway. At the stroke of midnight, she opens her eyes feeling every inch the 19-year-old, but staring at the reflection of a 51-year-old version of herself. Oona is time traveling! She soon discovers that she is destined to recreate this ‘jump’ through time each and every year on her birthday, never knowing what age she will become, never knowing what stage of life she will find herself in.
This is a book that you enjoy on the face of it for its pace and intricacy, for its intrigue and joy, but it’s also a book that made me think about life. What would you do if you slipped into the future to see what your life had in store, but then traveled back in time… would you change your future? Would you leave clues for your future (or past) self?
I was left asking myself all kinds of questions – can we really change the path of our destiny? Would we want to even if we could?
As I traveled through the muddled up life Oona is experiencing, I experienced the highs and the lows, the pain, and the pleasure and found myself falling in love with a girl who handled it all in the most graceful way possible. The twists will not disappoint, but I warn you now, you will feel a sense of loss when you put the book down.
I will stop there with this review because I fear to say any more will give far too much away – to find out more.. you will need to dive right in for yourself. Enjoy – I know I did!
Many Thanks to Tracy Fenton at Compulsive Readers and Orion for inviting us on this Blog Tour.
Published by: Orion
ISBN: 978-147322-760-6
