The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
“Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices… Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”
After reading The Comfort Book by Matt Haig earlier this year (review can be found here), I insisted on reading The Midnight Library as soon as it came out. I had also seen a lot of hype for this book on TikTok, a video-sharing app that most people I know are obsessed with, so I knew I had to read it.
The plot revolves around Nora whose life is... not so great. Within the first few chapters, we learn that both of her parents have passed away, she has no friends, she loses her job, she's estranged from her brother, and her cat dies. She feels as though she has nothing to live for.
So, she attempts to commit suicide by overdosing on antidepressants.
She is then transported to the Midnight Library, a place that exists between life and death. A place where she has the opportunity to see the different paths her life could've gone in based on her choices. In the library, each book linked to a different decision Nora could've made throughout her life, and when she reads these books, she's transported to that version of her life. She's brought back to the library if, and only if, she is disappointed with that version of her life. Otherwise, she has the opportunity to exist as that version of herself instead of her original/root life.
As the novel progresses, we learn more about Nora's life and watch her learn more about herself as well. The premise itself is so unique, and it made me wonder about the parallel lives different versions of myself may be living. What if I had chosen a different college? What if I decided to stick with the pre-medicinal track? What if I had never gotten a dog? How would my life be different?
Would I be happy (or perhaps, happier) in those lives?
Haig creates a beautiful story that makes the readers question their own life choices before concluding, like Nora, that life is what you make of it. He seamlessly intertwines philosophy and mental health to create a moral that anyone would be able to relate to and appreciate.
