The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is an adult fiction novel.
Nora Seed lives a solitary life in the town where she grew up. She could have been anything growing up. An Olympic swimmer, a rock star, a glaciologist, a wife and pub owner, a philosopher and more. Instead she is depressed, anxious and filled with regret.
When the only creature, her beloved cat, who has ever needed her dies, Nora decides to die. But when she chugs a bottle of pills instead of dying she is transported to The Midnight Library. A library filled with all the possible lives she might have lived and a familiar librarian asking her to choose another.
Will Nora find her perfect life before time runs out?
I got a very Christmas Carol vibe from this book, except Nora is a depressed loner instead of a Scrooge. This isn’t a bad thing but made the book feel sort of “done” before. I did like that Nora could only change a regret for a path or a decision not taken, instead of just picking a new life. She can choose which regret to change but she can’t choose where that will lead her.
I minored in philosophy, so for me all of the philosophical references and this whole idea of the multiverse appealed to me. It gave the storyline a little more depth in my opinion, rather than just being a book about life’s decisions influencing ones path.
Overall, this was a good read. Maybe not the most memorable down the road but in the moment a good one to pass the time. This one gets 3.5 stars from me.
That’s all for now!
-M-