Oona Lockhart was born on New Year’s Day. Every year, after she celebrates the New Year, she and her family and friends celebrate her birthday. In 1982, she was 18, and her life stretched out in front of her. She was in college, but she was faced with other opportunities. She could travel with her boyfriend and their band, opening on a tour and seeing where that takes us. Or she can go to Europe, to study economics in London with her childhood best friend. But before she can do either, or even blow out the candles on her birthday cake, she is gone.
Suddenly and without warning, Oona wakes up in 2015 and finds that while she is still only 19 on the inside, on the outside, she is 51. This is the first of her leaps, and her mother and her assistant Kenzie explain to her, along with a letter from 2014 Oona, that she has a strange condition where she moves in time every year. She will still experience all of the years of her adult life. She just experiences them out of order. The good news is that at some point she pays attention to what happens in the stock market through the years and an Oona who experiences a later year writes a bunch of that down for an Oona from an earlier year, so she is rich beyond her wildest dreams.
But suddenly being 51, in a life far away from her friends and her boyfriend Dale, the love of her young life, is incredibly difficult for Oona. She spends 2015 isolated, lonely, and grieving for the life she lost. But soon enough it is the end of the year, and she is once again off in time.
As she makes these leaps, the most important moments of her life become that much more significant. Her losses feel more painful, but her choices have more wisdom. She finds that she can’t change her fate, or the fate of anyone else (although she does drop a few choice stock tips here and there), so she learns to accept what happens to her and just enjoy the moment she finds herself in. She focuses on a handful of relationships that are most important to her, and spends her time living life to the fullest, whether that means clubbing with friends at 27, spending a year traveling the world by herself, or finally following her passion and learning to play the guitar.
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore starts out as a lovely story about a woman experiencing her life in a way that none of us can. But as it goes on, it’s more than just a great novel. It’s a powerful look at the meaning of life, at the meaning we choose for our lives and how we choose to spend our time and energy. We can’t control what happens to us in life, but like Oona, we can learn to make the best of each moment and hang on to those who matter to us, year after year.
I truly loved this book, and I strongly recommend it to anyone wanting to live better, love more, and get the most out of this boring chronological life we’re all blessed with.
Galleys for Oona Out of Order were provided by Flatiron Books through an Instagram giveaway, with many thanks. So many thanks, actually, because I truly loved this book!
