An interesting premise for a novel from an Aussie. On a long delayed Hobart to Sydney, flight, an elderly self-appointed clairvoyant, stands in the isle and one by one proceeds to predict the timing and cause of death of each of the passengers, to the consternation of the flight crew and many passengers. When four of her predictions seem to come true, in the indeterminant future, many passengers connect on a social media page in veiled anxiety about what she predicted for them, and work hard to ensure that more do not, sometimes dramatically changing their life trajectories as a result, while denying any connection to her predictions. This is interspersed by the musings of “The Death Lady” and philosophical implications of “hard determinism” a la Baruch Spinosa, (the complete absence of free will), and probability theory. Then she introduces actuarial science, and Euler’s identity and Kronecker’s symbol, both famous in advanced mathematics.
There are a plethora of characters. It behooves the reader to keep track of them, their occupations, their ages and the lady’s predictions about their mode of death, perhaps writing them down as you read, as there are no times cited for any of the 126 short chapters.
When I found the left anterior descending coronary artery referred to as “the widow maker”, the second time in as many weeks, I began to doubt my previous assertion, and sure enough, according to Wikipedia, I was wrong, in asserting that that label belonged to the left main stem artery.
The writing is enticingly lilting and yet in some ways deeply philosophical.
The Death Lady notes that “ I enjoyed the sensation of being small and insignificant.”
4/5
Thanks, Kirkus Reviews
The Passionate Reader 