Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

Book Description

It’s New Year’s Eve 1982, and Oona Lockhart has her whole life before her. At the stroke of midnight she will turn nineteen, and the year ahead promises to be one of consequence. Should she go to London to study economics, or remain at home in Brooklyn to pursue her passion for music and be with her boyfriend? As the countdown to the New Year begins, Oona faints and awakens thirty-two years in the future in her fifty-one-year-old body. Greeted by a friendly stranger in a beautiful house she’s told is her own, Oona learns that with each passing year she will leap to another age at random.

Hopping through decades, pop culture fads, and much-needed stock tips, Oona is still a young woman on the inside but ever changing on the outside. Who will she be next year? Philanthropist? Club Kid? World traveler? Wife to a man she’s never met? Surprising, magical, and heart-wrenching, Margarita Montimore has crafted an unforgettable story about the burdens of time, the endurance of love, and the power of family.

Review

What if you had to live your life out of order?

That’s the question at the heart of Oona Out of Order, a novel that surprised me even though I knew the premise.

On New Year’s Eve, Oona jumps to a different age in her life. She doesn’t know how old she’ll be, or what situation she’ll be dropping into. Worse, Oona can’t stop the leaps. She only has a letter from her past self and a loyal assistant to help her navigate the chaos.

This story should have been a mess. And honestly? Sometimes it was. But in a good way, because life is messy. But can you imagine experiencing your life without the luxury of continuity?

What grounded the book for me was Oona’s growth. She begins the story bewildered, a little bratty, and resistant. But as the years (and jumps) accumulate, so does her wisdom. I especially loved how the book handles regrets. How Oona learns to accept the inevitability of loss and the beauty in small joys.

Reading this reminded me of Cassandra in Reverse, where another woman wrestles with time and consequence. Both novels play with structure and their emotional cores lingered with me.

If you enjoy books that explore identity through speculative lenses, and don’t mind a little temporal whiplash, you may appreciate this one.

Content Warning

Addiction, Alcohol, Body Shame, Cancer, Death of a Parent, Drug Use, Grief, Infidelity, Transphobia

The header photo is a composite image. Base image by Daniele Levis Pelusi on Unsplash